USA > California > Nevada County > Bean's history and directory of Nevada County, California. Containing a complete history of the county, with sketches of the various towns and mining camps also, full statistics of mining and all other industrial resources > Part 13
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45
Sabbath School, Oscar D. Montelle, Superintendent; two teachers, twenty-five scholars, and 180 volumes in the library.
GENT'S HOSE AND UNDERCLOTHING AT BANNER BROTHERS.
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COME ONE, COME ALL, TO A. GOLDSMITH'S CHEAP DRY GOODS STORE.
PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SCHOOLS.
107
SCHOOLS.
SCHOOL TRUSTEES.
E. F. SPENCE, A. B. GREGORY, E. G. WAITE,
NEVADA HIGH SCHOOL .- The schoolhouse is pleasantly located on the corner of Nevada and Water streets, and is shaded by fine locust trees. The building is partly of brick and partly of wood, and the rooms are fur- nished with modern school furniture, a geological cabinet and other im- provements. This school was instituted in 1862, and has been successfully conducted by J. B. McChesney. Miss Sarah Pratt is assistant, appointed in 1866. The average attendance seventy.
INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL .- Located on the north side of Pine street. Schoolroom furnished with modern improvements and apparatus. Number of scholars sixty ; average attendance fifty-five. Frank Power, teacher.
PRIMARY SCHOOL, No. 1 .- Organized in 1864. Located on south side of Pine street. Miss S. N. Jewett, teacher. Number of scholars, eighty-three; average attendance, sixty-eight. A model school under its present teacher.
PRIMARY SCHOOL, NO. 2 .- In basement of the High School building, corner of Nevada and Water streets. Miss McCormack, teacher. Whole number of scholars, sixty ; average attendance, fifty-four.
PIETY HILL DISTRICT .- Located on Piety Hill. Miss Annie S. Irwin, teacher. Whole number of scholars, 40; average attendance, 30.
OAKLAND DISTRICT .- This is a new district, organized in 1866, and located at Gold Flat. W. S. Frink, Daniel Holmes and Johu B. Byrne, trustees. Mr. McCauslin, teacher. Whole number of scholars, thirty-five; average attendance, thirty.
MRS. C. HIBBARD'S SCHOOL, (Private,) Located on the south side of Bowlder street, and is successfully conducted by Mrs. Hibbard. In this school the English branches, modern languages, and vocal and instrumental music are taught. Number of names on roll, forty ; average attendance, thirty-five.
CATHOLIC SCHOOL-Attached to St. Canice Church-J. C. Robinson, Principal ; Miss Flora A. Cornell, Assistant. Number of scholars, sixty-five.
MISS OLIVE LITCHFIELD'S SCHOOL, (Private,) Located at junction of East and West Broad streets. Number of scholars, twenty-four.
COLORED SCHOOL .- A building was purchased last fall, on Pine street, for a colored school, and has been neatly fitted up for that purpose. The school was commenced on the first of January, G. A. Cantine, teacher. Number of pupils, 18; average attendance, 14.
AGENCY OF THE POPULAR PATENT MEDICINES AT SPENCE'S.
108
ALL GOODS WARRANTED AT GOLDSMITH'S.
MINES OF NEVADA TOWNSHIP.
THE MINES OF NEVADA TOWNSHIP.
BANNER MINE.
This mine, doubtless one of the best in the State, is situated about three miles southeast of Nevada, in the slate formation. It was first located in March, 1860, by Jeffery, Rolfe, Withington, and others, under the name of the Douglas Company, and a shaft sunk to the depth of seventy feet, at a point six hundred feet north of the present works of the Banner Com- pany. The Douglas Company suspended operations in May or June, 1860, and some of the members leaving for Washoe soon after, the work was never resumed by that company. The mine was subsequently located by Robert and J. Q. A. Bowley, and a tunnel commenced ; but the work was again suspended, and the ledge again re-located by Pressey and others, under the name of the Liberty Company. The first crushing taken out by the latter company yielded only four or five dollars a tou, but the owners persevered and took out another lot of rock which paid about twenty dollars a ton. This established the reputation of the ledge, and early in 1865 it was purchased by Messrs. Tisdale, Kidd, Tilton and Stiles, for $15,000. About the time of the purchase the Bowleys commenced a suit for the ledge, and obtaining an injunction from the Court, the work on the mine was suspended for some months. The case was compromised in November, 1865, by Kidd and the other owners purchasing the Bowley claim. Since that time, the mine has been worked with little interruption, yielding, up to February 1867, 5,000 tons of ore, which has averaged over twenty dollars a ton. Steam hoisting works were erected in the winter of 1865-66, and a mill the following summer-the former costing $9,000 and the latter $18,000. The mill has ten stamps, of 650 pounds each, eleven Knox pans, and works about fifteen tons of ore every twenty-four hours. The ore being composed almost entirely of sulphurets, is difficult to reduce, and the amal- gamating machinery in the mill has been remoddeld several times, in order to adapt it to the working of the ore. The mine is opened by an incline shaft, twelve feet in width and six in hight, having three compartments, in the middle of which is the pump and stairway, with a car track on each side. The incline has been sunk to the depth of 240 feet, and the work of sinking is kept up without interruption. Three levels have been run at different depths, in both directions from the shaft. The upper north level has been run 210 feet, and the south level sixty feet; the middle north level is 190 fect, and the south 200 feet; while the lower level is now
BENKART'S BOOTS, AT BANNER BROTHERS.
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A. GOLDSMITH, CORNER OF BROAD AND PINE STREETS, SELLS CHEAP.
MINES OF NEVADA TOWNSHIP. 109
about 100 feet each way from the shaft, and is still being run. The width of the ledge will average about four feet, its course is nearly north and south, and it has an casterly dip of about forty-five degrees. While the average yield of all the rock taken from the mine has been twenty dollars a ton, that from the ineline in the last sixty feet run has paid thirty dollars, showing an improvement in the quality of the ore with the depth. In the fall of 1866 Captain Kidd sold his interest in the mine, amounting to five- twelfths, for $62,500, which is at the rate of $150,000 for the whole. The mine is now worked under the superintendenee of William L. Tisdale, who owns five-twelfths of the property, the other owners being Charles Marsh, who has two-twelfths, and W. C. Stiles, D. A. Rich, A. E. Head, C. A. Land and D. Crittenden, who have a twelfth each. When the mine was purchased from Pressey, it was christened the " Star Spangled Banner," but is popularly known as the "Banner." Of the ore afforded by this mine, some 3,000 tons have been reduced at Stiles's mill, in Nevada, which has yielded better returns than the company's own mill, until quite recently. The Banner has not been worked as long nor explored to the depth and extent of some others, but taking into account the size of the vein, and the improvement in quality of ore with the depth, we know of no mine in the State that has a greater prospective value.
CALIFORNIA MINE.
The mine is situated on the south side of Deer creek, below Nevada, and is on the same ledge as the Gold Tunnel-the first quartz vein discovered and opened at Nevada. The Illinois claim, also on the same ledge, lies between the Gold Tunnel and California. The latter location was made by Graham, Stone and others, early in 1851, and comprises 1,500 feet, com- mencing 600 or 800 feet from Deer creek, and running south. In the summer of that year the owners made a contract with Frothingham and Hull of San Francisco, for the erection of a mill to crush the rock. By the terms of the contract, the owners of the mine were to furnish the rock at the mill, and to pay sixteen dollars a ton for crushing. The mill was commenced about September, 1851, under the superintendence of Warren B. Ewer, now editor of the San Francisco Mining Press, and was com- pleted and started up some time during the following winter. The rock yielded very large returns, though it by no means came up to the extrava- gant expectations of the owners of the mine. The writer of this remembers hearing one of them complaining that a lot of rock, which had just been crushed, only paid thirty dollars a ton. Half that yield would now be considered excellent rock. The fault of what was considered a small yield was attributed to the mill; and with the little that was then known of amalgamating, it would have been strange, indeed, if half the gold had
LIFE INSURANCE AGENCY AT SPENCE'S.
THE BEST ASSORTED STOCK IN THE COUNTY, AT GOLDSMITH'S.
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MINES OF NEVADA TOWNSHIP.
been saved. During the spring and summer of 1852 a considerable amount of rock was crushed at the mill, from the California, Illinois and other claims in the neighborhood, but the stamps were idle the most of the time, and the next season the engine of the mill was taken off and used for a saw mill. A year or two later, the site of the mill was sluiced off by miners, who are said to have made a snug sum from the gold lost by the process the quartz was then worked. After this the ledge was considered of little value, the original owners disposed of their interests, which were subse- quently bought up by Horace Ferre, who was satisfied that the mine would eventually become valuable. It was worked for some months by David Hunt, in 1857, and by other parties in 1863, the yield of the rock varying from $10 to $60 a ton. About the beginning of 1866, Ferre made an arrangement with J. M. Pattee, the agent of the Eagle Company, of Hart- ford, Connecticut, for the erection of hoisting works and the opening of the mine in a systematic manner. The hoisting works were completed and the work of sinking an incline shaft commenced in the summer following, and a fine mill has since been added, the whole costing about $35,000. The mill has ten stamps, of 750 pounds each, and is capable of reducing about twenty tons of rock in twenty-four hours. The pulp, after leaving the batteries, runs over copper plates, after which the sulphurets are concen- trated by means of Bradford's ore separators. The free gold being saved in the batteries and on the plates, the sulphurets will be worked by the chlorinizing process. The mill, together with the hoisting and pumping machinery, is driven by an eighty-horse power engine, and the rock as it comes from the mine in the cars is dumped in front of the stamps. Every thing connected with the works has been constructed with the view of con- venience and economy. The incline is fourteen feet in width, has three compartments, with tracks for the cars on each side and the pump and a stairway in the middle, and has been sunk to the depth of 248 feet, being about 170 perpendicular, and seventy-five feet below the old works in the mine. From the bottom of the incline a level has been run south a distance of 230 feet, and ninety feet north. Some two hundred tons of ore has been taken from the mine in sinking the incline and running drifts, and the vein will soon be opened so as to keep the mill constantly supplied. The ledge is in the granite formation, its course is a little east of south and north of west, and dips to the east at an angle of about forty degrees. It varies in width from one or two inches to four feet, but will probably aver- age two feet. The mine is worked under the superintendence of Horace Ferre, who also retains an interest in the property. The hoisting works are situated a little over half a mile from the center of town, and just outside the corporation limits.
CRAVATS, NECKTIES, ETC., AT BANNER BROTHERS.
DOMESTIC AND HOUSEHOLD FURNISHING GOODS, AT GOLDSMITH'S.
MINES OF NEVADA TOWNSHIP.
111
CORNISH, OR URAL MINE.
The Cornish, or Ural mine, is situated a mile and a half below Nevada, on the north side of Deer creek, at the junction of the granite and slate formations. It was located in 1851, as the Ural ledge, and a mill com- menced the following winter and completed in the spring of 1852. Some rock had been found in the ledge showing free gold, and assays of choice specimen's yielded an enormous rate per ton, inducing the owners to believe that they had a mine of fabulous wealth. The rock, however, failed to pay in the mill, and the owners becoming discouraged the work was sus- pended. The mill and mine was subsequently leased by a scientific gentle- man, but his science proved of no avail in extracting the gold from barren rock, for his first and only crushing failed to show the " color." The mine was then abandoned, and the mill and machinery taken away and used for other purposes. The ledge was subsequently relocated by Muller, Buckner and others, who opened it in a new place, where they found a body of remarkably rich ore, which they worked out to the water level. The rock was crushed at the Soggs mill, and yielded large profits ; but the owners, not being disposed to risk the expense of a long drain-tunnel or pumping machinery, sold the mine to Soggs and his partners. The vein, however, was worked but little by the latter company, and in 1859 it was sold to Philip and John Richards and Samuel Adams, and has since been known as the Cornish mine. Richards & Co. had previously erected a six-stamp mill in the Lecomptou district, three miles above Nevada, which they removed and rebuilt near the site of the old Ural. They commenced a tunnel on the ledge, at a point near the mill, and have been working with the most untiring perseverance for seven years. Last fall they struck the rich chute which had been worked at the surface by Muller and Buckner, having driven the tunnel a distance of between twelve and thirteen hundred fcet. They expected to find chutes of pay rock before reaching the point where they are now working, but they got only a small amount which was considered worth running through the mill. But doing the labor them- selves, and occasionally crushing a few tons of custom rock, they have succeeded in opening the mine, which ordinarily would have involved an outlay of $15,000 or $20,000. The chimney worked by Muller and Buck- ner extended some sixty feet along the ledge, at the surface, and had increased to a hundred feet at the depth of a hundred and twenty feet, the vein being from two to five feet in width. The tunnel strikes the chimney about two hundred feet below the old works, and in all probability will furnish ore above the present level to keep the mill supplied for several years. The gold is mostly contained in the sulphurets, the richest of which the owners are saving with the intention of shipping them to England for
THE BEST AND PUREST DRUGS AT SPENCE'S,
PEOPLE ARE ALWAYS RUSHING TO GOLDSMITH'S DRY GOODS STORE.
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MINES OF NEVADA TOWNSHIP.
reduction. A considerable quantity of second-class ore was run through the mill last winter, which yielded good returns. The course of the vein, like the other main lodes in the Nevada basin, is nearly north and south, with an easterly dip, and cuts through from the slate into the granite formation. The owners, by their energy and perseverance under the most discouraging circumstances, are deserving a rich reward, and have the prospect of achieving it.
CUNNINGHAM MINE.
This mine is situated about a mile and a half southeast of Nevada, on the slope of the hill above Gold Flat, and in the slate formation. It was located by Wigham, Cunningham, Byrnes, and others, about 1852 or '53, though but little work was done on it, and having changed hands several times, was purchased by Horace Ferre in 1858. Ferre employed a man named George W. Baldwin to work on the mine, and the latter set up a claim to the ownership of the ledge. A lawsuit ensued, which was decided in favor of Ferre in 1861. He afterward erected a small engine, and sunk a vertical shaft to the depth of seventy fect, being about a hundred feet on the incline of the ledge. About five hundred tons of rock was taken out by Ferre, which yielded all the way from nine to thirty-five dollars a ton. But the vein having run down to a mere seam in both drifts, and the engine being insufficient to pump and hoist at a greater depth, the work was stopped, and the mine fell into the hands of H. Mackie & Co., who had advanced money to open it, and held a mortgage on the property. In 1866 Mackie and Philip made an arrangement with San Francisco men for the' erection of hoisting works and opening the mine. The machinery was erected and work commenced in October of that year, and has since been prosecuted without interruption. The engine is rated at twenty-two horse power, and the cost of the works was about $8,000. The mine is being opened by an incline, which, at the time of writing this, is down 160 feet, being sixty feet below the old workings in the mine. Work is also being prosecuted in the levels worked by Ferre, and a ledge of good size, and yielding rich ore, has been found in the south drift. When the incline reaches a depth of 100 feet below the old works, drifts will be started in both directions on the ledge. The incline is eight feet in width, six in hight, having two compartments, in one of which is the track for the cars and in the other the pump and a stairway. The ledge is about two feet in width, and increasing in size with the depth. It dips east at an angle of about thirty-five degrees, and its course is nearly north and south, being parallel with the Wigham and other veins in the vicinity. The present owners are H. Hackie, H. Philip, L. L. Robinson, F. L. A. Pioche, S. F. Butterworth, and Charles Bever. John Pattison is the superintendent.
BOYS CLOTHING, ALL SIZES, AT BANNER BROTHERS.
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ONLY ONE REGULAR PRICE AT GOLDSMITH'S.
MINES OF. NEVADA TOWNSHIP.
113
DEADWOOD LEDGE.
This ledge is situated near the Oriental mill, two and a half miles from Nevada, and was located in 1856 by C. C. Green, Allen and Chandler. The mine was worked for a year or more by the original locators, yielding a large profit, when they sold out for a handsome sum The purchasers, however, left for Washoc, and abandoned the mine, and about 1861 it was relocated and has since been worked with success. The vein is about a foct in width, and is so situated that a large amount of rock could be mined without going below the water level. The mine has afforded, since it was first opened, about 1,000 tons of rock, the average yield of which amounted to about $20 a ton. In 1866, the owners erected a small water wheel, for pumping and hoisting, and commenced an incline. The ledge is now owned by Parker, Lucy and Curtis.
FEDERAL LOAN LEDGE.
This ledge is situated three miles above Nevada, on the south side of Deer creek, and is owned by Bachtel, Hecker and others. It is a large ledge, in the slate formation, and the rock has been worked in a small, two-stamp mill crected by the owners in the vicinity of the mine. The mine affords some very rich ore, but the most of it, where the vein is opened, is of a low grade, but would probably pay well if the mine was thoroughly opened, and the rock worked on a large scale.
FOREST MILL.
The Forest mill is situated on Little Deer creek, three miles above Nc- vada, and was erected by William Butterfield, in 1860 or'61. It was built for the purpose of working a ledge in the vicinity, but the enterprise proved a failure, and the mill was idle for some years. In 1865 it was purchased by the New York and Grass Valley Company, and has been used for working the rock from the Union mine. The mill has five stamps, and is run by steam power. It was originally a poor concern, but has been greatly im- proved and mostly rebuilt by the New York Company.
FRENCH MILL.
This mill is situated at Canada Hill, about a mile and a half southeast of Nevada, and was built in 1861, by Charonnat, Michel and others. It has a single battery of six stamps, is furnished with shaking tables to concen- trate the sulphurets, pans, etc., and is one of the best mills in the county for saving gold. The owners of the mill have expended considerable sums in endeavoring to open a ledge in the vicinity, but did not succeed, on account of the softness of the granite, and the large quantity of water in the ground. After several unsuccessful attempts to drive a tunnel on the N
FLUID EXTRACTS PREPARED BY E. F. SPENCE.
FLORENCE SEWING MACHINE AGENCY, AT A. GOLDSMITH'S.
114 MINES OF NEVADA TOWNSHIP.
ledge, the work was abandoned, and the mill has since been mostly engaged in custom work. In reducing the refractory ores of Meadow Lake town- ship, it has been uniformly successful F. L. A. Pioche, of San Francisco, is the principal owner, L. Charonnat, the resident partner, being the super- intendent.
GOLD TUNNEL MINE.
The Gold Tunnel quartz mine was the first one discovered in Nevada township, has been the longest worked, and yielded the most gold. It is situated on the west side of town, the location being mostly in the corpora- tion limits, commencing at Deer creek and running north. It was discov- ered in October, 1850, by Joseph Wiggins, Horace Holt, and two brothers named Barker, while engaged in their first day's work at mining. At that time nothing was known by the California miners of the position of mineral veins, and the location was made in claims of thirty feet-square, in accord- ance with the regulations of the placer miners. Subsequently, the owners purchased the adjoining. claims, to enable them to follow the dip of the vein. At first, the decomposed rock was taken out and washed in a rocker, yielding large profits, notwithstanding the crude and expensive system adopted in working it. Captain O'Connor afterward purchased an interest in the mine, and commenced a tunnel on the ledge in the spring of 1851, whence it took the name of "Gold Tunnel," which it has ever since re- tained. A mill was erected the following summer near the mouth of the tunnel, and although it saved nothing but specimen gold, it yielded large returns. In 1852 the mine was owned and worked by Kidd, Van Doren and others, Captain Kidd afterward obtaining a controlling interest, and working it steadily until 1855, when he sold out to a company of Cornish miners. Up to this time the mine had yielded over $300,000 in gold. The Cornishmen worked it with little interruption for eight years, but we have no knowledge as to the amount realized by the company. A tunnel, commencing at high water mark on the bank of Deer creek, has been run a distance of fourteen hundred feet north, and the rock 'paid very largely for a distance of six hundred feet-probably averaging fifty dollars a ton. Beyond this, the rock paid only eight or ten dollars a ton, and the rich chimney having been worked out above the tunnel in 1863, the work was suspended. The mine was repurchased in 1864 by Captain Kidd, who now owns it in partnership with W. C. Ralston and Lloyd Tevis, of San Francisco. Tevis was an owner in the mine at an early day-in 1853 we believe. The mill attached to the mine was carried off in February, 1857, by the flood in Deer creek, caused by the breaking of Laird's dam at Scotch Flat; but another six-stamp water mill was erected in its place the following spring, which is still standing, though it has been used but little
THE PLACE TO PURCHASE RUBBER CLOTHING IS AT BANNER'S, CORNER BROAD & PINE STS.
TO SAVE MONEY, BUY YOUR DRY GOODS OF GOLDSMITHI.
MINES OF NEVADA TOWNSHIP.
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for some years. In 1865, steam hoisting and pumping works were erected on the hill north of the creek, and an incline sunk to a depth of fifty feet below the old level, but from some cause the work was stopped. We be- lieve it is the intention of the owners to resume operations this summer. The Gold Tunnel was not only the first mine opened in Nevada township, but is the only one among those worked at an early day that did not prove a disastrous failure. There is no doubt that it will again be worked with profit.
ITALIAN MINE.
This ledge is in the heart of the city of Nevada, and was discovered by accident, in the summer of 1866, by Debonardi, while digging a cellar for his house. The discovery was kept secret until the ledge was staked off and leases taken from the owners of the town lots through which it run. Two crushings of some fifty tous cach were taken out, paying about fifty dollars a ton, and upon learning the value of the mine, a claimant forthwith appeared, and pending the determination of the case in the District Court, very novel but effectual injunctions were inforced by the respective parties against each other. The Italians, in the upper works, dumping out and running water upon their opponents in the tunnel below, and they returning the compliment by burning gum boots, flannel shirts, old horns, brimstone, and whatever else would make a stifling stench, for the benefit of their neighbors above. These little courtesies effectually stopped the working of the claim until the decision, which was in favor of the Italians, and since then they have taken out rock to the water level, the ledge increasing in size and the rock improving in character as they descend. The ledge is now about three feet wide, and, when the necessary hoisting and pumping works are erected, promises to become a valuable and permanent mine. It is owned by J. J. Ott, Debonardi, Sanguinetti and Judge Belden.
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