Amos P. Catlin, a young New York attorney, sailed to California in 1849 to mine for gold and practice law.
In 1852, Amos was elected to the California Senate as a member of the Whig party. He wrote the legislation to relocate California’s Capital from Benicia to Sacramento in 1854.
Amos was an investor, director, and promoter of both the Sacramento Valley and California Central railroads.
Amos formed a close friendship with Theodore Judah and was involved in Judah’s early survey work for a Pacific Railroad.
In 1863, Amos traveled to Washington, D.C. to defend the original map of the Leidesdorff land grant map before the U.S. Supreme Court. With a favorable decision from the Supreme Court, Amos’ law career was set.
Eventually, Amos would move to Sacramento where he became a highly esteemed attorney and counselor to Sacramento City and County.
His legal opinion that a proposed ordinance to evict Chinese people from Sacramento City limits was unconstitutional sank the proposal.
Amos was elected a Sacramento Superior Court Judge in 1890.
The biography of Amos P. Catlin was developed using Catlin family letters from the early 1850s, documents and letters on file at the Bancroft and California State libraries, along with maps, and hundreds of newspaper stories that mention Amos P. Catlin in California.