He was broad in proportion, a fine commanding figure, imposing an immediate respect, impressing one with a sense of gravity, of dignity and a certain pride of race.

He was smooth-shaven, thin-lipped, with a broad chin, and a prominent hawk-like nose--the characteristic of the family--thin, with a high bridge, such as one sees in the later portraits of the Duke of Wellington.

His hair was thick and iron-grey, and had a tendency to curl in a forward direction just in front of his ears.

He wore a top-hat of grey, with a wide brim, and a frock coat, and carried a cane with a yellowed ivory head.
As a young man it had been his ambition to represent his native State--North Carolina--in the United States Senate.

Calhoun was his "great man," but in two successive campaigns he had been defeated.
His career checked in this direction, he had come to California in the fifties.