+++ CHAPTER 6
POLITICIAN
THE REVOLUTIONARY THIRTIES
THE DEATH of Governor Figueroa shook the foundations of Hartnell’s school with the violence of an earthquake. Walls remained standing, but its prestige suffered a fatal shock. The institution could not long outlast its illustrious patron in such a time and such a place – California in the turbulent ‘thirties.
Could Figueroa have remained longer in office, the course of California history would have been changed. In contrast to the political unrest and stirring of the blood fomented by Echeandia and other aristocrats in the past, this squat mestizo encouraged his subjects in constructive activity. He appreciated Captain Zamarano as an artist and craftman, and urged him toward printing rather than soldiery as a career. William Hartnell he helped to found a school of higher education, rather than to continue in trade. In many another also he detected rare abilities, and used them to good advantage.
Figueroa’s efforts toward the elevation of a primitive society extended in many directions, and took their toll of his inadequate constitution. Don Alfredo Robinson claims that Don Jose suffered both in body and mind during his last months in office. He died of an apoplectic stroke at the age of forty-three, on September 29, 1835. A heartfelt elegy was composed by Monterey council members when they heard the sad news. It paid remarkable tribute to this man who was not a native son, who had not been long in California, and who carried the blood of a despised race in his veins.
None mourned the death of Figueroa more sincerely than William Hartnell and Patrick Short. Besides losing a friend, they feared the loss of government aid. They might be forced to close their school for insufficient attendance and lack of funds, before becoming firmly established. Another like Don Jose was not to be found among the “men of straw” who clamored for the governorship.
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