Photo Courtesy of Stack’s, Lot 3512, John J. Ford, Jr. Collection Part XX & XXI, October 2007 Sale.
No.10 Ingot. This small, silver, presentation ingot was purchased by John. J. Ford from an English auction. Overall it is Very Fine. The face of the ingot reads as follows: No. 10 / F.H. BOUSFIELD [scales] ASSAYER [in an oval logotype punch] / OZ 11.87 / 990 FINE / $15.19, while the opposite side is blank. The top is engraved with the date of SEP 1870, and the bottom is blank. The left side reads: T.PHILLPOTTS / TO I.S. HODGSON and the right side reads: EBERHARDT & AURORA M.Co / NEVADA.U.S. It measures 66.4 X 34.0 x 15.6 mm and weighs 11.87 oz. Please read the story below for more information about this ingot.
From the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection. $37,500
Introduction
This small silver presentation ingot was formerly in the J. J. Ford Collection. He purchased the piece from an English auction. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the research. The ingot is punched crudely “Eberhardt & Aurora M Co, Nevada, U.S.” and on the other side “T. Phillip Potts To I. S. Hodgson” “Sept. 1870.”
F. Bousfield
F. H. Bousfield was born in Camberwell, England in 1840, according to the UK 1851 Census. He was the son of George and Eliza Bousfield, a fairly well off family that had live-in servants. Of important note is that he had a younger brother (two years) listed in the 1851 UK Census as “W. C. Bousfield.” This may be the same W. S. Bousfield that was in Virginia City from about 1870 to 1872 practicing as an assayer. Both F. H. and W. S. or W. C. Bousfield are never again seen in English census data, nor are they in US Census data. A second W. S. Bousfield does show up as a grandson living with his grandmother in England in 1901, who had been widowed. Bousfield would have been old enough to have been one of the two’s son.[11] Clearly Bousfield was an educated man, working as an assayer for British mining interests. Upon British acquisition of the Eberhardt and Aurora Mining Co. at Treasure Hill, he came to Nevada to be the company’s assayer.
Enter Treasure Hill and Hamilton, 1869
Rich silver ore discoveries were made at Treasure Hill and Hamilton in remote eastern Nevada in 1868. The British mining interests who had failed to believe the California Gold Rush was real and long lasting, had also missed the Comstock rush of 1859 through 1863. Mines at Cornwall and in Ireland were being depleted, and the British needed a new source of precious metals. After all, they had been mined on the British Isles for more than one thousand years.
Badly beaten at a game that they desperately needed to win, when the Rush to White Pine came along in 1868, the British were all ears, and opened their pocketbooks. As one author noted: “With the possible exception of California, Nevada mines were more popular with the British investing public than those elsewhere in the American West between 1864 and 1873. Within Nevada, the bulk of the capital was concentrated in the central and eastern part of the state, particularly in the Eureka and White Pine districts.”[12]
British financiers formed the Eberhardt and Aurora Mining Co. Ltd in February, 1870 by the acquisition of the Eberhardt and Aurora Mining Companies, two separate firms and mines. The effort was led by Royal Mint assayer E. W. Ridsdale. The Eberhardt was one of the richest mines at Treasure Hill, but most of the others had petered out. Strong in rich surface and near surface ores, most of the mines there had ore deposits that disappeared at depth. The Eberhardt was the exception, having reportedly produced $1.5 million between 1868 and 1870.
To facilitate the sale, Melville Atwood, a prominent mining engineer, was hired for an independent inspection. Thomas Philpotts (the presenter on this ingot) was a prospective mine manager that led the team that came for the inspection from London. Atwood and Philpotts felt that there was 500,000 pounds Sterling “in sight”, so the deal was consummated to purchase the two companies and their property and form the new mining entity based in England.
Serious local trouble nearly broke out when the Nevada mining community found out that the Eberhardt & Aurora MC might import British labor. Cornish miners had already made a strong presence on the Comstock, but this was lost on locals, perhaps intent to make a fuss over insufficient jobs in the region already. To dissuade these rumors, Philpotts came back from London loaded with cash to buy town lots, mining property, and anything else the English could invest in or buy that might further their efforts at the two mines. Hamilton lots went to the British, including the International Saloon.
Philpotts, meanwhile, did not take a paycheck until he returned to London in the fall of 1870. This ingot was undoubtedly brought back to England on that very trip as a presentation to Hodgson. Jackson, in Treasure Hill (1963), noted that Phillpotts had a relative on the Board, and Hodgson might just have been that relative.
The Eberhardt Mine
Prominent American mining engineer Ross Raymond considered the Eberhardt the key mine in the district. In his 1870 Report, he dedicated two pages to discussing the mine which was a good indication of its overall importance. The Eberhardt was driven on a mineralized fault 200 feet wide, composed of a breccia cemented by limestone, quartz and calcite. “Large lumps of pure chloride of silver, some of them weighing over 100 pounds, are found so pure that a nail may be easily driven into any part of them, the same as into a bar of lead. A silver coin laid upon these pieces and struck smartly with a hammer or sledge will leave its impression as distinctly as a seal on soft wax. While there is a large amount of this exceedingly rich ore, there is a hundred times the quantity of ore of ordinary richness, say worth $100 per ton, and this, like in all mines, must be, of course, the main reliance for the profitable working of the mine in the future.”[13]
But the next year, the reports were not so glowing. “The Eberhardt, once so famous for its rich ore chamber and stupendous yield, was shut down, as the English Company, which bought out the original owners, had not got ready to work their costly purchase.”[14]
The Assayer
Phillpots must have brought with him his own assayer, F. H. Bousfield. While it can only be surmised at this point that F. H. Bousfield and W. S. Bousfield are related, possibly even brothers, more research is necessary. The fact that W. S. Bousfield was operating in Virginia City for very nearly, and perhaps almost exactly the same period of time does not appear to be a coincidence. Further, where they both went to after their departure from Nevada is a mystery, because neither of them appear in any US or England Census after that date. The only thing we do know is that F. H. Bousfield came back to the US from England on a ship that landed in New York on April 28, 1890, and his occupation was listed as a “Gentleman.”
Summary
This ingot from Treasure Hill is clearly one of the most important silver ingots of the White Pine Rush era. It was made by a British assayer who worked in Nevada, and made the ingot for presentation from the mine’s manager Philpotts to his friend, relative or business associate I. S. Hodson. It is a classic period piece.[1] Raymond, R.; Mines and Mining West of the Rocky Mountains; 1870, p155[1] Raymond, R.; Mining Statistics West of the Rocky Mountains; 1871, p155. Please note that the pagination here is correct. It is a coincidence.
This small, silver ingot bearing the names of Small and Saunders and that of Nevada and Maryland is an incredibly important artifact commemorating the Colored National Labor Convention in December, 1869. Both men, whose names appear on this ingot, went on to give many important speeches and were appointed to positions in their respective states as delegates for the 15th Amendment Ratification. Robert Small was the elected Nevada delegate, and William Saunders was the appointed delegate for the actual attendance to the Convention.
The ingot weighs 3.15 troy oz, and measures about 1” x 2” x 0.5”. Three small holes were drilled, one on the back, and one on each end for what appears to have been an elevated mount position, possibly for a glass case.Please read the story below for more information about this ingot. $65,000.
A Silver Ingot Opens a New Chapter of American History
By Fred N. Holabird
Introduction
Money is a tool of commerce. It is less known as a tool of communication. Treasures of our past are discovered when numismatic items communicate their history. In some cases, that history is so important, it causes new chapters of history to be written. In that sense, this story will create a new book, involving a segment of western history completely lost until a small, engraved silver ingot was discovered in Maryland recently.[15]
Western Trade
The method of trade in the west historically was precious metals. The discovery of massive amounts of gold and silver created mining rushes not seen before in the world – first in California for its gold(1850’s), then in Nevada for its gold and silver(1860’s). As thousands of people from around the world came to the western mining regions, the need for money easily surpassed demand. Miners and mining camp merchants were creative. They traded in gold dust. They made their own pioneer gold coins. They poured ingots from the metals extracted from mines. All of these forms of money regularly traded at banks and the branch mints.
Nevada discoveries resulted in silver and gold production at unprecedented rates. The Comstock proved to be the largest single mining district yet discovered in the world. With that success, the rush was on to find another region that would be as productive. One of the first subsequent discoveries was at Treasure Hill in 1868, known as the “Rush to White Pine” because of its location in remote White Pine County on Nevada’s eastern frontier.
Mining on the western frontier was tough, hard work. Those that could survive were respected. Skin color was not the segregationist’s tool, it was the ability to mine gold and silver that mattered most. Those that couldn’t where naturally shunned from the communities and sent packing.
The Men
The silver ingot is a presentation ingot between two men, Robert Small and William Saunders. Robert H. Small and William Saunders were free-born African-Americans born in Maryland in 1833 and 1836. Small, a relative political activist, took part in the later stages of the California gold rush and mined silver at Treasure Hill in 1869. Saunders became an important lawyer in Baltimore.
Political Setting
Throughout history, the single-most useful way to control humanity was through fear and slavery. Fear was created by war with its associated death toll and seizing of property. Slavery has been known for the entire history of mankind, certainly for more than 5000 years. With these human controls comes one striking constant result- without education there can be no intellectual advancement. Without free thought, there can be no forward progress. In this manner, slavery held back the very things that makes humans special – our ability to use experimentation, logic and reason to improve upon the past and therefore improve the way of life. The free thinkers became the doers – the inventors – the intellectuals.
Robert Small and William Saunders had a strikingly different upbringing than most African-Americans. Born as free blacks during the early 1800’s, they had opportunities never or rarely offered to slaves. They were born into a society destined for great change, but no one knew it. Small and Saunders were educated. Their colored brethren were rarely educated, still held within the ranks of slavery. This gave them opportunities afforded few blacks, at a time when human intellectual thought was still in a period of rebirth. They were born at a time of invention and a time of development. Not only were trains a new and remarkable means of transportation, but the very thought process behind new technologies such as the science of mining geology were just being explored in Georgia and North Carolina only a couple of decades after the first geologic map was produced in the world.
Small & Saunders
Robert H. Small
The past of Robert H. Small is not easy to derive. He was probably the son of Robert H. Small of Philadelphia, a white man, and a servant girl. Born in Maryland in late 1833 or early 1834, he was listed as a Mulatto in all of the census records during his lifetime.[16] About 1858, Small married.[17]
Robert and Harriett D. Small began a large family of five children in 1859 in Philadelphia with the birth of their first child, Ernest A. Small. With the onset of the Civil War which exacerbated racial issues, the new family was probably intrigued by the California gold rush and the rich new discoveries in Nevada Territory, and headed west about 1860-1861. Some historical evidence suggests they settled in the goldfields south of Sacramento, possibly in Shingle Springs near Placerville. While in California, Small worked as a barber, and the family quickly grew with the births of Robert H Small, Jr. in 1862 and Catherine (Katie) B. Small in 1866.
Harriett went back to Pennsylvania briefly in 1868 to have her fourth child, Eugene D. Small. Robert remained in Shingle Springs, but when the news of the Rush to White Pine in the mountains of remote eastern Nevada was first published the newspapers of California, Small was off to Treasure Hill and Hamilton in February, 1869 along with thousands of others to seek his fortune.
Robert had become a vocal part of the African-American community by then. The source of his trip to Treasure Hill was an article in the Elevator, a radical newspaper.
William U. Saunders
William U. Saunders was born in Baltimore Maryland in 1836, and like Small, to parents of mixed racial origin. He married Sarah, ten years his junior, in about 1862. The couple had seven children.[18] In September, 1863, Saunders enlisted in the Army. He was a Corporal and a Quarter Master Sergeant in the 7th U.S. Colored Infantry, discharged November 16, 1866.[19] A year later, the Republican National Committee sent him to Florida, where he helped create the Florida Republican Party as a member of the “Radical Mule Team”, and became President of the Florida Union League. His political activity led him to the 1868 Florida Constitutional Convention. That year he ran for Congress as an Independent. Unsuccessful, he returned to Baltimore where he worked for the Post Office as an inspector, which required a lot of detective work. He studied law, became a lawyer, and in 1869 became active with the Ratification movement associated with the passage of the 13th and 14th amendments. He was chief Marshal for the Ratification Parade in Baltimore just after the completion of the Colored National Labor Union meeting. Saunders and others began working toward the ratification of the 15th amendment by forming a national union to draw attention to their cause of total racial equity in business, life and politics. In 1872 he opened a law office in Alachua County with Josiah Walls (a Congressman) and Henry Harmon. While there he became a customs official as well as a US Marshal.[20]
Small and Saunders probably met in Baltimore while young. Their friendship lasted decades, and in 1869 it resulted in the pair’s mutual cooperation at the first Colored National Labor Convention.
Small in California
Robert Small may have heard of African-American mining exploits in California in places such as Shingle Springs, located in El Dorado County, about nine miles southwest of Placerville where gold was a plenty.
Shingle Springs was an important center for gold placer mining, once reporting $100 for every rocker full of dirt. Nearby was Negro Hill, a mining camp started by Mormons in 1848. In 1849, a group of African-Americans led by a man named Kelsey struck rich ground that paid the team of five men three hundred dollars a day. Soon a store and boarding house went up and more prospectors, including Chinese, swarmed the hills.[21] Racial troubles may have set in by the mid 1850’s, with claim jumping fights over ownership of gold properties, an age-old battle.
Small became a resident of Shingle Springs. Little is known of his occupation, or the exact year he moved west. Certainly this is gold country, and Small undoubtedly was a prospector, but may have moonlighted as a community barber as well.[22] Here he became a steady reader of San Francisco’s Elevator newspaper, one of two western newspapers published by African-Americans in the 1860’s.
The Elevator
Phillip Anderson, a Philadelphian, had become a vocal leader of the African-American community in San Francisco during the 1850’s and 1860’s. He was involved with California’s first African-American newspaper, Mirror of the Times, and began the publication of the Pacific Appeal in 1862 after the failure of the Mirror. His partnership with Phillip Alexander Bell in the Appeal “collapsed” shortly after, according to Leigh Johnson, in her article “Equal Rights and the Heathen Chinee: Black Activism in San Francisco, 1865-1875.”[23] Bell thereafter began a more radical publication, The Elevator. “Bell’s Elevator espoused direct, vigorous agitation; but Anderson’s Appeal preferred to work through elected lawmakers,” wrote Johnson.
Bell’s Elevator had become a voice to many African-Americans in the mother lode region, and Small was one of the listeners. In this regard, Small was in contact with Bell, and the Elevator later reported his departure from Shingle Springs to Treasure Hill in February, 1869.[24] Bell, and thus The Elevator, remained very interested in Treasure Hill, and reported a number of African-Americans working in the mines and mining camps in the White Pine district. In fact, while warning men not to come to White Pine until spring, many, such as Small, ignored the warnings and braved the harsh desert winter of the eastern mining frontier, as noted by Elmer Rusco in Good Time Coming; Black Nevadans in the Nineteenth Century (1975). Reports of great richness permeated western society, which was colorless. The Elevator reported: “A young friend of ours has shown indications of having the fever in its incipient stage. His case is not altogether hopeless, but we fear he has White Pine on the brain too far for recovery.”[25]
Activism and Mining
The Elevator, which promoted activism, was one of the most important forms of communication to the African-American community. It was overlooked by the regular newspapers, and rarely quoted, unlike newspapers from the interior mining regions. The regular newspapers were quoted in mining publications regularly, such as in the Mining and Scientific Press. But to get quoted, the newspaper has to be distributed to a wider audience, and the editors of the Elevator probably failed to recognize that their voice could be heard in the mining press.
The Setting for the Rush to White Pine; Treasure Hill and Hamilton
The late 1860’s were a time of rebuilding, for all Americans and African-Americans in particular. The Civil War was over. It had its toll on Americans everywhere, even the west coast mining regions. It was a time of the passage of three important Constitutional Amendments, the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments which were freedom, the right of citizenship and the right to vote for all African-Americans. Three basic important rights taken for granted by most Anglo Americans.
Small played a great part in all of these matters. His interest in mining at Treasure Hill was aroused by story after story in the Elevator about rich silver discoveries at White Pine in late 1868. Many of his fellow African-American men had run off to White Pine to seek fortunes, and even began forming their own mining companies, such as the Elevator Mining Company, formed in 1869.[26]
African-Americans in the Rush to White Pine, 1868-1869
Not much is known of African-Americans in Hamilton and Treasure Hill during the Rush to White Pine. W. Turrentine Jackson’s Treasure Hill, the quintessential reference work on the rush, barely mentions African-Americans. Other histories of Nevada also neglect similar mention. While Rusco discussed the Elevator and the Rush to White Pine in some detail, there is very little else in the modern written historical record with any morsels of information. If we look to other parts of the historical record, we also find little or no mention of African-Americans in regional directories, though the coverage is poor anyway because of the remoteness of locale. The newspapers printed and distributed there also shed little light. The photographic record is astoundingly poor. Indeed, only one photograph of Treasure Hill or Hamilton is (or was) known from the 1868-1870 period, until the writing of this paper. The one known photograph was taken at a late time of day, and the sun angle created shadows which obscure the faces of the hundreds of individuals in the photo, taken July 4, 1869. As research unfolded, numerous large private collections were solicited, and a remarkable discovery was made. Two original photographs of Treasure Hill from the period, one clearly showing a hotel full of people, about a quarter of which are African-Americans, reproduced here for the first time.
White Pine. Treasure Hill and Hamilton
Treasure Hill and Hamilton were popular to African-Americans. Their comings and goings were regularly reported in the Elevator. As a developing mining region, White Pine didn’t offer much of a race card, and race was rarely noted in directories or newspaper ads. The Elevator had such a profound effect on the western African-American population, that a group named a mine at Treasure Hill after the newspaper in April, 1869. Located near the famous and rich Eberhardt mine, William Hall, J. Ince and J. Mortimer then formed the Elevator Mining Company. Hall stated that “he was ambitious to supply his colored brethren of low countries, with mines as good as any a white man dare own.”[27]
The Elevator reported the account of another man who went to White Pine. His trip was horribly difficult. John Gale wrote in a letter to the newspaper that he “walked the 125 miles from Elko to Hamilton in six days. It had snowed every day since his arrival and no sign of letup in the storm.” A friend of his was paying $200 for a 6’ x 8’ space to sleep. “Lumber is so scarce that buildings go up very slowly.” “In fact I am sorry I came so soon, as I could have made some money in Sacramento City; while here it is nothing but spend, and I am running very light.”[28] Here, we find a possible connection to a future friendship between Small and Gale, started in Treasure Hill, and taken to Sacramento.
While in Treasure Hill, Small became heavily involved with the politics of the Fifteenth Amendment and the politics of the African-American political movement nationwide. He was elected as Nevada’s sole representative to the Colored National Labor Convention in Washington, D.C. held in December, 1869, along with only one other western representative from California. These were the only two western representatives among hundreds from eastern states. California’s representative was none other than William H. Hall, one of the founders of the Elevator Mining Company at Treasure Hill. Small, working in this remote mining camp in eastern Nevada, was unable to attend. A trip from eastern Nevada to Washington DC took up to two weeks of travel each way, and a round trip ticket onboard the newly constructed Central Pacific Railroad in May was probably far in excess of a prospector’s meager means. Small thus sent in his stead his friend of long standing William Saunders, and later commemorated the event with a small silver ingot, which Small had engraved to Saunders with their names and “Nevada” on one side and “Maryland” on the other side.[29]
Small went on to make a powerful speech in support of the Fifteenth Amendment in Virginia City, reported on the front page of the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, the newspaper born of Sam Clemens and also the second largest newspaper published on the West coast. The details of the speech, and of Small and Saunders’ lives are tremendously important, adding a new chapter to a book yet unwritten about African-Americans on the western mining frontier, a secret unlocked by the recent discovery of a simple silver ingot.[30]
As the ores at Treasure Hill petered out, so too did the miners. Small had enough of Treasure Hill, and left for Wadsworth, the new terminus in western Nevada for the Central Pacific Railroad and connecting railroads to other Nevada mining camps. He later ventured further west to Sacramento, where he spent the remainder of his life. Small only stayed in Treasure Hill for a few months, perhaps a year at most.
The Colored National Labor Convention of 1869
In January 1869, the idea for a labor union related to colored people took hold. It was organized over the ensuing months, and a large convention was held December 6 to 10 in Washington DC. It was known as the Colored National Labor Convention. Its ultimate result was the formation of the National Labor Union, and the Constitution of the Union was published in its prospectus. 240 delegates were named to the convention, mostly from the eastern states. A select few states, such as Delaware, had dozens of delegates, while the lone two western states represented at the Convention – California and Nevada – had one delegate each, and both were appointed representatives, rather than residents. California appointed F. G. Barbadoes, a clerk in Washington D.C., as its representative to physically attend the Convention. Nevada appointed William U. Saunders, 58 Mary Street Baltimore, working for the Post Office Department, according to the 1870 Baltimore Directory. The appointed local delegates back home were W. H. Hall of California and Robert H. Small of Nevada, then both living in Treasure Hill. This was the same William Hall involved with the Elevator Mine at Treasure Hill, and former (and future) resident of San Francisco. Hall returned to San Francisco after his foray into mining at White Pine, and rejoined the working force in his old job as a hairdresser. Some of the San Francisco Directories of the period listed him as colored.[31]
Saunders was one of 20 elected vice presidents to the Convention, and was also elected as one of two secretaries. While there were 240 delegates, the official record of the convention stated that less than half were in attendance, though other historical records reflect higher numbers.[32] James H. Harris of North Carolina was elected President of the Convention.
The Colored National Labor Convention was a breakthrough for African-Americans. Not only did the attendees recognize their newly gained freedom, but it was high time the members started thinking like businessmen. Suggestions were made regarding the development of Savings Banks, where if each person of color placed $10 into savings, the 300,000 colored people near Washington alone would have a bank with a capitalization of $3 million, a staggering capitalization at the time, which would have established it as one of the largest and best funded banks in America. At the time, the largest banks were based in San Francisco and New York.
Of particular note is that the Convention authorized the publication of a new journal, “The New Era”, to be published in Washington by the new National Labor Union that resulted from the Convention. This journal was specifically enjoined to educate the public about “labor, education and political interests of the colored people of the country.” Saunders closed the Convention congratulating the members on the success of their venture.
Small in Wadsworth
Once free of the rugged and freezing eastern Nevada mining camps, Small was off to the bustling new community of Wadsworth, where he worked once again as a barber.[33] Wadsworth was a logical choice for a young barber. His wife returned to Nevada from Pennsylvania, and in 1870 their daughter Laura was born. The busy economy in Wadsworth would have welcomed a barber, and Small soon became a vocal part of the African-American community of western Nevada.
Many African-Americans of the period became barbers. Rusco noted: “Clearly the black barbers of nineteenth century Nevada included a substantial group of businessmen.” Rusco further noted that barbers in California staged a business that could be quite profitable, with a yearly income of about $2500-$3000 in 1869.[34] This was better than the handsome $4 per day wages the miners in Virginia City were getting, which were some of the highest wages of the period.
While in Wadsworth, Small soon became part of a growing, simmering political situation throughout America. The ratification of the 15th Amendment to the US Constitution on February 3, 1870 had followed the emancipation of slaves provided for in the 13th Amendment, and their subsequent citizenship guaranteed by the 14th Amendment. Citizen groups all over America met openly to discuss the Amendment. The south generally opposed everything about the amendments, but the west, a bit more avant-guard, generally embraced them. But there was discord noted in every newspaper. The Sacramento Bee, for instance, opposed the gradual plan of emancipation, citizenship and voting rights, noting “that … 99% of all negroes were steeped in ignorance.”… They were, complained the newspaper, “no more fitted to exercise the elective franchise than … so many monkeys.”[35] Outrageous statements such as these rallied the forces. Activism was a runoff of these attitudes, perpetrating and fueling radical newspapers such as the Elevator and Appeal in San Francisco, both published by members of the black community.
The news from February, 1870, though, took the western African-American population by storm. Rallies were held. Parades of celebration ensued. In Virginia City, there was a huge celebration of the Ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment on April 8 by “the colored citizens of Storey County.” Virginia City’s Territorial Enterprise, the newspaper born of Mark Twain, Sam Clemens and the Comstock, reported the celebration on the front page in great detail, rendering the greater part of the fist page to it. Speeches were made and reporters eagerly put the speeches in the paper. The Territorial Enterprise was perhaps one of the two most influential newspapers on the west coast, along with one from San Francisco. The editors recognized this and the importance of the celebration, and placed the content of the speeches accordingly. Here, Robert H. Small shined, and permanently marked his place in history. He wasn’t another uneducated miner or barber. He was a schooled man instantly turned orator, with the rare ability to fire up crowds and incite imagination. Portions of three full columns in one of the west’s most important newspapers were devoted to Small’s speech on that day.[36]
These tidbits from Small’s speech well illustrate his outstanding education and control of the English language:
Glory in the proud privilege of bidding a long, irrevocable and everlasting farewell to our southern masters, while all Christiandom echoes a hearty amen, said Small, who considered the ratification of the 15th amendment granting negroes full voting American citizens the most important day since America’s Independence. We will forgive, but we never will forget… A retrospective glances at South Carolina, the very Sodom of American slavery, will serve to illustrate that there is no royal road to science… History teaches us that science, literature, commerce and all the ancient arts remained dormant for ages, until the spirit of Liberty awoke the native genius of Italy and gave to the world a Dante and Petrarch, revived the lost letters and set sleeping Europe all ablaze with the inspiration of freedom. The fires of liberty thus kindled in the middle ages continued to burn brighter and brighter, until at least their reflecting rays of splendor have scaled the snow clad sierras of Nevada with their golden beams of light, carrying joy to the throbbing hearts of millions, like the lunar light of Heaven when the dreadful storm has raised. Still onward may the mighty genius go…
With Small’s oration, a new man was born. He remained in Wadsworth for at least another year or two, then moved to Sacramento, perhaps rekindling a friendship that originated in the mines of Treasure Hill. There he set up shop once again as a barber, where he remained until his death in the mid-1880’s. In keeping with American tradition, Small entered into a partnership with a man named Speights about 1877, known as Speights and Small’s Orleans Barber Shop. The business lasted for a few years. After Robert died, he passed along the barber business to his son Eugene, who continued with it through the 1890’s. Robert’s son Ernest was a bartender in Sacramento for at least a decade, operating for awhile at Siddon’s Saloon on J Street in the center of town. While Small resided in Sacramento, only in the 1875 Crocker Sacramento Directory was he listed as “colored.” The other years did not include the race designation. [37]
Of curious note in Sacramento is the presence of Henry J. Small, an engineer with the Central Pacific Railroad and later Southern Pacific Railroad. As a railroad engineer, he missed the census of 1870 and 1880, and may be a relative and the reason for Robert Small’s move to Wadsworth, Nevada in 1870.
After Small’s death, his wife stayed on in Sacramento, living at the family house at 508 N. N Street with two of her children.
Conclusion
The silver presentation ingot bearing both men’s names and that of Nevada and Maryland is an incredibly important artifact commemorating the Colored National Labor Convention in December, 1869. Both men went on to make important speeches and take political positions in their respective states for the 15th Amendment Ratification ceremonies. Robert Small was the elected Nevada delegate, and William Saunders was the appointed delegate for the actual attendance to the Convention.
Through this small artifact, a new chapter has arisen in the history of Nevada as well as the history of western mining in General. Somehow an important sliver of history nearly slipped through historians fingertips. The discovery of the ingot, the subsequent rediscovery of the Territorial Enterprise speech by Small, the rediscovery of the Proceedings of the Colored National Labor Convention - a rare pamphlet with perhaps two copies extant, all coupled with the discovery of a photographic archive of Treasure Hill miners and merchants many of whom are African-American, all add up to the unveiling of a remarkably important period in American history when African-Americans stood on equal footing with miners and merchants of the American West.
By Fred N. Holabird
Introduction
This silver ingot is from the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection, It is arguably one of the great Nevada silver ingots, marked with Blake’s name and the mining camp name of Unionville. It also has a tax stamp, dating the piece between 1863 and 1867. Since the piece is designated “N. T.” (Territorial), the piece must date from 1863 to 1864.
The Blake Cousins From Boston
Blake came to California with his cousin Gorham Blake in 1852 on board the steamer Constitution. The pair were the same age, born and raised in Boston. Gorham’s father died in 1847 when Gorham was 18. The family fortune was left to his sister.[38] Both Gorham and Francis (Frank) Blake probably became acquainted with Johan Agrell in Boston, a young goldsmith from Sweden about the same age. Agrell came to California at the same time, and may have even come with the cousins. When they landed, however, the group split up. Frank went to Weaverville, an important mining camp in the central Trinity Mountains along the Trinity River, and Gorham and Johan went to Placerville. The group would follow very parallel lines of work until they met up again in 1860.
FW Blake Enters the Express Business
Blake immediately went to work for Rhodes & Lusk in Weaverville as an express agent.[39] Rhodes & Lusk were the most prominent express firm in the entire Trinity-Shasta gold regions, and by November of 1852 were the primary banking house as well. The region, and Shasta in particular, was so important that Shasta made a play for the California State Capital just before it was firmly established in Sacramento. The
Rhodes & Lusk experience introduced Frank into the gold business in a big way. The business was processing $15,000 per week in gold. The year Blake got there was notable, since Weaverville was home at the time to James W. Denver, the future namesake of Denver, Colorado, and participant in the Colorado gold rush. Denver and California governor John Bigler managed a relief train for emigrants, and after the pair were accused of skullduggery by the Alta Californian, Denver challenged the editor (Gilbert) to a duel. Gilbert was killed . . . Denver was appointed Secretary of State by Bigler, then elected to Congress in 1854.
That same year in 1854, a terrible uprising took place in Weaverville between whites and Chinese miners, with numerous deaths on both sides.
The Rhodes & Lusk business was connected to Wells Fargo by contract, and their competitor, Cram Rogers & Co., were connected with Adams Express. Rhodes & Co. changed partners a number of times until the firm ultimately “retired” in 1857.[40] Blake may have purchased the business, because in 1857 he was listed as the senior partner in the F. W. Blake & Co. Express.[41] Blake continued to run this firm for at least another year.
There is disagreement between historians when Blake opened his own Express company in Weaverville. McDonald claimed it was 1852, and Owens said it was at least 1854.[42] Wiltsee says 1857. Regardless, Blake kept the Wells Fargo agent designation with whatever company he was with. He remained in business in Weaverville until 1859.[43]
Gorham Blake after Placerville
Gorham Blake, meanwhile, left Placerville and joined with William Waters. He had been an agent for Adams & Co.’s Express and other businesses. Blake got to know W. C. Waters, son of William Waters a Sacramento businessman.
In 1855 Blake opened an assay office with John Agrell in Sacramento in November. They hired David Lundbom who had worked for the USAO in San Francisco and also for Kellogg & Co. But the partnership only lasted a month until the year’s end. Blake started his assay office just one month after Harris & Marchand started theirs. In 1856 they noted that the poorest quality gold dust was “coming from Carson Valley” worth only $12.13 per oz. At that time the business was known as Blake & Co. The senior Waters, William Waters, became a partner within the year, and the partnership would last for many years to come.
Blake was not listed in the residential section of the Sacramento Directory in 1858. He may have returned briefly to Boston, or ventured into the mining region near Sacramento looking for a mining investment.
In late 1859, Frank Blake moved to Sacramento to join his cousin. From there the pair moved quickly to Grass Valley, and were both there when the 1860 Census was taken in June. Here they heard the news of the great Comstock discoveries, but were deeply involved in their own mine. Meanwhile, Waters, four years older, was running the Sacramento assay office under the name Waters & Co, and Gorham was this time the minor partner. That partnership formerly ended April, 1861. Gorham went back to Boston immediately. About this time he began a letter correspondence with his cousin Louisa. He even tried to talk her into sending west her husband, who opted to stay in Boston.[44]
The Blakes Strike Silver in Nevada
Frank moved to Carson City in 1861 after the Nevada County mining fray, where he may have contemplated opening an assay office, or perhaps worked for Harvey Harris.[45] David Lundbom, the assayer who worked for Gorham in Placerville, went to work for Harris when he opened his Carson City assay office in 1861 and later the Gold Hill office in 1862. Harris used the name “Pioneer Assay Office” in both Carson City and Silver City, a phrase he used to his advantage in Marysville as well.[46]
In Carson, Frank Blake at one time worked for J. O. Pope. He was a member of the Odd Fellows, and might have met up with Sam Clemens, who was a Mason. They were all about the same age, and in the early winter of 1861, the Clemens brothers were off to Unionville to seek their fortune.[47] Blake either followed about that time, or went the next summer when his cousin Gorham returned to California, first to Placerville, then to Carson City the first week in June. In a letter to Louisa in June, he said he had sent for his assaying tools, so he clearly envisioned opening an assay office somewhere.
Unionville, the Land of Silver
During 1862, the pair left Carson City on June 9th, and arrived in Unionville several days later. Long letters from Gorham to Louisa explain the intense and long exploration of the mines in the Humboldt region.[48] The cousins were obviously looking to buy a mine. Gorham notes in the letters that he expects to return to Sacramento to see Mr. Waters, perhaps to continue their assay business.
The Blake cousins had such a good time in Unionville, well described in several letters to Louisa in Massachusetts, that Frank may never have returned to Carson City except to get his things. Gorham probably did not either. By 1863, F. W. Blake was running his own assay office, probably with Gorham as a partner, and the pair were no doubt buying and selling feet in mines just like the rest of the crowd who specialized in mining. Indeed, in May, 1863, Frank Blake reported to the Humboldt Register that the discovery of the Miami ledge in the Sierra District by Ferguson & Wilson yielded $1340.86 per ton, and another $4786.74, according to an assay certificate issued by F W. Blake, assayer.[49] The Blakes did not advertise in the Humboldt papers until much later, probably because the market was so small that everybody knew them anyway. F. W. Blake also acted as a mining secretary, a potentially lucrative job, since it was customary to pay corporate secretaries in stock. Advertisements in the 1863 Humboldt mining region newspapers included companies such as Manitowoc G&S MC, Humboldt Salt Mining Co. Blake was the secretary for both companies and others.[50] The Blake cousins may have been among the original incorporators of the Manitowoc, which was organized in May 1863.
The Unionville Discovery History
The mines at Unionville were discovered on May 15, 1861. The first locators were William J. Whitney, Hugo Pfersdorff and J. C. Hannan. A small rush ensued. The first miner’s meeting was eight days later. Pfersdorff and Hannan had come to the country in the company of a few local Indians. It was first recorded thus in the Humboldt Register: “On the twelfth day of May, 1861, just as the sun was sinking behind the Sierra, two men, a couple of donkeys, and four native Paiutes, reached the summit of the mountain that overlooks the present town of Unionville. Until that time it is supposed that no white man had ever visited, or even seen, Buena Vista Canyon,” which they named on the spot because of the view.[51]
The Aftermath. Silver City, Idaho
Gorham Blake disappeared from the western mining scene, possibly returning to Boston. F. W. Blake remained in Unionville until 1866. As a former owner of an express company, Blake undoubtedly noticed the traffic between Unionville and the new gold camps of the Boise Basin in Idaho. Just after their discovery, silver was found at a new site known as Silver City in southern Idaho. With business slowly dwindling in Unionville, Blake took up his tools, business and goods and was off to Silver City, where he immediately set up an assay office.
In Silver City, the business was an immediate hit. He soon earned the business of most of the mines, and as a friendly family man with a new son, the family was well liked. He had a few competitors, but in the end, Blake was the most experienced assayer, and as such was likely to receive the bulk of the business.
In 1869, Blake took a foray into Golconda, Nevada while continuing to run his assay office in Silver City.[52] The Golconda business lasted less than a year, and he returned to Silver City, where he continued to build his business empire with the acquisition of a jewelry store and other real estate.
Back To Boston
In 1873 Blake and his family left for Boston, ostensibly to visit his ailing mother, but, they remained there for some time. Gorham also returned home about the same time too. In 1875 they again travelled west to the gold camp of Prescott, where he was appointed an express agent for the Arizona and New Mexico Express. Within a few months he opened his own assay office as well, and quickly secured some of the assaying work needed by the Peck Mining Company, for which there is only one ingot known today. When Wells Fargo opened their office, Blake was appointed agent, and no doubt had some say in getting Wells Fargo to bring their business to Prescott anyway. Blake was so popular that he was elected Mayor. He remained there for the rest of his life, working at various management jobs from dawn to dusk.
Gorham, meanwhile, went to Georgia to investigate gold mines there. He looked at properties in Lumpkin County around Dahlonega and Auraria without success. He found good placer ground in White County just a couple of miles outside of the County Seat, and bought a huge parcel, which he worked for a few years.[53]
The Blake Unionville Silver Ingot
The Blake Silver ingot from Unionville is certainly one of the most important ingots from Nevada, and represents a solid tie to Gorham Blake who issued the gold ingots out of his Sacramento Assay Office as found on the wreck of the S.S. Central America from 1857. It is one of perhaps two or three ingots known from Unionville with the town designation, is easily the most attractive, and is arguably the most historic. The fact that the Blake cousins tramped both Carson City and Unionville at the same time as Sam Clemens is also important, though the group never mentioned each other in letters. By the time Roughing It was published in 1872, both Blakes were back in Boston, and their memories may have faded of the Clemens brothers and Billy Claggett.
The low serial number of the ingot may date it to the later part of 1863 during the beginning of Blake’s assay business there.[54] From Holabird’s unpublished manuscript on Gorham Blake as part of the Georgia Gold Rush.
Photo Courtesy of Stack’s, Lot 3504, John J. Ford, Jr. Collection Part XX & XXI, October 2007 Sale.
No. 319 Silver Assay Ingot from Upper Unionville, Humboldt County, Nevada Territory. According to Stack's, the overall appearance of this ingot is Extremely Fine/Fine. Stack's Cataloguer states that this is “a nice looking bar, square in shape, flat top and slightly rounded back. Smaller on the top than the logotypes used, some letters run off the edges. Flawed on both sides, the back particularly. Opposing corners clipped like the bigger S.S. Central America gold bars.” This ingot is Extremely Rare because Blake was in Humboldt County less than two years and this is one of only two Blake bars from the Ford collection with this address. The Stack's cataloguer can recall only one other Blake ingot from this address, ingot no. 372. The front of this ingot reads: “BLAKE & C[o.] / ASSAYERS. / UNIONVILLE [HUMBOLDT - CO.N.T.]” and the back is stamped “OIR”. The top reads: “SILVER F..724.” and the bottom has the price of $3.88. The left side reads: “NO.319 and the right side reads: “Oz 4.15”. The ingot measures: 44.1 x 31.4 x 9.7 mm and weighs: 29.3 gms. From the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection. $45,000.
Photo Courtesy of Stack’s, Lot 3508, John J. Ford, Jr. Collection Part XX & XXI, October 2007 Sale.
No. 680 Silver and gold Ingot from Silver City, Owyhee County, Idaho Territory. This broad ingot measures approximately 1.5 x 2.25 x 3/8” and weighs 222.5 grams. It is silver gray in color with sharp edges and squared off corners. It is very similar to the layout of other Blake & Company ingots. The face reads: No. 1680/BLAKE & CO./ASSAYERS/OWYHEE, I.T./OZ. 7.13/G.F..022/S.F. .974/G.$3.24/S.$8.97. The other sides are blank.
There are marks on the face that look like scratches, but according to Stack’s Cataloguer, they were in the surface of the bar before it was stamped. The observation made by Stack’s regarding the date of this ingot is that it must predate October 1873 when Blake closed his assay office in Silver City, but was probably made after December 1872 when the tax law of 1862 was terminated. Extremely Fine. From the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection. Please see the story on F. Blake in this catalog. Blake made a number of fine silver ingots for presentation purposes in Idaho. Most are far above normal in quality, often highly polished on the obverse. Blake’s assay office had become an important part of the Idaho mining community, and his many surviving ingots are a tribute to this period. Blake may have had the assay contract for the famous Poorman mine, because many of his ingots are related to that mine. $45,000.
The Cholar and Potosi mines were located on the gut of the Comstock. Assay sheets from their assay office are rare, and we were fortunate to have acquired this collection of approximately eleven pieces. There are six different types of printed forms. They range in date from 1887 to 1893.
This document is for a Savage Mining Co. sample of ore deposited. $225.
Assay receipt for a sample of ore deposited by Savage Rock Point Mill. Very Fine. $225.
No. 24 & 25 Assay receipt for a sample of ore deposited by Savage Mining Co. Very Fine. $225.
This document is for a Savage Mining Co. sample of gold & silver ore deposited and is signed by Meyers. Very Fine. $225.
This document is for a Savage Mining Co. sample of gold & silver ore deposited and is signed by Meyers. Very Fine. $225.
This document is for a Savage Mining Co. sample of gold & silver ore deposited and is signed by Meyers. Very Fine. $225.
This document is for a Savage Mining Co. sample of gold & silver ore deposited and is signed by Meyers. Very Fine. $225.
This document is for a Savage Mining Co. sample of gold & silver ore deposited and is signed by Meyers. Very Fine. $225.
This is a bullion deposit receipt for a sample of ore deposited by Savage Mining Co., which includes 545 ounces of gold and 1210 ounces of silver, and is signed by C.W.Meyers. Very Fine. $225.
This document is for a Savage Mining Co. sample of gold & silver ore deposited and is signed by Meyers. Very Fine. $225.
This document is for a Savage Mining Co. sample of ore deposited. $225.
This document is for a Savage Mining Co. sample of ore deposited. $225.
Balch was born in 1834 in New York. He worked as an assayer for a number of companies before owning his own assay firm, the Comstock Lode Assay Office. He was probably a relative of William Ralston Balch, the author of the important treatise on mines and mining: Mines Miners and Mining Interests in the United States published in 1882.
Another D. Balch item can be found with the Savage Mining Company documents later in this section.
By Dan Dequille. Nevada and the Great Basin Region; Lake Tahoe and the High Sierras. The mountains, valleys, lakes, rivers, hot springs, deserts and other wonders of the “Eastern Slope” of the Sierras. The Mineral and Agricultural Resources of “Silverland”. Towns, Settlements, mining and reduction works, railways, lumber flumes, fine forests, systems of water supply, great shafts and tunnels, and the many improvements and industries of Nevada. Published by F. Boegle, Bookseller & Stationer, Virginia, Nevada. $300.
The Great Comstock Lode Digest from 1859-1937 By Denis J. Mahoney, The Saga of the Comstock Lode By George D. Lyman 1937, The Big Bonanza By C.B. Glasscock 1931, Rocket of the Comstock By Ethel Manter 1950, Mark Twain in Virginia City, Nevada By Mark Twain 1985, A History of the Comstock Silver Lode & Mines By Dan De Quill 1974. All in Very Good. No photograph. $200.
Report of gold and silver ore assay to Gen.R.P.Keating by F.E. Fielding, Assayer. This report is not signed and states the sample is from the Savage Battery (their stamp mills). This report has a rarity of R7. These were the two largest mines on the Comstock that produced more than $70 million dollars in gold & silver. Very Fine. $300.
Report of gold and silver ore assay samples from the Savage stamp mill battery for F.E. Fielding, Assayer. This report is not signed and states the sample is from Savage Battery. This report has a rarity of R7. These are the two largest mines on the Comstock that produced more than $70 million dollars in gold & silver. Tears along right top edge and slight staining, otherwise, Fine. No photograph. $275.
The Gould and Curry began as two adjacent mining claims of Gould & Co. and Curry & Co. They were among those first staked on the Comstock Lode. The Curry & Co. claim was staked by Abe Curry, his brother and one of the Clarks from Grass Valley/Nevada City.
The Gould claim was staked by Alva Gould, Jas. Buckhamer and A. Field (also of Nevada City/Grass Valley.) These claims were staked next to the Belcher ground. The Savage ground, also adjacent, was staked within days. In June the successors (Curry & Co. and Gould & Co. all sold out to several parties) all incorporated as the Gould and Curry. The original shareholders included George Hearst, Wm. Lent and John Earl, who would all go on to be instrumental in the building of the new mill at the junction of Six and Seven Mile Canyons that was completed in 1863 and sold and dismantled after 1870.
The mine produced over $17 million in gold and silver, but was the primary financial motivating machine in 1863 that changed Virginia City from a good mining region to a great one. When revenues from gold and silver went from $6 million to $12.5 million in a single year (1863) much of it came from the Gould and Curry bonanza. At the time it was the largest single ore deposit yet found in the world.
Same as above but for bullion deposited from Manhattan Mill, Central Mill and Atchison Mill. R5.Extremely Fine. From the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection. No photograph. $350.
Same as above but for bullion deposited from Empire State Mill and Booth's Mill. R5. Extremely Fine. From the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection. No photograph. $350.
Memorandum of bullion from the Savage Mining Co. Assayed at the Gould and Curry Assay Office is for bullion from Devil's Gate Mill, Woodward Mill and Central Mill. It is signed by Moore, Assayer and printed by J.P. Le Count and Co. Stationers and Printers, San Francisco This receipt measures 11 x 17. It is very rare, an R7 until the Ford Collection was auctioned, now probably an R6. Extremely Fine. From the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection. No photograph. $350.
Same as above but for bullion deposited from Deland's Mill and Woodworth Mill. R5. Extremely Fine. From the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection. No photograph. $350.
No. 6414 Same as above. Issued to Woods & Chessman, Trustees for eight shares. Signatures illegible, due to cancellation by hole punches across signatures. Also cancelled by red writing across face. One applied revenue stamp at top left corner. Printer-Britton & Rey, San Francisco Datelined San Francisco. Creasing, foxing, chips and folds. Good Condition. $1,650.
No. 67178 Stock certificate for 100 shares belonging to Shaw & Douglas, Trustees Signed Wm. Bauman. $175.
No. 50194 Stock certificate for 100 shares belonging to Nat T. Messer, Trustee Signed HW. Musser. This is the earliest known piece seen by the author. Lithographed Britton & Reye San Francisco Uncancelled. This one was of the most important mines on the Comstock. Encased by Pass-Co Extremely Fine. $800.
Kuh, pronounced KOO, is German for cow.
Leopold Kuh was a well known assayer in Virginia City during the 1860’s. Kuh was born in Hungary in 1817. He came to California during the gold rush and got his start in the gold business on a large scale at the San Francisco Mint about 1856. By 1859 he had his own gold refinery in partnership with Henry Fisher, which grew to a three person partnership the next year known as Kuh & Co.
The great Comstock Lode was discovered in 1859. Early shipments or exceptionally rich ore were made to San Francisco in the fall and winter of 1859 and into 1860. The ores were so rich that most mining men fled to the Comstock and created the “Rush to Washoe.” World renown metallurgist Guido Kuestel was so impressed that he left the employ of Sam Colt to work on the Comstock, where he later published a book on the early ores of the Comstock. Kuh followed suit. he was hired by one of the Comstock mining companies in 1861, and went to work for the Central Mining Co. The Central's two claims were right next to the Ophir claim, along with the Kinney claim. These three claims later became known as the California Mine, which went on to be the largest producer on the Comstock, at $64.6 million through 1905. While there, working in and on one of the greatest mines ever discovered, Kuh learned and refined milling and metallurgical practices to extract the Comstock gold and silver ores.
A year later in 1863, Kuh struck out on his own, opening an independent assay office and metallurgical consulting firm, and located his office located near the Ophir Mine’s office. Kuh thereafter kept an active office in Virginia City until 1869, when he returned to San Francisco, where he worked until he died in 1886.
Kuh led the life of a mine worker. No stories about him or his business appear in the braggadocio journals of his time, unlike his contemporary (assayer) Conrad Wiegand, who was considered crazy by his fellow US Mint workers. The assay reports from Kuh listed here came from the massive archive of the Savage Mining Co. more than three decades ago. These are a rarity of R7.
No. 7923-26 Memorandum of deposited sample by William A. M. Van Bokkelen, signed by Leopold Kuh, printed on letterhead. Original envelope addressed to Bokkelen also included. Extremely Fine. From the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection. $2,750.
No. 1482 Laboratory assay of ore from specific mine locations. $75.
Memorandum of gold and silver ore assay deposited by R. Keating from Savage Battery, signed by Alan Kinkead. The Occidental is the key mine on the Occidental Lode, which was a huge producer in the 1870’s from rich near-surface ores in a very wide quartz vein. Very little mining took place after 1900. This form is very rare, probably R8. Fine. $300.
E. Ruhling was an Assayer and Banker in San Francisco, CA & Virginia City, Gold Hill, and Hamilton, Nevada.
Ed Ruhling was a native of Hamburg, Germany. The earliest information for E. Ruhling, lists him as an assayer at 114 Montgomery St. in San Francisco in 1858. The same source notes that 114 Montgomery was the address for Wass, Uznay & Warwick. Ruhling left San Francisco by 1860, perhaps going to Virginia City.
By 1861 Ruhling was clearly working and residing in Nevada. His office is pictured in a lithograph of Virginia City in 1861, according to Owens., His partner in Virginia City in 1862 was H.V.S. McCullough in the firm of Ed Ruhling & Co. Bankers and Assayers, C Street Virginia City, N.T.; and E. Ruhling & Co. assayers, W. side B near Pasters’. The following year Ruhling’s office is listed as the Granite Building, B Street, opposite Taylor, but he appears to have dropped the banking business at that time.
In 1868 or 1869, Ruhling operated an assay office at the new silver mining camp of Hamilton in eastern Nevada. He may have purchased Van Wyck’s business there as well.
Although Ruhling’s assay office changed location several times over the years, his office was active until March 31, 1871, when McCullough bought out Ruhling. In 1868 the Territorial Enterprise (April 4, 1868) notes that Ruhling & Co. bought out the assay firm of Van Wyck & Co. in Gold Hill and were operating both in Virginia City and at the new branch office.
The Ruhling assay office was given the order for making the last (gold) spike for the transcontinental railroad (CPRR). The original is at Stanford University, and two replica gold lapel pin spikes were made for presentation at the time.
No. 4 $160 Check payable to Assayer E. Ruhling & Co. This is a Bank of California check signed by Tahoe lumber magnate, W.S. Hobart. There are two adhesive revenue stamps at left both bearing Ruhling & Co.'s printed cancellation. Extremely Fine. $350.
No. 8871 Memorandum of gold and silver bullion deposited by Summit Mill. Revenue stamp at top left, signed by E. Ruhling & Co. Receipt totaling $251.28 and $3.17 in fees. Extremely Fine with creases. From the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection. $2,000.
No. 8853 Memorandum of gold and silver bullion deposited by Summit Mill. Revenue stamp at top left, signed by E. Ruhling & Co. Receipt totaling $384.91 and $1.10 in fees. Extremely Fine with creases. From the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection. $2,000.
No. 9735 Memorandum of gold and silver bullion deposited by Savage Co. (Douglas Mill). Signed by E. Ruhling & Co. Receipt totaling $2852.98 and $12.73 in fees. This piece is in Fine condition with creases, light stains, and small tear at bottom. From the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection. $1,500.
No. 8921 Memorandum of gold and silver bullion deposited by Summit Mill. Signed by E. Ruhling & Co. Receipt totaling $3643.74 and $14.24 in fees. Extremely Fine with creases. From the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection. $1,500.
No. 8977 Memorandum of gold & silver bullion deposited for assay. $2,000.
No. 9054 Memorandum of gold and silver bullion deposited by Summit Mill. Signed by E. Ruhling & Co. Receipt totaling $3530.18 and $3.83 in fees. Extremely Fine with creases. From the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection. $1,500.
No. 9696 Memorandum of gold & silver bullion deposited for assay. $1,500.
The Savage was in the gut of the Comstock. The mine got its name from Leonard C. Savage, Downieville miner who bought the claims in 1859. The mine produced more than $17.5 million between 1863 and 1909. It was flanked by the Hale & Norcross to the south and the Gould & Curry to the north. [Ref: DeGroot, C&C, Becker]
Please also see the Comstock Lode Assay Office.
Assay receipt for a deposit made from the Empire State Mill from the Savage Mine. It is signed by D.W. Balch, Assayer. This is a large format receipt measuring 11 x 17”, with black ink printed on heavy white paper with red grid lines. Extremely Fine, except for creasing. From the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection. No photograph. $400.
For more on D. Balch, please see the Comstock Lode Assay Office items earlier in this section.
Request for payment to an individual named N.B. McBee, signed by J.C. Robinson at the Savage Assay Office. This is part of the massive Savage Mine archive. The mine was the fourth richest on the Comstock and this document was produced at the height of their action. $225.
Balance sheet for Assays between 10/5 & 1/5 1869 signed by D.M. Balch, Assayer for the Savage Mine. $400.
No. 37653 Stock certificate for 20 shares belonging to Martin Bacon, Trustee Signed H.M. Seorf(?) $650.
Pay Receipt: For services as assayer for Nov 1883. $225.
Theall & Company were classic Comstock era assayers, who branched out to many of the Nevada silver mining camps as news of their discoveries were announced to the public.
H. W. Theall, born in New York in 1827, bought E. Justh’s assaying business in Marysville in 1859. At the time, his competition was the well known gold rush assaying firm of Harris & Marchand, who later sold out to David Knight in 1863.
Theall may have investigated the mining rushes at Unionville in 1861, Aurora in 1861-2, and Reese River in 1863. His contemporaries in Marysville certainly did, as Knight went from silver camp to silver camp, establishing assay offices in some, and working in others. Regardless, Theall had set up an assaying business in Virginia City, Nevada Territory by late 1862 or early 1863 at the corner of C and Taylor streets, right in the center of town. About this time, Theall may have opened a satellite assay office in Austin, the center of the then booming silver camps of the Reese River Region. During this booming period of the early 1860’s, Theall lived in Virginia City, while his Marysville office was leased or managed by another person. His Austin office was later managed by A. Soderling, a well known assayer in Nevada mining camps, who later worked in such places as Bodie and Treasure Hill.
Theall’s business was so important to the financial infrastructure of the Comstock and Austin, that he took on as partners the bankers Paxton & Thornburgh, who were the major bankers in Austin and to a much lesser degree on the Comstock.
When the White Pine rush attracted thousands of miners and businessmen to this remote eastern Nevada mining region in 1868, Theall was among them. He set up an assay office there, but sadly perished in May of 1869 from an unknown illness at the age of 42.
No. 5145 Memorandum of bullion deposited for assay. $1,450.
No.50273 Stock certificate for 100 shares belonging to Rehfisch & Co., Trustees Signed Robert Sherwood, President. Lithographed by Bancroft Co. The Union was an important mine at the north end of the Comstock. It was a late discovery with initial production in 1871. The vignettes on the certificate are a strong tie to the Union theme of America during the Civil War. $400.
Sidney M. Van Wyck, Assayer, San Francisco, CA. & Aurora, Virginia City, Gold Hill and Hamilton, Nevada. Pgs 381-384).
Sidney Van Wyck was a native of Baltimore, born in1830, if his obituary in both the Alta California and the Territorial Enterprise of 1887 is correct.
As a young man in his twenties he traveled to San Francisco and worked for a time in a gold refinery. He held the reputation as a reader of books and was known to have frequented the reading rooms of the Pacific News, according to Owens. Langley’s San Francisco Directory for July 1860 has Van Wyck listed as a laborer in a gold refinery at the corner of Brannan and Harris streets.
Almost as soon as the first news of new silver strikes in Esmeralda reached San Francisco, Van Wyck was off to open an assay office there, possibly being the first assaying firm in 1860. He was the principal in the firm of Van Wyck and Winchester and later Van Wyck and Sanchez. Sanchez was a banker and former employee of the San Francisco Mint, and Van Wyck married his daughter.
By the summer of 1864 he had opened an assay office in Virginia City, according to the Virginia Daily Union of June 3, 1864. That office was located in the Taylor Building.
Then one year later, by September 1865, Van Wyck and Sanchez opened an assay office in Gold Hill. A year later they closed the Virginia City operation and concentrated all work from the Gold Hill Office. Their competition was Conrad Wiegand.
They continue to be listed in Gold Hill until 1867, when Van Wyck was again listed as an assayer in San Francisco, but he left a year later for the Hamilton silver rush, where he bought Theall’s assay business there, probably with the proceeds of the sale of the Gold Hill business.
Van Wyck stayed in Hamilton for several years until 1873, when he moved back to San Francisco, taking a job as an accountant. By 1876, he was a bullion clerk for the Nevada Bank of San Francisco, but after just four years he was back in the assay business.
Sidney M. Van Wyck passed away in San Francisco April 27, 1887.
No. 693 Bullion deposit for 1157 oz for smelting and assaying by Savage Mining Company. Signed by Van Wyck & Co. Piece torn from lower left corner, and one hole in margin. Otherwise Good condition. $150.
No. 694 Bullion Deposit for 2109 oz for smelting and assaying. $150.
No.2289 Same as above but references the De Land Mill. Very Fine. From the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection. No photograph. $200.
No.2308 Same as above but references the Island Mill. Very Fine. From the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection. No photograph. $200.
No.2317 Same as above but references the Marysville Mill. Very Fine. From the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection. No photograph. $200.
No. 2319 Bullion deposit was made by Savage Mining Co. The mill name is handwritten above the title and this particular receipt references the Central Mill. Like the other Van Wyck receipts in this catalog, these receipts are printed in black on thin white paper. Very Fine. From the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection. No photograph. $200.
No.2433 Same as above but references the Mariposa Mill. Very Fine. From the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection. No photograph. $200.
No. 2462 Same as above but references the Union Mill. Very Fine. From the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection. No photograph. $200.
A Pacific Union Express cover sent by S. Van Wyck, addressed to Mrs. L. Van Wyck in Santa Rosa, CA, postmarked Hamilton. Probably sent when he had an assay office in Hamilton. Some stains, Very Good. No photograph. $250.
By Fred N. Holabird
Introduction
Conrad Wiegand was a boisterous man who was born in Philadelphia, worked for the US Mint, and came to the California Gold Rush in the early 1850’s. He went to work for the US Branch Mint in San Francisco at or near its inception in 1854.
Wiegand was small in stature, but big in ideas, and even stronger still in his opinions. He was a devoutly religious person who saw such injustice in the world that he undertook the publishing of his own newspaper – two of them, in fact. His other passion was the metals question, particularly his political stance generally held by most miners that money should be in the form of circulating hard specie – gold and silver coinage and ingots. Wiegand’s outspoken nature repeatedly got him into trouble, especially during his life on the Comstock. He was severely physically assaulted and beaten twice, which endeared him to the likes of Sam Clemens. As he advanced in age, his mental troubles worsened. Ultimately, his life ended in a hangman’s noose at the age of fifty in Virginia City.
A number of his precious metal ingots exist today as testimony of his work as a mainstream western assayer. These include nearly every phase of gold, silver and copper bullion in which Wiegand worked, as well as examples of items used to promote monetary specie.
Background
Conrad Wiegand shared with friends in Virginia City that he was born in Philadelphia in March, 1830. His father was John Wiegand, a one time banker and later surgical instrument manufacturer. His brothers included a pharmacist (Thomas) and an inventor (George). The family lived in Philadelphia .[55] Conrad, however, soon disappeared from the written historical record of Philadelphia and all American census data. [56] In an interview later in life, Wiegand said that he “entered the assay department of the Philadelphia Mint on $1 a day for wages.”[57] Wiegand apparently trained for several years at the Philadelphia Mint, and mention was made that he worked in New York as well, probably for a private assaying firm.[58]
Wiegand Appointed Assayer, Branch Mint, San Francisco, 1854
In 1854 he was appointed by President Pierce to the Branch Mint at San Francisco as Assayer. By his own admission, he returned to the east coast shortly afterwards to run the New York New Boys Club, then left that job to study for the ministry. Unsuccessful with the Boys Club, he worked for a stint at the Brooklyn Naval Yard. President Abraham Lincoln subsequently appointed him as assayer to the Brach Mint in San Francisco once again.[59] Working again in San Francisco, he soon published an opinionated pamphlet promoting the use of gold and silver as circulating specie.[60]
As one of the original presidential appointees of President Pierce to a position at the US Branch Mint at San Francisco when it first opened in 1854, Wiegand held special status.[61] Information on this early period is scant. By 1855 he held the position with the Branch Mint as Assayer, though this may also be near the date that he returned to New York for a short while.[62] While working there, his naturally boisterous and vociferous nature came to the forefront almost immediately, particularly when the Vigilance Committee was formed and action later taken. Wiegand gave a public speech, reported October 12, 1856 on the moral aspects of the Casey matter.[63] He also published at least one article under the pseudonym William Carroll.
Wiegand was right in the middle of the 1856 Vigilance Committee fracus after James King of William was assassinated by James Casey. These events shaped his life forever, and more importantly, probably helped save his own life a decade later when a possible assassination attempt was made on his own life by John B. Winters. Perhaps the main way in which the James King of William Vigilance problem affected Wiegand was the power of and the use of a free press. In the same manner as James King of William assailed corruption, fraud among politicians and businessmen in San Francisco, Wiegand did the same later in Gold Hill against the powerful Bank of California. Indeed, in a strong paper published after the death of James King of William, it was noted that “he has died a martyr to Freedom of Speech.”[64] This period of Wiegand’s life set the stage for his future work: as an assayer and as a humanitarian speaker and religious leader, probably stemming from his upbringing and family’s roots in Germany.
Wiegand traded jobs within the Mint system several times, perhaps typical of many jobs today, where one changes positions within a specific company for the express purpose of learning all aspects of the business. In this regard, when Wiegand became Coiner in about 1860, he was given the opportunity to learn even more about the assay, gold, and coining business.[65]
Wiegand was present during the troubles at the San Francisco Branch Mint in 1856 when charges were brought against A. Haraszthy for embezzlement. However, once it was learned that the Mint had been under tremendous pressure to process gold shipments at record rates of production never before seen in America, Haraszthy was exonerated. The losses were simply a result of fast and furious throughput in the Mint, and the dust exhumed from the Mint’s chimneys found on neighboring rooftops carried much of the missing gold. Under these extreme circumstances, Wiegand would have learned how to handle the toughest jobs under pressure. It may also have been the first event in his life that placed tremendous stress and burdens upon his mind that may have later led to his unraveling.
Wiegand Starts Politicking President Lincoln, 1861-2
In February, 1862, Wiegand wrote to President Lincoln in Washington. He had tried unsuccessfully to use an end-around method to take charge of certain affairs in the Assay department at the San Francisco Mint by trying to gain authority from Lincoln to hire and fire staff in the assay department whom he did not approve of. Wiegand tried to fire Jackson Snyder, but Branch Mint Superintendent Stevens instead terminated James Mars, who was Wiegand’s apparent right hand man in the Assay department.[66] The letter clearly shows a serious disagreement between Branch Mint Superintendent Stevens and Wiegand, but Wiegand felt the matter of such importance and “to the integrity of our National Coinage” that he wrote Lincoln, bypassing the established chain of command.[67]
President Lincoln must have taken heed, because Superintendent Stevens was subsequently compelled to write a lengthy letter to Lincoln days later justifying his actions and further stating that Wiegand’s letter was part of a “persistent system of attack which this singular person has kept up against me for months.” Stevens noted that Wiegand was “removed at the close of 1857 for extraordinary and unofficerlike conduct – and it was the common report at the time that he was insane.” Indeed, in Haraszthy’s defense of the embezzlement charges, “the counsel for the defense strenuously urged the unfitness of Wiegand for the position from (claiming) unsoundness of the mind, and the consequent unreliability of the assays by which the bullion was charged to the Melter and Refiner.” Wiegand was reinstated in June, 1858.[68] Stevens wrote Lincoln that Wiegand’s behavior was so bad, and his “insidious inciting” of other officers of the Mint against him, that he asked Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase to prefer charges and remove him. Stevens was subsequently given authorization to remove him. Stevens wrote in a post script in April that Wiegand was minding his own business and doing his job satisfactorily. Wiegand agreed to obey orders, but was removed in October, 1861.[69] Stevens went on to write that Mars was removed because he was “one who thinks the South should be left alone . . . ” “Mr. Snyder is a northern man.”[70] Wiegand was later reinstated, perhaps because the Mint could not find a suitable replacement.
Wiegand continued to correspond with Lincoln, in both writing letters of recommendation for various people, and in a request for a personal audience.[71] Ultimately, Wiegand resigned his position at the San Francisco Branch Mint in December, and Lincoln was notified December 14, 1863.
Wiegand Starts New Era in Nevada, 1863-1864
Conrad Wiegand immediately went to work at the newly constructed huge mill of the Gould & Curry Gold & Silver Mining Company located at the intersection of Six and Seven Mile canyons about a mile below Virginia City. The Gould & Curry had struck a bonanza ore deposit in 1862-3 which vaulted the Company into becoming the leading producer of gold and silver in America. A new mill was built to handle the ore, and the Company was so big at the time that it employed about a third of the local work force.[72] Louis Janin, the mine and mill superintendent, must have been happy to have one of the key assayers from the Branch Mint helping manage the company’s operations.[73] Wiegand had been recommended by Thomas Starr King of San Francisco, the brother of James King, of William, assassinated in 1856.[74] But Janin, a well trained mining engineer of the Freiberg School of Mines, was a tough taskmaster, and probably did not tolerate Wiegand’s antics. Regardless of Wiegand’s behavior, there was a problem at the mill in late 1865, and Wiegand may have been subject to layoff. This is perhaps best evidenced by a letter Janin wrote to Gould & Curry President Alpheus Bull that there was a “bullion shortage at the mill . . . due to the long stoppage at the mill . . . I have been unwilling to engage outside mills.”[75] This would have precipitated a major employee layoff as a cost-saving measure, even if temporary.
Wiegand’s job with the Gould & Curry lasted only a few months. With business booming on the Comstock, Wiegand went into business for himself. At that time he must have decided to open his own assay office on the Comstock, and began preparations to relocate to Gold Hill, Nevada, just south of Virginia City.
The Gold Hill Assay Office, 1865
Wiegand opened the Gold Hill Assay Office on May 14, 1865. He scheduled the official opening for June 1, but the Virginia Daily Union reported the earlier opening. [76] Wiegand was financed by the Bank of California through his friend William Chapman Ralston, whom he had befriended in San Francisco. Ralston’s agent on the Comstock was William Sharon, who had full charge of all the affairs of the Bank in the Virginia City region. Sharon had tight control over Comstock mines and businesses. This control, and conflicts created by competing business interests, would soon work against Wiegand.
Wiegand took on a partner a few months after he opened the Gold Hill Assay Office, W. T. Rickard.[77] Apparently Rickard also may not have been able to tolerate Wiegand’s antics, and left for the employ of Van Wyck & Co., assayer competitors who held the Savage Mine contract. Coincidentally, Wiegand’s business failed.[78] The insolvency affected Wiegand, and he swore that he would never again go through such humiliation.
The insolvency was not due to normal debt. William Sharon showed up at Wiegand’s Assay Office one day without notice with a Sheriff in tow, and demanded immediate repayment of the loan which was about $19,000. Wiegand was unable to comply, especially on no notice. Sharon had the Sheriff seize most or all of Wiegand’s assay equipment.[79] Within a couple of weeks, Wiegand was able to secure private financing, but suffered from financial harm while closed. The reason behind the seizure may have been competition with some of Sharon’s friends, not atypical of Sharon’s behavior as Bank manager. Regardless, the episode shaped Wiegand’s future business affairs and steered him toward helping the plight of small miners and businessmen. It was the foundation and the inspiration behind the People’s Tribune, which he published a few years later. By the beginning of 1866, the Gold Hill Assay Office was once again in operation, and Wiegand had brought in A. S. Edwards as a partner.
When Wiegand opened the Gold Hill Assay Office, his competitor was Harvey Harris, who may have had more work than he could handle. Harris was a successful well known western assayer who got his start in the California Gold Rush with Kellogg & Co. and the US Assay Office, and later for the assay firm of Justh & Hunter. He had come from the New Orleans Branch Mint, and after the Branch Mint at San Francisco opened in 1854, he moved into the Melting & Refining Department. In late 1855 Harris and Desiree Marchand opened assay offices in Sacramento, San Francisco and Marysville. The firm is perhaps best known today for their beautiful gold ingots recovered from the wreck of the S.S. Central America which sank in 1857. Harris, in tune with the latest gold and silver rushes, opened offices in Carson City and Aurora in 1861, some of the earliest assay offices in the Territory, if not the first. The Comstock so enthralled Harris, that in 1863 he sold his interest in his firm of Harris & Marchand to his partner and moved to Gold Hill.[80]
The Circulating Specie Push
During the early phases of his western career as assayer, Wiegand began a long period of openly politicking for specie payments. The Federal Government was making a strong move to sell the American People on the use of greenbacks, and the possibility arose that the Fed might demonetize silver and perhaps gold, which set the western miners and businessmen on their heels. Paper currency, known as “greenbacks” because of their colorful green backsides, were so despised in the West that newspapers regularly published advertisements by merchants offering to buy them at discounts up to fifty percent. The feeling among the Western miners and merchants was that miners produced all this new money, and they wanted to be paid in it, not some paper replacement. In their minds, the paper currency was worthless, as proven by the many broken and failed banks in the East during the three decades preceding the establishment of the San Francisco Branch Mint which left depositors with piles and wallets full of worthless paper that had never been backed by gold or silver. Paper currency issued and distributed by San Francisco banks during the gold rush also proved to be worthless. This experience drove home the uselessness of paper currency to western miners, and they wanted nothing to do with it whatsoever.
Wiegand was a continuous pusher of precious metals as a medium of exchange. He gave many speeches, first in San Francisco while under the employ of the US Branch Mint, then in Gold Hill and Virginia City where he operated his own assay offices. He used the power of free speech and freedom of the press to further his agenda of specie circulation. These speeches set the stage for the issuance of a number of gold ingots which he used as money in late 1865 and early 1866. In 1866, he made at least one pure monetary gold ingot - a gold ingot with a face value of $20.00. As circulating specie, this ingot exactly fit the needs of the daily businessmen with whom he was acquainted, including William Ralston, a friend, and president of the Bank of California. With a serious shortage of circulating specie, Wiegand proposed more metals be circulated in the public sector. If the Federal Government couldn’t do the job, private industry could.
His personal slants on religion also came back into the limelight, and he became a Rector for the Humanitarian Christian Society in January 1868, though he resigned two months later.[81] His main concern was for the plight of the small miner and businessman, many of whom were overrun by big business interests. The press, controlled in large part by the Bank of California, suggested Wiegand was crazy and some of the public bought into the idea, though those that knew him said otherwise.[82]
Wiegand continued to make small ingots for presentation, prizes, and so forth. Indeed, he may have been the most prolific of the Comstock assayers to do so since there are nearly twenty known specimens remaining of which there is direct knowledge. One of these ingots, which is well documented but has not been located, was given by Wiegand to Sam Clemens (Mark Twain) in 1868 on the occasion of Clemens’ second lecture in Virginia City. Clemens “was yesterday made the recipient at the hands of Conrad Wiegand, the well known assayer, of a very beautiful and highly polished silver brick, worth some $40. The Brick bears the following inscription: “Mark Twain . . . ” [83] About ten other ingots, both gold and silver, were contained in the famous John J. Ford, Jr. Collection.[84]
Wiegand Becomes Publisher and Assayer, 1870
In early 1870, Wiegand began publication of the Peoples Tribune, a newspaper he started to further moral issues with the public, including the exposure of fraud and scandalous activity on the Comstock. Its technical title, People’s Tribune; Devoted to the Betterment of All Things to the Defense of Right and to the People paralleled the efforts of the Germans in 1848 and later James King, of William’s San Francisco Bulletin. Here, Wiegand used his power of free speech and freedom of the press in exactly the same manner as James King, of William with very nearly the same result. Bank of California interests told the people through their voice in the newspapers that he was using the Tribune as a “religious forum,” but he was clearly using it for his political forum for his views of maintaining specie payments and the standardization of gold and silver in the US monetary system. Rich Lingenfelter and Karen Gash summarized the effort: “To Wiegand, the Tribune was a moral mission. It was a crusading magazine, which endeavored to become the conscience of Washoe.” Only six issues were printed because of the trouble it caused.[85] A month later, he tried to start another paper “The People’s Paper”, but its level of success is unknown as no copies survive.
Just after the People’s paper began publication, Wiegand was seriously physically attacked by Griff Williams as reported in the Territorial Enterprise January 14, 1870. Williams cold cocked Wiegand, who was preoccupied, carrying an armload of papers and headed for his Gold Hill office. Williams repeatedly struck Wiegand with his fist from behind and violently kicked his head with his boots without provocation. Wiegand at first had no idea who hit him. Witnesses came to his aid and Williams was later arrested, fined $7.50 and told the judge “that he had been talking about him, and he could not stand it any longer.”[86] Clemens later claimed any talk of Williams by Wiegand was imaginary.
“Mr. Wiegand is a weak man, and notoriously non-combative” wrote the editor of the Territorial Enterprise Joseph Goodman. Then, a few days later, Wiegand was physically assaulted again in what was probably an assassination attempt, this time by John B. Winters, the superintendent of the Yellow Jacket Mining Company. Winters had asked (Wiegand later stated that Winters demanded and ordered his appearance) for a meeting with Wiegand after somewhat insulting charges and insinuations were made in the Peoples Tribune. Wiegand refused, so Winters went to Wiegand’s office and waited out of sight in the dark and sent Gold Hill News editor Phillip Lynch to find Wiegand. Wiegand, soon encountered Winters, thinking Lynch was an impartial witness. Winters denied what he claimed were the charges in the Tribune and demanded a retraction. Wiegand refused, and Winters struck him with a “cowhide”[87] several times, apparently knocking him silly. The Territorial Enterprise interviewed Lynch, who thought the action of Winters was disgusting. Ultimately it may have cost Winters his job, as William Sharon, a Board member of the Company, and financier through the Bank of California, may have decided the behavior was unacceptable, though some have suggested Sharon was behind the attack.[88] In July, Wiegand experienced another setback when his assay office burned in a terrible fire that destroyed most of the local Gold Hill business district. It caused Wiegand to temporarily open an office in the Morrill building in Virginia City, which subsequently remained open for a number of years.[89]
Enter Sam Clemens (Mark Twain)
Sam Clemens was a friend of Territorial Enterprise editor Joe Goodman’s, as well as most of the Comstock editors. At the time of the attacks, he was deep in the throws of writing Roughing It, later published in 1872, a wondrously humorous autobiographical work of Clemens’ mining sojourns and editorial whimsies and mishaps. Clemens heard of the affairs, and was so incensed at their nature, that he published the whole mess in the back of the first edition of Roughing It. A short recitation of a few of Clemens’ comments on Wiegand will illustrate his sentiments:
Concerning a Frightful Assassination That Was Never Consummated
If ever there was a harmless man, it is Conrad Wiegand of Gold Hill, Nevada. If ever there was a gentle spirit that thought itself unfired gunpowder and latent ruin, it is Conrad Wiegand . . . When I met Conrad Wiegand he was superintendent of the Gold Hill Assay Office – and he was not only its superintendent, but its entire force. And he was a street preacher too, with a mongrel religion of his own invention, whereby he expected to regenerate the universe.
Something less than two years ago, Conrad assailed several people mercilessly in his little “People’s Tribune” and got himself into trouble. Straightaway he airs the affair in the Territorial Enterprise in a communication over his own signature, and I propose to reproduce it here, in all its native simplicity and more than human candor. Long as it is, it is the richest specimen of journalistic literature the history of America can furnish, perhaps.[90]
Wiegand in the Territorial Enterprise article noted how John Winters’ threats were carried out. His assay business suffered severely, as other mining companies took their business elsewhere, again implicating coercion by Sharon and the Bank of California. He described Winters direct conversation to him about how they were going to kill him, and indeed, he was told he would have been killed (“not permitted to reach home alive”) then and there if he were not quite full in the head. Wiegand insisted that Winters was assisted by Gold Hill News Editor Lynch, who was in on the scheme from the start. Lynch later admitted he was involved, though denied any knowledge of an assassination attempt.
Wiegand Finds Ways to Reestablish His Assay Business
After the Winters attack, Wiegand lost a lot of business. But after the Territorial Enterprise article, business slowly dribbled back in. Public sentiment eventually went against Winters, but Wiegand had to find new ways to gain business. He held lectures, taught classes and did most anything in the limelight to draw attention to his business.
In 1873, Wiegand published papers on the refining of copper-based precious metals bullion, and it is most likely during this period that he produced the few copper-based precious metals ingots that survive today.[91]
During the course of his career, he authored at least one book on assaying, and several pamphlets on the specie issues, as well as many public lectures on specie and religion, morality, etc. He wrote and published a pamphlet for the Money Commission in 1876, and was said to have greatly assisted Nevada senator John P. Jones in his specie arguments on Capitol Hill.[92]
Always the inventor, as were other members of his family, Wiegand patented a new process for slimes and tailings reduction machinery in 1874.[93] A few years later he was involved in a new mercury and silver separation process.[94]
In the mid to late 1870’s Wiegand taught assaying classes in Virginia City that included blowpipe analyses and mineralogy.[95]
But the next few years were devoted to his work and the “Silver Question.” Feds had proposed to eliminate silver from the money issues, and Nevada lobbied and protested vehemently, through their newspapers, Congressmen, Senators and business interests. Somehow the Centennial year prompted the most action from Wiegand, and the local papers were full of his commentaries.
Tragedy struck Wiegand many times. His daughter died, and her husband, an assayer in Eureka Nevada, also died a premature death.
An Assayer Dies in the Hangman’s Noose
Wiegand hastened his meeting with his maker on May 31, 1880 by questionably committing suicide in his office. Though there were injuries to the body and blood was found in unusual places in his office, his death was ruled a suicide by the Storey County Coroner. He was suffering serious debt, though his wife felt it was under control. He also suffered fits of what he himself considered insanity, and he feared that mental condition as an ultimate fate at old age. Sam Dowling, who had been working for Wiegand for a number of years, took over the business, which retained the name for several years.[96] W. S. James later bought the business. Many people thought Wiegand was murdered, and the usual suspect was believed to be John Winters. Even Territorial Enterprise Editor Goodman thought there was a bit of possible tom-foolery in the death. Later journalists, such as Sam Davis of the Carson Appeal commented: “No review of early journalism in Nevada would be complete without mention of Conrad Wiegand, the most peculiar man who ever tramped the trails through the sagebrush. An assayer by profession, he was a deep student of the question of metals as a medium of exchange and wrote voluminously on the subject.” Davis noted that he was beaten by opponents, while “most any other editor would have had recourse to a six shooter.”[97]
The Wiegand Ingots
A number of precious metal ingots remain today as a testament to this troubled, yet apparently brilliant man. Perhaps ten different silver ingots exist, mostly from the Gold Hill Assay Office. A few may have originated from the short lived Virginia City office. At least five gold ingots exist from Wiegand’s Gold Hill Assay Office, all dated 1865 or 1866, which was during the initial period of his Comstock assay business, and during which time Wiegand pushed the specie in payment issue in preference over greenbacks.
Much has been written of late on Wiegand, but little of it coming from detailed research. Wiegand’s historical record clearly demonstrates that he made many presentation ingots including one to Sam Clemens. More importantly, he was an outspoken proponent of specie as money. He constantly pushed the “specie as money” concept in the press, in public speeches, in printed pamphlets, and in his own newspaper. From his early days working for the Branch Mint at San Francisco to his last days on the Comstock, Wiegand promoted the use of gold and silver. The $20 gold ingot from Gold Hill is a lasting artifact and testament to Wiegand’s life.
Photo Courtesy of Stack’s, Lot 3534 John J. Ford, Jr. Collection Part XX & XXI, October 2007 Sale.
No. 8612 Silver ingot, thought to be by Wiegand. This ingot was once attributed to Price, but the author believes it to be a product of the Gold Hill Assay Office of Conrad Wiegand. It has a typical Comstock fineness of .947 fine silver and .0185 fine gold. It also has a fancy patterned border on both the obverse and reverse, typical of Wiegand for presentation bars.
At least two different border patterns are known on Wiegand ingots, both illustrated in the Ford catalog. The overwhelming factor for the Wiegand interpretation is the layout and punches of the ingot itself. Here, the first four lines of the ingot are in exactly the same style as a Wiegand ingot, utilizing what appear to be the same punches for the serial number and ounce designations. The logotype for Wiegand himself is missing, but there was room for it under the silver designation.
Price’s ingots generally carry the assayers logotype directly under the serial number in the same manner as Kellogg & Humbert, Kellogg & Hewston (where Price worked) and the San Francisco Assaying and Refining Works. Without the assayer’s logotype, however, the ingot cannot be classed within the value range of the others that do contain the logotype. From the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection. $15,000.
Photo Courtesy of Stack’s, Lot 3553 John J. Ford, Jr. Collection Part XX & XXI, October 2007 Sale.
Wiegand silver ingot. c 1870’s. This 1.50 troy ounce silver ingot is a typical Comstock ingot of silver fineness .957 and gold .0335. It is characteristic of Wiegand in nearly every way, typically marked with punches in an orderly fashion on the face. The other attribute of this ingot that is normal for Wiegand is the reverse, where a pattern has been punched around the edge. This was clearly made for the purpose of engraving something within the rectangle so that the ingot could be used as a presentation piece. The ingot was probably purchased from Wiegand for a fee from his assay office, though it was never engraved, as were a few of others seen in private collections today. From the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection. $21,000.
Photo Courtesy of Stack’s, Lot 3557 John J. Ford, Jr. Collection Part XX & XXI, October 2007 Sale.
No. 580 Wiegand silver ingot. This 8.40 troy ounce silver ingot is another example of Wiegand’s work created from Comstock ore, with typical Comstock fineness. This ingot is quite a bit larger than most, and as such may be one of the best of the Wiegand ingots for public display. From the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection. $22,000.
Photo Courtesy of Stack’s, Lot 3555 John J. Ford, Jr. Collection Part XX & XXI, October 2007 Sale.
No. 7091 Wiegand Silver Ingot. c 1873. This 4.40 troy ounce ingot is a silver-gold piece of significance. This piece is .558 fine silver and .0155 fine gold (not 155 fine gold as reported in another catalog). As such, it is only .0573 fine in precious metals, and may contain copper as the other alloy. Wiegand was well known to experiment with silver-gold-copper ores and bullion, and this ingot is one such example. At least one Wiegand ingot is known to the author that is more than .500 fine in copper. The copper experiments help date the ingot. In August, 1873, Wiegand was published in a series of articles in the Territorial Enterprise of Virginia City noting his work on refining copper based bullion. This ingot does not have the usual assay chips taken from opposing corners, and that alone may indicate that the piece was from his experimental phase. The copper based ingot previously mentioned also does not have the assay chips. This is a rare and significant piece in the history of metals refining and assay bars in general. From the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection. $27,500.
No. 5092-94 Ore assay report left by B.A. Leete. Good condition but with some discoloration and staining. One slight tear at upper right side professionally repaired. This piece was discovered by Holabird in the early 1980’s along with several other Wiegand pieces. All ephemera from Wiegand is Rare to Extremely Rare. This form is R8. From the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection. $3,500.
Stock certificate for 20 shares belonging to E. Hestres Signed E. Pascal. No photograph. $400.
No. 222 Stock certificate for 26 shares belonging to E. Hestres. Signed. No photograph. $400.
“Oasis Mill White Pine District, To Sister Mary of the Methodist church from S.L. Richards Re: Mining in Ca., Effort to Plant Methodist Churches and mention of other religious organizations." No photograph. $300.
[1] 1863 Directory of Nevada Territory. The “Buena Vista” name was only used briefly. It gave way to the more popular “Unionville.”
[2] 1862 Territorial Census
[3] He is not listed in 1865 works.
[4] Humboldt Register 5/23/1863
[5] 6/20/1863 and 5/23/1863 Humboldt Register,
[6] 5/2/1863 Humboldt Register
[7] Humboldt Register 5/16/1863
[8] P444.
[9] Vol VIII, No. 8, Feb. 20, 1864, p115
[10] Gillis; Directory of Storey (and other) Counties, Nevada; 1868. Schultze is not listed in the 1871 Pacific Coast Business Directory published by Langley.
[11] During the course of research for this paper, numerous misspellings of the Bousfield surname were found for the same people. These include: Bousfield, Bowsfield, Bowsefield, Bonsefield. From this data, it may be surmised that the correct pronunciation of this surname is “Bowsfield”.
[12] Jackson, W. T.; Treasure Hill; 1963, p166.
[13] Raymond, R.; Mines and Mining West of the Rocky Mountains; 1870, p155
[14] Raymond, R.; Mining Statistics West of the Rocky Mountains; 1871, p155. Please note- the pagination here is correct. It is a coincidence.
[15] The ingot weighs 3.15 Troy ounces, and measures about 1” x 2” x 0.5”. Three small holes were drilled, one on the back, and one on each end for what appears to have been an elevated mount position, possibly for a glass case.
[16] The lone exception is the Nevada Census of 1870, in which the current internet records incorrectly transcribed the official US Census, and show him as white.
[17] The historical record is obscured by the presence of at least three different Robert H. Smalls born in Maryland or Philadelphia over the same approximate decade.
[18] He had seven children according to census data, Sarah born 1863, Magdalin born 1865, Mary born 1868, Adelaide born 1870, Cora born 1872, Baranchia born 1877 and Joseph, born 1873. Saunders died sometime before 1900. His wife Sarah had remarried by then to Thomas Shorter, nearly twenty years her senior.
[19] Maryland Soldiers in the Civil War Vol. 2 web site.
[20] Graham, LeRoy; Baltimore, The Nineteenth Century Black Capital; University Press of America; 1982; pp206-224. Also Foner, Eric; Freedom’s Lawmakers: A Directory of Black Officeholders During Reconstruction; LSU Press; 1996; pp189-190. Mr. Randy Lieberman kindly helped with the research on Saunders.
[21] Sioli; History of El Dorado County; 1883; p199-201. Also Gudde; California Gold Camps; 1975, p317.
[22] The only mention of any Small surname in Paolo Sioli’s History of El Dorado County is for Small’s (station) on the road to the Alpine mining districts near the summit, 64.05 miles from Placerville.)
[23] The Western Historical Quarterly, Vol. 11, No. 1, January, 1980, pp57-68. Purchased at a fee with internet download, a great service.
[24] Elevator, 2/5/1869
[25] Rusco, p148.
[26] Johnson, Leigh; “Equal Rights and the Heathen Chinee: Black Activism in San Francisco, 1865-1875” in the Western Historical Quarterly, v11, No.1, January, 1980, pp57-68. Rusco, p149.
[27] Rusco, p149.
[28] Rusco, p148.
[29] Proceedings of the Colored National Labor Convention held in Washington, D. C. on December 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th, 1869. Printed by the New Era, 1870, Washington, 46 pages.
[30] Territorial Enterprise, April 9, 1870; Rusco, Elmer, Good Time Coming; Black Nevadans in the Nineteenth Century, 1975.
[31] Rusco, p 148. Langley, San Francisco Directory, various years in the 1860’s and 1870’s consulted. Hall and Small are shown as the local delegates on page 34 of the Convention proceedings.
[32] Some African-American web sites discuss an attendance of up to 214 attendees, but do not back up the statement published in the Convention proceedings, which was the source of the statement that less than half of the delegates showed up.
[33] 1870 Nevada Census.
[34] The business is well discussed in Rusco’s Good Time Coming, and readers are referred there for more information.
[35] Johnsen, p60, from the Sacramento Bee, April 11, 1865.
[36] It is important to note that Small’s speech was noted in a single entry on a 3x5” index card in the Territorial Enterprise index at the Nevada Historical Society. It was amazing to me that it had never been quoted. When I called for the microfilm, I found out why. The film of that specific page was shot completely out of focus, such that all that is readable is Small’s name at the end of the article. No wonder Rusco and others never saw it. I found the only existing physical copy at the University of Nevada Reno Special Collections Library and read it there. The papers were a gift of Clarence Mackay, son of Comstock miner and mine financier John W, Mackay.
[37] Crocker; Sacramento City Directory; The following years were consulted: 1873, 1875, 1876, 1878, 1888, 1889.
[38] Suffolk County PR 37379, 149:70
[39] History of Northern California, p276 Lewis Publishing, 1891. Much of this is repeated in Cross, and may have been Cross’ source.
[40] Cross, Financing an Empire. 1927. Also Winther, O.; Via Western Express Stagecoach; 1945, p51-2
[41] Wiltsee, E.; The Pioneer Miner and Pack Mule Express, 1931 (1976 edition), p103
[42] See Owens, D.; California Coiners and Assayers, 2000, p102
[43] McDonald, Doug; in Rare Coin Review, Spring 1987 and others (FH manuscript); Owens, D.; California Coiners and Assayers; 2000.
[44] The letters are at the Bancroft Library. See Owens.
[45] FW Blake is lsted in Carson City in the 1862 Territorial Census. No occupation
[46] 10/20/1861 Carson City Silver Age.
[47] Much is written by Sam Clemens of their Unionville forays. See Roughing It.
[48] See Owens, California Coiners and Assayers.
[49] Humboldt Register, May 23, 1863
[50] See also McDonald.
[51] 5/16/1863 Humboldt Register, p1, column 3.
[52] From the F. W. Blake Correspondence, Golconda, Nevada and Silver City, Idaho, c 1867-1870.
[53] From Holabird’s unpublished manuscript onGorham Blake as part of the Georgia Gold Rush.
[54] Same
[55] 9/30/1876 Territorial Enterprise 2:3
[56] Our assayer is not the same Conrad Wiegand that is present in the 1840 and 1854 Philadelphia Directories, working as a cabinet maker. Conrad Wiegand is not listed in any American census except 1870, when he shows up as a resident of Virginia City, and his name is misspelled. Using all other of the usual permutations of his surname, there is absolutely no record of him in Philadelphia or anywhere else before this. An argument can be made that he may have returned to Germany. Whether Conrad the assayer was born in Philadelphia, or one of the German States is presently unknown. Current evidence points to the idea that he and his family may have returned to their homeland to one of the German States in the 1840’s during a serious period of political upheaval. In 1848 there was a revolution that lasted almost two years. The revolutionaries demanded better working conditions, democratic ideals, freedom, and a removal of the traditional political structure. The revolution failed, and many left the German States for better living conditions and were in flight of persecution. Many fellow countrymen permanently left their homeland, and a number of the Wiegand family landed in the US and began new lives in Philadelphia. Conrad may have been one of the revolutionary forces – an outspoken and boisterous young man who moved to avoid persecution.
The fact that Conrad Wiegand is missing from significant parts of the historical record indicates to the author that he was hiding from something. Missing one Census is one thing. But missing every Census during a lifetime except one is more than a mistake or anomaly. Conrad is not listed in the 1847 McElroy’s Philadelphia Directory (p.373), nor are a number of the Wiegand family that are listed in 1851 (McElroy’s Directory). These other men with the same surname are also absent from the Census data. No attempt was made to locate actual birth records in Philadelphia. More research is needed, but the evidence that the Wiegand family may have been involved in the German States revolution is a real possibility.
Conrad Wiegand is a common name, and others with this name, particularly a cabinetmaker, were present in Philadelphia at the same time, but are not the same person.
[57] 9/30/76 TE
[58] Lincoln Papers, Library of Congress, letter to Lincoln from Stevens, Feb 28, 1862, p2. Wiegand was not found in any Philadelphia Directory nor any New York Directory of the period. The New York Assay Office was established in 1853, and there is a slight chance that Stevens’ reference to Wiegand’s work there was during a short period of late 1853 to early 1854.
[59] Unfortunately, little of the latter information can be reconciled in the historical record. The information comes from a series of letters in the Lincoln Papers, and an interview published in the Territorial Enterprise as noted previously.
[60] It is not known if this pamphlet still exists. It was reported in several news articles.
[61] This is the inference made in a letter from Superintendant Stevens to President Lincoln, Feb. 28, 1862.
[62] American Almanac and Reporters of Useful Knowledge for the year 1856; Boston, 1855, p217.
[63] James P. Casey, editor of the Sunday Times, was one of many men aligned by newspaper editor (the Bulletin) James King of William. Casey assassinated the editor and was subsequently hung by the Vigilance Committee. It was James King of William’s brother Thomas Star King that got Wiegand appointed as Assayer at the Gould & Curry Mill awhile later. Wiegand’s pamphlet was entitled “Dr. Scott, The Vigilance Committee and the Church, San Francisco, 1856”; Los Angeles Westerners, 1971, p12.
[64] True and Minute History of the Assassination of James King Of William at San Francisco, Cal…1856, Towne & Bacon printers, page 23.
[65] Bancroft; History of California; 1890, v7.
[66] Could also have been a related department. Mars is probably the same as J. A. Mars, who later was a partner in the California Assay Office. In the Lincoln Papers, the name is spelled “Marz”.
[67] Lincoln Papers, Library of Congress, Feb. 10, 1862, 2pp. The actual response is unknown.
[68] This period of the Branch Mint’s history needs more research.
[69] There are other notes in the Lincoln Papers regarding Wiegand from April, 1861.
[70] Lincoln Papers, Library of Congress, Stevens to Lincoln Feb 28, 1862
[71] Lincoln Papers, June 30, 1862; April 20, 1863; May 2, 1863; and Dec. 14, 1863
[72] The Gould & Curry Bonanza was the primary driving force for the emigration of Welsh, Scottish and Irish mine workers. The First and Second Directories of Nevada Territory show the impact of the Gould & Curry in the listings of residents who worked for the Company.
[73] Janin is considered one of the great mine superintendents of the nineteenth century. He was second to none in his accomplishments on the Comstock.
[74] Territorial Enterprise (TE) article 9/30/1876. Brother of James King, of William, assassinated in 1856.
[75] Letter from Janin to Bull 1/22/1866, Nevada Historical Society. Note: the average bullion bars shipped by the G&C at this time were $1200 to $1500 each. Processing ore at custom mills was a normal process in the first decade of production on the Comstock. The expensive Gould & Curry Mill was the first major mill built exclusively for a single mine on the Comstock. Ores had been shipped to custom mills in 1863 while the “bugs” were being worked out of the G&C Mill, but once operational, Janin was reluctant to go back to the old custom mill system.
[76] TE 5/14/1865 appeared an add for Wiegand, “New Today”
[77] Rickard had moved to Virginia City from Helena, Montana. In 1865 he set up an assay office in the Truckee Meadows near where Reno would later be located. He later moved to Tombstone and other western mining camps.
[78] There is also the possibility that Wiegand was unable to secure the mine contracts for assaying their ores and bullion right away, thus the procurement of a partner may have been premature. The insolvency was reported in the Gold Hill News 1/2/1866.
[79] This episode was recounted in the Peoples Tribune and reprinted in the Territorial Enterprise and in Roughing It.
[80] Owens, D.; California Coiners and Assayers; 2000.
[81] 1/14/68 TE; 2/27/68 TE
[82] There are many comments about Wiegand by his friends, particularly after the Winters incident and after his death. Most were published in local newspapers, as well as in Roughing It, the Doten Journals and elsewhere.
[83] This was probably about a 25 troy ounce ingot. The average fineness of most of the Comstock silver ingots was about 855 to 900 fine silver, and about 040 fine gold, with some copper as an impurity. The Inscription here is purposefully left out. Mark Twain Letters, Volume 2, p261.
[84] The Ford Collection (of ingots) was sold in October, 2007 by Stack’s in New York City.
[85] Lingenfelter, Gash; Newspapers of Nevada; 1984, p99
[86] 1/14/70 Territorial Enterprise. (TE)
[87] The term referred to is a pocket weapon made of rawhide, tightly woven. It was a weapon that today is known as a “billyclub.” The details of the attack can be found in Roughing It, Appendix C, 1872.
[88] Territorial Enterprise, 1/18/1870. It must be noted here that this incident, a major event on the Comstock, was curiously and quietly omitted from nearly all of the great contemporary works such as Elliott Lord’s Comstock Mining and Miners, Dan Dequille’s Big Bonanza and others.
[89] TE 7/6/1870
[90] Twain, M.; Roughing It, Appendix C; 1872.
[91] 8/27/73 TE, 2:2 and 2:4.
[92] 7/21/1876, 9/30/1876 Territorial Enterprise
[93] 7/24/1874 3:1 Territorial Enterprise (TE)
[94] TE 12/26/73
[95] TE 10/2 /77
[96] TE 6/15/80
[97] Davis, S.; History of Nevada; 1912, p479-80