Stephen Maybell

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Stephen Maybell
Maybell c. 1892
Member of the California State Assembly
from the 13th district
In office
January 5, 1880 – January 3, 1881
Preceded byMulti-member district
Succeeded byMulti-member district
Personal details
BornOctober 1844 (1844)
New York City, U.S.
DiedNovember 30, 1919(1919-11-30) (aged 75)
Oakland, California, U.S.
Political partyWorkingmen's (1879–1881)
Greenback (1880–1882)
Spouse(s)
Mary Jane Cook
​
​
(m. 1870; div. 1892)​

Mary Hanson
​
(m. 1892)​
Children2
OccupationPoet, politician, priest
Signature

Stephen Jefferson Maybell (October 1844 – November 30, 1919)[1] was an American lather, poet, politician and priest[2] who served in the California State Assembly from 1880 to 1881.[3] During the Panic of 1893, he founded the Army of the Kingdom of Heaven at Hand, a religious sect that sought to recruit the unemployed for a march on Washington, D.C. Though the movement was unsuccessful, it is notable for predating Coxey's Army by several months.[4]

Political career

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State Assembly

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Known as a powerful orator[5] and "the laureate of the Chinese-must-go crowd,"[6] Maybell was elected to the California State Assembly in 1879 on the Workingmen's Party ticket. He served on the Committees on "Indian Affairs, Public Morals, Labor and Capital" and "Chinese Immigration and Emigration."[7] He was a Greenback-Labor Party candidate for Congress in 1880 and 1882, receiving less than 2% of the vote in the first race and less than 1% in the second.[3]

Mooneysville

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A satirical depiction of Mooneysville by Henry Barkhaus published in The Wasp, January 26, 1884

In December 1883, the Park and Ocean Railroad Company (owned by the Big Four's Central Pacific Railroad) obtained a fifty-year franchise to build a railroad across Golden Gate Park along Ocean Beach. Protesting the underhanded tactics used by the company to override then-mayor Washington Bartlett's veto of the franchise, Maybell and fellow "sand-lotters" Con Mooney and Denis Kearney staked their own illegal claims along the beach. To attract squatters, Kearney and Mooney offered drinks and dancing while Maybell ran a coffee and doughnuts stand. Other entrepreneurs 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 commissioner Frank 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, a chop 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]

Socialism

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Maybell was involved with the American socialist movement as early as 1889, when he published Civilization Civilized, or, The Process of Socialism. Described as "the philosopher's stone for the removal of all human ills"[9] and "next to Bellamy, the greatest propaganda work in the socialist movement,"[10] the book sold thousands of copies[11] and was lauded by the Appeal to Reason.[12] In 1898, Maybell pledged half of the proceeds of his latest book, Science of the Millenium, to the socialist Equality Colony in Skagit County, Washington, even offering his home and printing office to residents passing through San Francisco.[13]

Personal life

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On October 13, 1870, Maybell married Mary Jane Cook in Santa 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 to Brooklyn, New York, where he became a cartoonist.[14]

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  • 1880 sketch by Carl Browne
    1880 sketch by Carl Browne
  • "For Christ's Sake"
    "For Christ's Sake"
  • "THE DUNCE—A Scene from the 'Little Duke'"
    "THE DUNCE—A Scene from the 'Little Duke'"
  • "DREAMS are the off-SHOOT... fancies----A Night Ma(yo)re"
    "DREAMS are the off-SHOOT... fancies----A Night Ma(yo)re"
  • "Stephen sticks in his lines"
    "Stephen sticks in his lines"
  • "General and Mrs. Stephen Maybell and Their New Headquarters on Brannan Street"
    "General and Mrs. Stephen Maybell and Their New Headquarters on Brannan Street"

Works

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Books

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  • Civilization Civilized, or, The Process of Socialism. Denver: R. A. Southworth. 1889. (Reprint)
  • Land Currency, A Treatise on the Important Subject of No Tax. San Francisco: Langton & Company. 1890.
  • Civilization Civilized, or, The Process of Nationalization. New York: Lovell, Gestefeld & Company. 1892.
  • Science of the Millenium. San Francisco: Stephen and Mary Maybell. 1897.
  • The Mystery of Civilization. San Francisco: Stephen and Mary Maybell. 1899.

Articles

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References

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  1. ^ a b Nelson, Brett. "Stephen Maybell (1844-1919)". forgottenpoets.wordpress.com. Forgotten Poets. Retrieved October 23, 2025.
  2. ^ a b "MAYBELL-HANSEN". San Francisco Chronicle. San Francisco. August 19, 1892. Retrieved October 23, 2025.
  3. ^ a b "Stephen Maybell". JoinCalifornia. Retrieved October 23, 2025.
  4. ^ Schwantes, Carlos A. (1985). Coxey's Army: An American Odyssey. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. pp. 83–84. Retrieved October 23, 2025.
  5. ^ Hall, F. H. (September 19, 1916). "Politics and Politicians of Other Days". Springfield Daily News. Springfield. Retrieved October 23, 2025.
  6. ^ Amon, I. (August 22, 1917). "The Sancho Panza Club". San Francisco Chronicle. San Francisco. Retrieved October 23, 2025.
  7. ^ Mohan, Hugh J.; Clough, E. H.; Cosgrave, John P. (1880). Pen Pictures of Our Representative Men. Sacramento: H. A. Weaver's Valley Press. pp. 53–54. Retrieved October 23, 2025.
  8. ^ a b Clary, Raymond H. (1980). The Making of Golden Gate Park; The Early Years, 1865-1906. San Francisco: California Living Books. pp. 59–67. Retrieved October 23, 2025.
  9. ^ "Civilization Civilized". Wayland's Monthly (25). Girard: 16. May 1902. Retrieved October 23, 2025.
  10. ^ "Civilization Civilized". Appeal to Reason. Girard. April 19, 1902. Retrieved October 23, 2025.
  11. ^ "Civilization Civilized". Commonwealth. VIII (10). New York: 33. October 1901. Retrieved October 23, 2025.
  12. ^ "The Union Girl's Combination". Appeal to Reason. Girard. November 28, 1903. Retrieved October 23, 2025.
  13. ^ "LETTERS FROM OUR MEMBERS AND FRIENDS". Industrial Freedom. Edison. November 26, 1898. Retrieved October 23, 2025.
  14. ^ "CLAIMS MAYBELL IS STILL ALIVE". San Francisco Chronicle. San Francisco. September 1, 1907. Retrieved October 23, 2025.
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