In the bitterly contested campaign of 1860, Charles W. Piercy was nominated for member of the 1st District of the California General Assembly by one party, and W. A. Conn, the incumbent, by the other.
The accusation was that polls at Temescal, maintained by a local resident named James Greenwade, remained open for three weeks and continuously furnished votes for Piercy.
[2][3] Piercy and Daniel Showalter, an Assemblyman who represented the Breckinridge Democrats, disagreed over the U.S. Senate election to a point that provoked a duel.
After attempts to prevent the duel were made by friends, the first shots were exchanged and both parties missed, Showalter asked for a second firing, and managed to shoot Piercy, who was killed.
[5] When San Francisco passed an ordinance in 1912 evicting all existing cemeteries from city limits the remains of Piercy were sent to Colma.