1854 Montgomery Block Lease

Item Details

San Francisco, A. Barney, probate judge, 1857

Fine

8" x 10" ruled, watermarked legal paper. 2 page holograph manuscript legal document attempting to retrieve unpaid rent in the Montgomery block.

The Montgomery Block, completed in 1854, at four stories was the largest office building west of the Mississippi. The owner/builder, Henry Halleck, is plaintiff in this case. 

Signed by the plaintiffs attorney Frederick Billings. Billings arrived in California in 1848 becoming the States first first land claims attorney. He soon partnered with Henry Halleck forming the law firm of Halleck, Peachey and Billings for many years the top law firm in the city. 

The defendant, Doctor Andrew Randall, arrived in Yerba Buena in 1847 as gunner on the USS Portsmouth. He was assassinated by  Joseph Hetherington who, in turn, was hung by the second Vigilance Committee. At the time of his death on July 24. 1856, Randall owned several ranchos with money earned as a practicing doctor.