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Bath Maine Mining Company letters, 1849-1851.
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Collection Overview
Title:
Bath Maine Mining Company letters, 1849-1851Abstract:
Contains seven manuscript letters written by various men from Maine who ventured to California with the backing of the Crooker
family of Bath, Maine. All of the letters are addressed to the Crooker family from the men who took various routes to California,
most by the overland route while one traveled by sea, Henry D. McCobb. One letter, on pictorial lettersheet depicting San
Francisco harbor, enclosed $2000 dollars as per the agreement made with the Crooker family.
Date:
1849 (issued)Subject:
n-us-caBath Maine Mining Co. -- Correspondence
Gold miners -- California -- Correspondence
Gold mines and mining -- California
California -- Gold discoveries
Note:
Bath Maine Mining Company letters, BANC MSS 2018/215, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Upon the discovery of gold in California in 1848, the Crooker family created the Bath Maine Mining Company and gave a company
of 13 men from Bath$200-250 dollars to search for gold. The agreement signed in 1849 required them to send half of their earnings
back to the Crookers. The attempt was largely unsuccessful and an eventual lawsuit involving Henry D. McCobb and the ship
William Gray was settled in the Crooker's favor. But McCobb remained in California beyond the reach of justice where he turned
the Willam Gray into a storeship on hte San Francisco waterfront.
In English.
Type:
Pictorial lettersheets.Physical Description:
print
1
Language:
English