John Bigler was an American lawyer, politician and diplomat.
17 Facts About John Bigler
2.
In 1831, both brothers moved to Bellefonte in Centre County to buy the local Andrew Jackson-affiliated Centre Democrat newspaper, where older John Bigler assumed editorial duties.
3.
John Bigler worked as editor until 1835, when he sold the publication to study law.
4.
John Bigler began to work at a series of odd jobs, including becoming an auctioneer, a wood chopper, and a freight unloader at the town's docks along the Sacramento River.
5.
Now one of the most powerful legislators in the state, John Bigler enjoyed widespread name recognition.
6.
In May 1851, John Bigler was nominated by the Democratic Party convention in Benicia as the party's choice for governor in California's first general election after achieving statehood.
7.
John Bigler won the election by little more than a thousand votes, which remains today as the closest gubernatorial election in California history.
8.
John Bigler enacted a policy to prevent Chinese "coolie" immigrants from entering California.
9.
Whereas the original 1850 law placed a US$20 per month tax on all miners of foreign origin, the John Bigler-supported 1852 version of the law placed a US$3 per month tax exclusively for Chinese laborers.
10.
However, after flooding problems in Sacramento, and dire weather conditions in Vallejo, the Legislature and John Bigler agreed to relocate the capital to nearby Benicia.
11.
Sacramento offered its services again as a capital, and on February 25,1854, Governor John Bigler signed a law making Sacramento the capital of California.
12.
John Bigler's administration had attained a general perception of fiscal extravagance among the public.
13.
John Bigler urged adoption of measures to secure for San Francisco the benefits of the whale trade of the Pacific.
14.
John Bigler is the first California governor to be defeated through a general election.
15.
John Bigler ran as a Southern-friendly Independent for Congress in the 1863 elections, yet failed to win.
16.
In 1867, John Bigler was appointed Railroad Commissioner for the Central Pacific Railroad.
17.
John Bigler is interred in the Sacramento Historic City Cemetery.