Stephen Maybell | |
|---|---|
 Maybellc. 1892 | |
| Member of theCalifornia State Assembly from the13th district | |
| In office January 5, 1880 – January 3, 1881 | |
| Preceded by | Multi-member district |
| Succeeded by | Multi-member district |
| Personal details | |
| Born | October 1844 (1844) New York City, U.S. |
| Died | November 30, 1919(1919-11-30) (aged 75) Oakland, California, U.S. |
| Party | Workingmen's(1879–1881) Greenback(1880–1882) |
| Spouse(s) | |
| Children | 2 |
| Occupation | Poet, politician, priest |
| Signature |  |
Stephen Jefferson Maybell (October 1844 – November 30, 1919)[1] was an Americanlather, poet, politician and priest[2] who served in theCalifornia State Assembly from 1880 to 1881.[3] During thePanic of 1893, he founded the Army of the Kingdom of Heaven at Hand, areligious sect that sought to recruit the unemployed for a march onWashington, D.C. Though the movement was unsuccessful, it is notable for predatingCoxey's Army by several months.[4]
Known as a powerful orator[5] and "thelaureate of theChinese-must-go crowd,"[6] Maybell was elected to theCalifornia State Assembly in 1879 on theWorkingmen's Party ticket. He served on the Committees on "Indian Affairs, Public Morals, Labor and Capital" and "Chinese Immigration and Emigration."[7] He was aGreenback-Labor Party candidate forCongress in1880 and1882, receiving less than 2% of the vote in the first race and less than 1% in the second.[3]
In December 1883, the Park and Ocean Railroad Company (owned by theBig Four'sCentral Pacific Railroad) obtained a fifty-year franchise to build a railroad acrossGolden Gate Park alongOcean Beach. Protesting the underhanded tactics used by the company to override then-mayorWashington Bartlett's veto of the franchise, Maybell and fellow "sand-lotters" Con Mooney andDenis Kearney staked their own illegal claims along the beach. To attractsquatters, Kearney and Mooney offered drinks and dancing while Maybell ran acoffee and doughnuts stand. Otherentrepreneurs soon followed, and the settlement came to be known as "Mooneysville."[8]
Within days, Mooneysville boasted dozens of stands and thousands of visitors, drawing the ire of parks commissionerFrank M. Pixley. By the time he issued an eviction notice in January 1884, the settlement resembled an actual town, with a hardware store, a candy factory, a bakery, achop house, several wells and pumps, a lumberyard, and fifteen saloons. However, when he sent twenty-five laborers backed up by seven policemen to clear out Mooneysville, they faced little resistance. For his part, Kearney let the laborers disassemble his shack for him, giving them orders as they worked.[8]
Maybell was involved with theAmerican socialist movement as early as 1889, when he publishedCivilization Civilized, or, The Process of Socialism. Described as "thephilosopher's stone for the removal of all human ills"[9] and "next toBellamy, the greatest propaganda work in the socialist movement,"[10] the book sold thousands of copies[11] and was lauded by theAppeal to Reason.[12] In 1898, Maybell pledged half of the proceeds of his latest book,Science of the Millenium, to the socialistEquality Colony inSkagit County, Washington, even offering his home and printing office to residents passing throughSan Francisco.[13] His works were later cited by the likes ofCharles H. Vail[14] andBolton Hall.[15]
On October 13, 1870, Maybell married Mary Jane Cook inSanta Clara, California, with whom he had two children.[1] He divorced her in 1892 and shortly after married Mary "May" Hanson, assistant commander of the Army of the Kingdom of Heaven at Hand.[2] This reportedly disgusted one of his children, Claude, so much that he moved across the country toBrooklyn, New York, where he became a cartoonist.[16]
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