Henry Bates of Shasta County, California was a politician affiliated with the American Party (the "Know Nothings"). He served as California state treasurer, 1856–1857. Prior to that, he was a member of the California State Assembly from the 13th district, 1855–1856. As state treasurer, he was impeached by California State Assembly and convicted in his impeachment trial before the California State Assembly, and resigned before his formal sentencing..

The investigation and ultimate removal of Bates from office was spurred by an article in The Sacramento Bee, at the time of publication less than one week old.[1] The initial accusation against Bates was that he had illegally deposited $88,000 ($2,386,172 in 2016 dollars) with Palmer, Cook & Co. for the purpose of paying the interest on state bonds in New York City in July 1856, without requiring security for this deposit; and that the interest was not paid. A report to that effect was presented in the Senate in January, 1857. Soon afterward the assembly drew up articles of impeachment against him, for the Palmer, Cook & Co. matter, for purchasing state warrants with state funds and pocketing the difference in value; for other dubious transactions; and for a "corrupt combination" with the president of the Pacific Express Company for loaning state money. Bates was found guilty in his impeachment trial before the State Senate, but resigned from office before his sentence was formally entered. He was sentenced by the State Senate to be disqualified from holding state office again.[2][3][4][5]

References

  1. ↑ Richardson, Darcy G. Others: Third-Party Politics from the Nation's Founding to the Rise and Fall of the Greenback-Labor Party. iUniverse: 2004; p. 206.
  2. ↑ Hittell, Theodore H. History of California. San Francisco: N. J. Stone & Company, 1898. Vol. 4, pp. 199–200.
  3. ↑ John F. Burns and Marlene Smith-Baranzini (2003). "Taming the Elephant: Politics, Government, and Law in Pioneer California". University of California Press. ISBN 9780520234130.
  4. ↑ Sutton, John Richard (1916). "Civil Government in California".
  5. ↑ Stewart, Frank M. (1957). "California's First Impeachment, 1857" (PDF). The Historical Society of Southern California Quarterly. 39 (4): 328–339. doi:10.2307/41169295. ISSN 2162-9366. JSTOR 41169295. Retrieved 27 December 2022.


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