Anthony Caminetti

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Anthony Caminetti

| image name = Anthony Caminetti (ca 1915) (cropped).jpg

| restingplace = Protestant Cemetery

| state = California

| district = {{ushr|California|2|2nd}}

| term_start = March 4, 1891

| term_end = March 4, 1895

| preceded = Marion Biggs

| succeeded = Grove L. Johnson

| birth_date= {{birth date|1854|7|30|mf=y}}

| birth_place= Jackson, California, U.S.

| death_date= {{death date and age|1923|11|17|1854|7|30|mf=y}}

| death_place= Jackson, California, U.S.

| party = Democratic

| spouse = Ellen Martin

| children = 2

}}

Anthony Caminetti (July 30, 1854 – November 17, 1923) was an American lawyer and politician who served two terms as a United States representative from California from 1891 to 1895.

Early life and career

Born in Jackson, California, Caminetti was the son of Italian emigrants.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JUyAAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA712 |date=2000 |title=The Italian American Experience: An Encyclopedia |location=New York |publisher=Garland Publishing, Inc. |page=480 |isbn=0-8153-0713-6}} He attended the public schools of his native county, the grammar schools in San Francisco, and the University of California, Berkeley. He also studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1877 and commenced practice in Jackson. He was the district attorney of Amador County from 1878 until 1882.{{cite encyclopedia |title=Anthony Caminetti |url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=C000069 |encyclopedia=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |access-date=2010-08-22 }}

Personal life

File:Ellen Martin.jpg

He married Ellen Martin, a native of California. She descended from the distinguished Madison family. Her great-grandmother was President Madison's own cousin. Her great-grandfather, George Holland, was a First Lieutenant in the Continental army, and was with Washington at Valley Forge. His oath of allegiance is on file at the Department of State, being one of the few documents preserved from the destructive hands of the English in the war of 1812.

When her husband was unable to be present at the Democratic Convention in Sacramento, Ellen Martin went before the Convention and made his speech of acceptance for him. In commenting on this one of the newspapers of California said: "People who think that women have no influence in politics ought to have attended the Democratic Convention in Sacramento yesterday. Mrs. Caminetti presided and dictated the course of the proceedings with grace and precision of purpose unexpected from the gentler sex." Her work in Washington during a session of the Fifty-third Congress, against a bill that she opposed, elicited a complimentary editorial from a San Francisco paper. Ellen Martin was prominently connected with educational work in California, and was a member of the Board of Education of her county.{{cite book|last1=Hinman|first1=Ida|title=The Washington Sketch Book|url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924081310785|date=1895|pages=93, 95}}{{PD-notice}}

Political career

Caminetti served in the California State Assembly in 1883–1885. In 1886 his son was born, Farley Drew Caminetti. He was also a member of the State Senate from 1885 to 1887.

= Congress =

He was elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-second and Fifty-third United States Congresses (March 4, 1891 – March 3, 1895). While in Congress, he proposed a bill in 1892 that would have eliminated Yosemite National Park, prompting a campaign by the Sierra Club President John Muir to kill the bill.{{Cite web |url=https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/sources/918/ |title=A 1893 petition written by John Muir asking the House of Representatives to preserve Yosemite National Park |access-date=2016-08-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160917184443/https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/sources/918/ |archive-date=2016-09-17 |url-status=dead }}

He was an unsuccessful candidate in 1894 for reelection to the Fifty-fourth Congress.

Later career and death

He was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1896 and again a member of the State Assembly from 1897 until 1901. In April 1897, he was appointed code commissioner (meaning he was supposed to analyze uncodified California statutory law in the California Statutes and attempt to codify general provisions in the California Codes) and served in that capacity until July 31, 1899.

He was a member of the State Senate from 1907 to 1913. In 1907, during his second time in the State Senate, Caminetti brought about the enactment of the Upward Extension Act, the first state law in the United States to formally authorize the creation of junior colleges.{{cite book |last1=Boggs |first1=George R. |editor1-last=Boggs |editor1-first=George R. |editor2-last=Galizio |editor2-first=Larry |title=A College for All Californians: A History of the California Community Colleges |date=2021 |publisher=Teachers College Press |location=New York |isbn=9780807779873 |pages=1-15 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4j5IEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA3 |chapter=Chapter 1: Beginnings}} (At p. 3.) This eventually resulted in the creation of the California Community Colleges.

He served as United States Commissioner General of Immigration from 1913 to 1921.

In 1913, his son, Farley Drew Caminetti, was arrested under the Mann Act when he took his mistress to Reno, Nevada across the state line.{{cite news |title=Caminetti Guilty On Only One Count. Two Jurors Hold Out for Acquittal for Three Hours, but Finally Compromise |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1913/09/06/archives/caminetti-guilty-on-only-one-count-two-jurors-hold-out-for.html |quote=Farley Drew Caminetti, son of the Commissioner General of Immigration, was found guilty late to-day on one count of the indictment charging him with violation of the Mann White Slave act. |work=The New York Times |date=September 6, 1913 |access-date=2010-08-20 }}

As immigration chief he argued that the U.S. Congress should end all immigration of Chinese, Japanese, and Malays because they represented the "Asiatic menace." In 1915 he was assigned to the National Employment Bureau. In 1917, he was appointed a member of the War Industries Board and after the war was sent to Europe to investigate conditions there.

He engaged in the practice of law in Jackson, California until his death in 1923.{{cite news |title=Anthony Caminetti Dies. Former Immigration Commissioner Was Prominent Figure In California Politics |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/342373252.html?dids=342373252:342373252&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Nov+18,+1923&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=ANTHONY+CAMINETTI+DIES&pqatl=google |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103150316/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/342373252.html?dids=342373252:342373252&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Nov+18,+1923&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=ANTHONY+CAMINETTI+DIES&pqatl=google |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 3, 2012 |quote=Anthony Caminetti, well known in California politics for many years and former Federal Commissioner of Immigration, died at his home here tonight shortly after 6 o'clock. At his bedside at the time were his two sons, Farley Drew and Anthony B. Caminetti, Jr., and four grandchildren. |work=Los Angeles Times |date=November 8, 1923 |access-date=2010-08-22 }} He was buried in the Protestant Cemetery.

Electoral history

{{Election box begin no change| title=1890 United States House of Representatives elections in California, 2nd district[https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=98170 1890 election results]}}

{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change|

|party = Democratic Party (US)

|candidate = Anthony Caminetti

|votes = 18,644

|percentage = 49.0

|change = −1.6%

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link no change|

|party = Republican Party (US)

|candidate = George G. Blanchard

|votes = 18,485

|percentage = 48.6

|change = +2.0%

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link no change|

|party = Prohibition Party

|candidate = J. S. Witherell

|votes = 912

|percentage = 2.4

}}

{{Election box total no change|

|votes = 38,041

|percentage = 100.0

}}

{{Election box turnout no change|

|percentage =

}}

{{Election box hold with party link without swing|

|winner = Democratic Party (US)

}}

{{Election box begin no change| title=1892 United States House of Representatives elections in California, 2nd district[https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=98171 1892 election results]}}

{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change|

|party = Democratic Party (US)

|candidate = Anthony Caminetti (incumbent)

|votes = 20,741

|percentage = 53.3

|change = +4.3%

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link no change|

|party = Republican Party (US)

|candidate = John F. Davis

|votes = 16,781

|percentage = 43.1

|change = −5.5%

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link no change|

|party = Prohibition Party

|candidate = Chauncey H. Dunn

|votes = 1,307

|percentage = 3.4

|change = +1.0%

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link no change|

|party = Independent (US)

|candidate = J. H. White

|votes = 122

|percentage = 0.3

}}

{{Election box total no change|

|votes = 38,951

|percentage = 100.0

}}

{{Election box turnout no change|

|percentage =

}}

{{Election box hold with party link without swing|

|winner = Democratic Party (US)

}}

{{Election box begin no change| title=1894 United States House of Representatives elections in California, 2nd district[https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=98174 1894 election results]}}

{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change|

|party = Republican Party (US)

|candidate = Grove L. Johnson

|votes = 19,302

|percentage = 43.0

|change = −0.1%

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link no change|

|party = Democratic Party (US)

|candidate = Anthony Caminetti (incumbent)

|votes = 15,732

|percentage = 35.1

|change = −18.2%

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link no change|

|party = Populist Party (US)

|candidate = Burdell Cornell

|votes = 8,946

|percentage = 20.0

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link no change|

|party = Prohibition Party

|candidate = Elam Briggs

|votes = 866

|percentage = 1.9

|change = −1.5%

}}

{{Election box total no change|

|votes = 44,846

|percentage = 100.0

}}

{{Election box turnout no change|

|percentage =

}}

{{Election box gain with party link without swing|

|winner = Republican Party (US)

|loser = Democratic Party (US)

}}

References

External links

[http://www.joincalifornia.com/candidate/8175 Join California Anthony Caminetti]

{{succession box |title=California State Assemblyman, 16th District
(Amador County seat) |before=Charles B. Swift, Chapman Warkins|after=George H. Colby |years=1883-1885
(with Robert Stewart)}}

{{succession box |title=California State Assemblyman, 15th District |before=James H. Tibbits|after=Frederick L. Stewart |years=1897-1901}}

{{US House succession box

|state=California

|district=2

|before=Marion Biggs

|after=Grove L. Johnson

|years=1891–1895

}}

{{s-ttl | title = Commissioner General of Immigration | years = 1909 – 1913}}

Category:1854 births

Category:1923 deaths

Category:Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from California