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Register of the El Dorado County Gold Rush Papers,
1852-1865
Mss53
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Title: El Dorado County Gold Rush Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1852-1865
Collection number: Mss53
Creator:
Extent: 0.125 linear ft.
Repository:
University of the Pacific. Library. Holt-Atherton Department of
Special Collections
Stockton, CA 95211
Shelf location: For current information on the location of
these materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
Language: English.
Collection is open for research.
[Identification of item], El Dorado County Gold Rush Papers, Mss53,
Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections, University of the Pacific
Library
El Dorado County, California, one of the original 27 counties and third
most populous after San Francisco and Sacramento during the Gold Rush, was the
site of James Marshall's original gold discovery (Coloma, 1847). By the
following year the area faced a massive influx of gold seekers, notably along
the American and Cosumnes Rivers. The largest communities in El Dorado County
were Coloma (county seat from 1850 to 1857), Placerville (county seat from
1857), Georgetown and Diamond Springs.
Gold was discovered early in Placerville (1848) and the area proved to
be one of the richest in the Mother Lode. This was always one of the largest
towns in the Sierra, having a population of over 6,000 throughout the Gold Rush
period. Among its illustrious citizens, one should mention J.M. Studebaker,
blacksmith, who went on to become an early automobile tycoon, and Philip D.
Armour, butcher (1852-1856), who became a noted Chicago meat packer.
Diamond Springs, three miles south of Placerville, had about 3,000
residents, several stamp mills and a post office in 1853. It too was a rich
site and hydraulic mining continued there into the 20th century.
The collection contains two Placerville items. Both are letters relating
to Post Office business (1852; 1858). The collection contains a Diamond Springs
letter from Joseph S. Bradley acknowledging receipt of a water company
transcript from the Secretary of State (1853). Other items in this collection
are a deed to land on the "Smith Tolbert Road" (1865) and a notice of
continuance in the case of A. Howells vs. A. Sands (1852). The latter document
mentions attorney, A.J. Buckner, and is signed by County Clerk, Josiah
Gordon.
List of names mentioned in documents Bradley, Joseph
S............................... Buckner,
A.J...................................... Conze,
D............................................ Gordon,
Josiah...................................1850 census, age 24 FL Howell, A.
(possibly "Abel")..............1850 census, age 25 OH Jacobs, Rudolph
................................ Nugent, Thomas
C.............................1850 census, age 28 IN Small ms. collection, Cal
State Lib. Sands, A............................................ Spence,
A.H.......................................Postmaster (1859) SF Herald
(2-21-59); d. 11-25-90 According to Cal State Lib. Biogr. File