NAME, Years Elected to City Council
Walter Van Dyke (1823-1905) served on the City Council in 1869.
POLITICAL AFFILIATION
Republican1 (According to the website JoinCalifornia.com, Van Dyke was a Union Democrat. According to his obituary, he was a joint candidate of the "Silver Reublicans," Democrats and populists for the Justice of the State Supreme Court.)6
BIO
Van Dyke owned and edited the The Humboldt Times from 1855-1858. He was involved in another paper from 1860-1861, and focused on law.4 He lived at Fourth and Van Dyke Avenues in what was then considered "East Oakland."3
According to one source, Van Dyke was opposed to the reservation system, but not because of any particular anti-racist sentiment: he is quoted in 1862 as saying that white settlers "have been so harassed and frightened by the Indians that many had been forced out of fear to leave their homes." (This quote was taken from an article called "Exterminate Them!".)5
Van Dyke is buried at Mountain View Cemetery.
OTHER POSITIONS IN GOVERNMENT
1851: District Attorney, Klamath County (first District Attorney and County Organizer)
1854: District Attorney, Humboldt County
1874: U. S. Attorney, District of Northern California
1879: Delegate, Second Constitutional Convention (Sacramento)
1888: Justice, Los Angeles County Superior Court
1899-1905: Justice, California Supreme Court2
REFERENCES
1. "Oakland Items." San Francisco Chronicle: Jul 16, 1869.
2. "Walter Van Dyke." JoinCalifornia.com
3. "Honor Memory of Late Justice Van Dyke." San Francisco Chronicle: December 28, 1905.
4. Harte, Bret. The Overland Monthly. Samuel Carson, 1904.
5. Bloxham, Donald and Dirk Moses. The Oxford Handbook of Genocide Studies. Oxford University Press: 2010.
6. "Supreme Judge Van Dyke is Dead." San Francisco Chronicle: December 26, 1905.
