This edition of the short history of E Clampus Vitus concerns itself with the rebirth of the order after a general decline which corresponded with the decrease in gold mining activities and the settling down of the sometimes raucous lifestyle of the early mining camps as they became towns and cities.
The time was the late 1920s. Some of the old 49ers were still alive and their families were scattered all over California. Almost all had turned to other occupations, although gold would be mined in places through the 1940s on a commercial basis. An appreciation for the life and times of the Gold Rush was still held by many and history books were being prepared, using the diaries and memories of those who had “seen the elephant.” Somewhere along this time, it occurred to Carl I. Wheat and Leon O. Whitsell, Bay area residents and men of high C.Q. (Californiosity Quotient), that the fine old institution of E Clampus Vitus had fallen upon evil days. While traveling in the old mining camps, Wheat had come upon references to the Clampers. In the spring of 1930, he and Whitsell had decided to do something about this lamentable state of affairs. Cornering G. Ezra Dane on the road from Columbia down to Parrot’s Ferry, and getting an agreement from him to do the dirty work necessary for this great revival, plans were undertaken for a rebirth of the order. There was not a lot of information on the E Clampus Vitus of old. It seems that the minutes of the meetings were not always taken, and many times the members could not remember what occurred at the meetings, conditions that sometimes happen even today.
A few months later, in the year of 1931, in a lunchroom in Yerba Buena, E Clampus Vitus was reborn. Still not knowing very much about the old Order, Carl Wheat was most gratified to receive a telephone call from an old-timer, Adam Lee Moore. Moore, having read of the revival attempts in the Mountain Messenger in Downieville, and who was the last NGH of the Sierra City Lodge, had called to help the young fellows out with information about the days of old.
Charter members of E Clampus Vitus, Redivivus were: Adam Lee Moore, Carl I. Wheat, Francis P. Farquhar, Edgar B. Jessup, Ernest A. Wiltsee, Leon O. Whitsell, George D. Lyman, Thomas Norris, Douglas S. Watson, James D. Stewart, Edwin Grabhorn, Charles P. Cutten, Jesse M. Whited, Lee L. Stopple, Frederick C. Clift, William T. McSorley, Henry R. Wagner, Phil T. Hanna, G. Ezra Dane, William Bull Meek, John McSorley and George N. Napoleon.
It was decided to meet at least twice a year, once to honor the anniversary of the discovery of gold by James Marshall, and another time during a Pilgrimage to the Diggins. During the first Pilgrimage, on the rainy night of May 2, 1932, in Camptonville, William Bull Meek and Adam Lee Moore regaled the group with tales of the early days. Chapter 10 celebrated the 50th anniversary of this event on May 2, 1982, with a spring meeting and initiation in Camptonville, causing a much-coveted Badge of the Day to be struck, with only those given on the day to have a red ribbon attached.
The second Pilgrimage was to the Southern Diggins and during each of the meetings, new members would be initiated, more of the old day’s lore would be retold, and new friends would become old friends. It was during this Pilgrimage that Adam Lee Moore tried to interest the members in his latest gold mining venture. But, unable to locate the claim, the Brothers demurred, thereby saving themselves much money.
Soon, a new Hall of Comparative Ovations opened in Los Angeles, and the Order later spread back into the Gold Country from which it sprang, with chapters in Deer Creek Dry Diggins (the area around Nevada City), North San Juan, Hangtown (the area around Placerville), and others, including Auburn, Downieville and Sacramento.
Next time; a closer look at the life and reminiscences of Adam Lee Moore and the days of the Old Clampers, including a look into some of the Ritual used in the Initiations.
First published by Tom Barry in the Hewgag Monitor
October, 1986
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