Direct Democracy in the Early 19th Century

At Fox and Hounds, journalist Joe Mathews has a tantalizing bit of historical information about direct democracy. He quotes a 1912 history of California's Solano and Napa Counties suggesting that the referendum was in use there in the first half of the 19th century -- even before statehood (which came in 1850):

Here's the passage, with one note (an ayuntamiento is a term used to refer to the council of a municipality, or sometimes the municipality itself).

"The jurisdiction of an ayuntamiento might be confined to a small village or a county, and its authority was often as extensive as its jurisdiction.

Its members, serving without pay, were liable to fine for non-attendance, and resignations were difficult. Even under the government of the Spanish king, three-quarters of a century ago, California had the referendum. When a question of importance was before the ayuntamiento, and there was a division of opinion, the alarma publica bell was rung and every citizen gathered immediately at the assembly hall. Those who failed without reason were fined $3. Then and there the public by the simple raising of hands, voted and decided the question."

- Tom Gregory, History of Solano and Napa Counties California, 1912, Pg. 32