Anthony Caminetti
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Anthony Caminetti (July 30, 1854 – November 17, 1923) was an American lawyer and politician who served two terms as a
United States representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
from
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
from 1891 to 1895.


Biography

Born in
Jackson, California Jackson (formerly, Botilleas, Botilleas Spring, Bottileas, Bottle Spring, and Botellas) is a city in and the county seat of Amador County, California. Its population was 4,651 at the 2010 census, up from 3,989 at the 2000 census. The city is acc ...
, Caminetti was the son of Italian emigrants. He attended the public schools of his native county, the grammar schools in
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
, and the
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
. He also studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1877 and commenced practice in Jackson. He was the
district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...
of Amador County from 1878 until 1882. He married Ellen Martin, a native of California. She descended from the distinguished Madison family. Her great-grandmother was President Madison's own cousin. Her great-grandfather, George Holland, was a First Lieutenant in the Continental army, and was with Washington at Valley Forge. His oath of allegiance is on file at the Department of State, being one of the few documents preserved from the destructive hands of the English in the war of 1812. When her husband was unable to be present at the Democratic Convention in Sacramento, Ellen Martin went before the Convention and made his speech of acceptance for him. In commenting on this one of the newspapers of California said: "People who think that women have no influence in politics ought to have attended the Democratic Convention in Sacramento yesterday. Mrs. Caminetti presided and dictated the course of the proceedings with grace and precision of purpose unexpected from the gentler sex." Her work in Washington during a session of the Fifty-third Congress, against a bill that she opposed, elicited a complimentary editorial from a San Francisco paper. Ellen Martin was prominently connected with educational work in California, and was a member of the Board of Education of her county. Caminetti served in the
California State Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature, the upper house being the California State Senate. The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. The A ...
in 1883–1885. In 1886 his son was born,
Farley Drew Caminetti Farley Drew Caminetti (July 1, 1886 – December 19, 1945) was charged with violation of the Mann Act and his case was settled by the United States Supreme Court as ''Caminetti v. United States''. Biography He was born on July 1, 1886, in Californ ...
. He was also a member of the
State Senate A state legislature in the United States is the legislative body of any of the 50 U.S. states. The formal name varies from state to state. In 27 states, the legislature is simply called the ''Legislature'' or the ''State Legislature'', whil ...
from 1885 to 1887. He was elected as a
Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...
to the Fifty-second and Fifty-third United States Congresses (March 4, 1891 – March 3, 1895). While in Congress, he proposed a bill in 1892 that would have eliminated
Yosemite National Park Yosemite National Park ( ) is an American national park in California, surrounded on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The park is managed by the National Park Service and covers an ar ...
, prompting a campaign by the
Sierra Club The Sierra Club is an environmental organization with chapters in all 50 United States, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by Scottish-American preservationist John Muir, who be ...
President
John Muir John Muir ( ; April 21, 1838December 24, 1914), also known as "John of the Mountains" and "Father of the National Parks", was an influential Scottish-American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, glaciologist, a ...
to kill the bill. He was an unsuccessful candidate in 1894 for reelection to the Fifty-fourth Congress. He was a delegate to the
Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 ...
in 1896 and again a member of the State assembly from 1897 until 1901. In April 1897, he was appointed code commissioner and served until July 31, 1899. He was member of the State Senate from 1907 to 1913 and served as United States Commissioner General of Immigration from 1913 to 1921. In 1913, his son,
Farley Drew Caminetti Farley Drew Caminetti (July 1, 1886 – December 19, 1945) was charged with violation of the Mann Act and his case was settled by the United States Supreme Court as ''Caminetti v. United States''. Biography He was born on July 1, 1886, in Californ ...
, was arrested under the
Mann Act The White-Slave Traffic Act, also called the Mann Act, is a United States federal law, passed June 25, 1910 (ch. 395, ; ''codified as amended at'' ). It is named after Congressman James Robert Mann of Illinois. In its original form the act mad ...
when he took his mistress to
Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...
across the state line. As immigration chief he argued that the U.S. Congress should end all immigration of Chinese, Japanese, and Malays because they represented the "Asiatic menace." In 1915 he was assigned to the National Employment Bureau. In 1917, he was appointed a member of the
War Industries Board The War Industries Board (WIB) was a United States government agency established on July 28, 1917, during World War I, to coordinate the purchase of war supplies between the War Department (Department of the Army) and the Navy Department. Because ...
and after the war was sent to
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to investigate conditions there. He engaged in the practice of law in
Jackson, California Jackson (formerly, Botilleas, Botilleas Spring, Bottileas, Bottle Spring, and Botellas) is a city in and the county seat of Amador County, California. Its population was 4,651 at the 2010 census, up from 3,989 at the 2000 census. The city is acc ...
until his death in 1923. He was buried in the Protestant Cemetery.


References


Further reading

* Acherman, Kenneth D., ''Young J. Edgar: Hoover, The Red Scare, and The Assault on Civil Liberties. New York: Carroll & Graf. 2007. . ("Asiatic menace" on page 54). * Giovinco, Joseph P., ''The California Career of Anthony Caminetti, Italian-American Politician.'' Ph.D. dissertation, University of California at Berkeley, 1973.


External links


Join California Anthony Caminetti
{{DEFAULTSORT:Caminetti, Anthony 1854 births 1923 deaths Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from California Democratic Party California state senators Democratic Party members of the California State Assembly People from Jackson, California University of California, Berkeley alumni District attorneys in California Anti-Asian sentiment in the United States American people of Italian descent