Editorial Type:
Article Category: Research Article
| Online Publication Date: 05 Nov 2007
The Rush Started Here II: Hard Rock Gold Mining in North Carolina, 1825 to 1864
The Rush Started Here II: Hard Rock Gold Mining in North Carolina, 1825 to 1864
and
Page Range: 69 – 106
From 1799 until the early 1830s, North Carolina's Piedmont had rich surface and near-surface gold deposits. Land owning farmers were interested in improving their finances through gold mining in the slow seasons. Those unable to work their deposits leased them to neighbors or landless prospectors for additional income. Over this thirty year period, the surface placer deposits were exhausted and ended the casual off-season gold mining. Dabblers and fair-weather farmers turned miners became entrepreneurs who sought investors for the hard rock mining necessaries of labor, machinery and processing technology. State government stepped in to help them by liberalizing the terms of incorporation for mining companies. The government support of mining stock companies facilitated private profits and improved the state (and ultimately federal) money supply by adding specie and advancing industrialization in mining and, contagiously, other industries and services such as textiles and the railroads. North Carolina's early industrial leaders invested in mining stock companies. However, the heaviest investments came from Northeastern industrialists and European, especially English, mining firms that insisted upon skilled managers, labor and the best technology with which to develop their investment. Thus, a new breed of miner and mining and milling supervisor, usually immigrants from the northern states or abroad, came to dominate North Carolina's gold fields from 1825 to 1864.
Adams, G. I., Gold Deposits in Alabama (Montgomery: Alabama Geological Survey Bulletin 40, 1930).
Agricola, Georgius, De Re Metallica, 1556. Translated by Herbert Clark Hoover and Lou Henry Hoover (New York: Dover Publications, 1950), Book V, p.105.
Anonymous, Gold of North and South Carolina, De Bow's Review, 1853, 15 (new series vol. 1):320-322.
Anson County, North Carolina, Deed Book W. 432.
Ballard, T. J. and A. B. Clayton, Conrad Hill Copper and Gold Deposit, Davidson County, N.C. (Washington, D.C.: United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines Report of Investigations 4290, 1948).
Barfield, R. D., The Bechtler Mint, in R. E. Knapp and R. M. Topkins (eds), Gold in History, Geology, and Culture: Collected Essays (Raleigh: Division of Archives and History, 2001), 147-162.
Big Ten's Map of Alabama Gold, Big Ten, Inc., 1963.
Boyle, R. W., Gold: History and Genesis of Deposits (New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1987).
Brereton, R., Mining techniques in the California goldfields during the 1850s, Pacific Historian, 1976, 20(3):286-302.
Bridges, D. W., Carolina gold and the U.S. Branch Mint in Charlotte, Magazine Antiques, 1974, 106:1041-1046.
Bryan, T. Conn, The Gold Rush in Georgia, The Georgia Review, 1955, 9:398-404.
Buckley J.A., The Cornish Mining History (Penryn, Cornwall, United Kingdom: Tor Mark Press, 1988).
Callahan, J. E., J. W. Miller, and J. A. Craig, Mercury pollution as a result of gold extraction in North Carolina, USA, Applied Geochemistry, 1994, 9:235-241.
Callahan, J. E., J. W. Miller, J. R. Craig and B. M. Miller, Mercury pollution in areas mined for gold: South Mountains, Robbins, and High Point areas of North Carolina, Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, 1992, 24(2):6.
Campbell, J.L., The Virginia Gold Belt Near the Virginia and Allegheny Railroad, Engineering and Mining Journal, 1882, 34:135.
Carolina Watchman, 18 May, 1844.
Carpenter, A. III, Metallic Mineral Deposits of the Carolina Slate Belt, North Carolina (Raleigh: North Carolina Geological Survey Bulletin 84, 1993), with map.
Charlotte Observer, 17 June, 1973.
Charlotte Observer, 2 May, 1976.
Charlotte Public Works Department/Engineering Division, Chevalier Rivafinoli and Shaft Mining in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, 1830: A Historical and Engineering Report on the Rudisill Gold Mine (1826-1938), August, 1976, Unpublished Manuscript, Charlotte, NC Public Library.
Charlotte Weekly West, 14 June, 1978.
Chavis, D. W., Southern Gold (New York: Vantage Press, Inc., 1977).
Clark, T. C., "America's First Geologic Map," (Raleigh: North Carolina Geological Survey Map 7, 1990).
Clingman, T. L., Gold Mine in Rowan County (Washington D. C.: McGill and Witherow, 1875)
Comstock, J. L., A history of the precious metals, from the earliest periods to the present time, with directions for testing their purity and use, and statements of their comparative value, estimated cost, and amount at different periods; together with an account of the products of various mines, a history of the Anglo-Mexican mining companies, and speculations concerning the mineral wealth of California. (San Francisco: Hartford, Belknap and Hammersley, 1849).
Dean, L. S., Golden Harvest of the Piedmont, Alabama Heritage, 1991 Summer (21):21-29.
Dickson, J., An essay on the gold regions of the United States, Transactions of the Geological Society of Pennsylvania, 1835, 1:16-32.
Doty, R. G., A Mint for Mecklenburg County: Being the life and times of the Charlotte Mint, in R. E. Knapp and R. M. Topkins (eds), Gold in History, Geology, and Culture: Collected Essays (Raleigh: Division of Archives and History, 2001), 163-177.
Ellet, W. H., Gold mining by the hydraulic process in North Carolina and Georgia, Mining and Statistics Magazine, 1858, 10:27-30.
Emmons, E., Geological Report of the Midland Counties of North Carolina (New York: G. P. Putnam and Co., 1856).
Fluker, W. H., Gold Mining in McDuffie County, Georgia, Engineering and Mining Journal, 1902, 73(May 24):725-26.
Gair, J. E., Introduction, in J. E. Gair, J. P. DeAgostino, and J. W. Whitlow (ed.), Mineral Resources of the Charlotte Quadrangle, 1° X 2°, North Carolina and South Carolina (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper, 1989), 1-6.
Gair, J. E., Gold-quartz and gold-pyrite-quartz veins, in J. E. Gair, J. P. DeAgostino, and J. W. Whitlow (ed.), Mineral Resources of the Charlotte Quadrangle, 1° X 2°, North Carolina and South Carolina (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper, 1989), 61-64.
Gair, J. E., Placer deposits, in J. E. Gair, J. P. DeAgostino, and J. W. Whitlow (ed.), Mineral Resources of the Charlotte Quadrangle, 1° X 2°, North Carolina and South Carolina (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper, 1989), 65-72.
Gardner, E. C. and C. H. Johnson, Placer Mining in the Western United States: Part II. Hydraulicking, Treatment of Placer Concentrates, and Marketing of Gold, (Washington, D. C.: United States Bureau of Mines Information Circular 6787, 1934).
Genth, F. A. and W. C. Kerr, Minerals and Mineral Localities of North Carolina, being Chapter I of the Second Volume of the Geology of North Carolina (Raleigh: P.M. Hale, State Printers, 1881).
Glass, B. D., King Midas and Old Rip: The Gold Hill Mining District of North Carolina, Ph.D. Diss. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1980.
Goldsmith, R., D. J. Milton and J.W. Wright, Jr., Geologic Map of the Charlotte Quadrangle, 1° X 2°, 1:250,000 (Washington, D.C.: Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, Map I-1251-E, 1988).
Green, F. M., Gold Mining: A Forgotten Industry in Antebellum North Carolina, North Carolina Historical Review, 1935, 14:1-19, 135-155.
Green, F. M., Gold Mining in Antebellum Virginia, Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, 1937, 45(3):227-235, 357-366.
Hasegawa, G. R., "Absurd Prejudice": A. Snowden Piggot and the Confederate Medical Laboratory at Lincolnton, North Carolina Historical Review, 2004, 81:313-334.
Hazen, M. H. and Hazen, R. M., Wealth Inexhaustible: A History of America's Mineral Industries to 1850 (New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, Inc., 1985).
Hines, E., McCulloch's Rock Engine House: An Antebellum Cornish-Style Gold Ore Mill Near Jamestown, North Carolina, Material Culture, 1995, 27(3): 1-28.
Hines, E., Cousin Jacks and the Tarheel Gold Boom: Cornish Miners in North Carolina, 1830-1880, North Carolina Geographer, 1996, 5:1-10.
Hines, E., Kernow comes to Carolina: Cornish miners in North Carolina's Gold Rush, 1830-1850, in Richard E. Knapp and Robert M. Topkins (eds), Gold in History, Geology, and Culture: Collected Essays (Raleigh: Division of Archives and History, 2001), 131-145.
Hines, E., and M. S. Smith, Gold is Where You Find It: Placer Mining in North Carolina, 1799-1849, Earth Sciences History, 2002, 21(2):119-149.
Jackson, C. T., Final Report on the Geology and Mineralogy of the State of New Hampshire (Concord: Carroll and Baker, 1844).
Jenkins, W. T. and William I. Smart. The diagram first appeared in Gold Deposits in North Carolina, Bulletin #38, NC Department of Conservation and Development, 1936.
Kerr, W.C., Report of the Geological Survey of North Carolina, Vol. I: Physical Geography, Resume, Economic Geology (Raleigh: Josiah Turner, State Printers, 1875).
Kerr, W.C., and George B. Hanna, Ores of North Carolina, being Chapter II of the Second Volume of the Geology of North Carolina (Raleigh: Josiah Turner, State Printers, 1888).
Knapp, R. F., Golden Promise in the Piedmont: The Story of John Reed's Mine (Raleigh: N.C. Department of Archives and History, 1975, revised edition, 1999).
Knapp, R. F., and B. D. Glass, Gold Mining in North Carolina: A Bicentennial History (Raleigh: Division of Archives and History, 1999).
Kuff, K. R., Gold in Maryland (Baltimore: Maryland Geological Survey, Pamphlet, 1983).
Laney, F. B., The Gold Hill Mining District of North Carolina (Raleigh: Edwards and Broughton, State Printers, North Carolina Geological and Economic Survey Bulletin 21, 1910).
Leeds, S. P., Notes on the Gold Region of North and South Carolina: Taken During Four Months' Residence - No. 2, Mining Magazine. 1854, 2(4):357-369.
Luttrell, G. W., Gold, base-metal, and related deposits of North Carolina (Washington, D. C., U. S. Government Printing Office, 1978), Open-file Report 78-152.
May, P., California Gold-The Evolution of the Placer Mining Industry, Proceedings of the Royal Geographic Society of Australasia (Australia), 1970, 71:27-42, 33.
Medical Repository, Native Gold Discovered in North Carolina, 1804, 7:307.
Medical Repository, More Gold Picked Up In North Carolina, 1805, 8:439-440.
Medical Repository, Progress of Finding Gold in North Carolina, 1809, 12:192-193.
Merrill, G. P. Contributions to a History of American State Geological and Natural History Surveys (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Bulletin 109, 1920).
Miller, J. W., J. E. Callahan, D. J. Hattersley and J. A. Craig, Impact of Recreational Suction Dredging On Mobilization of Anthropogenic Mercury in Gold Placers, Southeastern Geology, 1997, 37(2):109-114.
Miners' and Farmers' Journal, 15 November, 1830.
Miners' and Farmers' Journal, "St. Catherine Mills." 24 March, 1831.
Miners' and Farmers' Journal, "Alabama Gold," 25 May 1831, I(35).
Miners' and Farmers' Journal, "To the Editors of the Miners' and Farmers' Journal," 8 June, 1831, I(37).
Miners' and Farmers' Journal, "Assaying and Fluxing Gold," 13 July, 1831, I(42).
Miners' and Farmers' Journal, "40 Dollars Reward," 21 December, 1831, II(65).
Miners' and Farmers' Journal, "Tyrolese Mill," 5 June, 1832, II(89).
Miners' and Farmers' Journal, "Tyrolese Mills," 5 June, 1833, III(119).
Moore, M. B., Salem Sea Captains and Carolina Gold, Essex Institute Historical Collections, 1986, 122(1):69-89.
Niles Weekly Register, 27 June, 1829, 36:286.
Niles Weekly Register, 22 August, 1829, 36:414.
Nitze, H. B. C. and H. A. J. Wilkins, Gold Mining in North Carolina and Adjacent South Appalachian Regions (Raleigh: North Carolina Geological Survey Bulletin 10, 1897).
North Carolina Spectator & Western Advertiser, "Mr. Rivafinoli," 21 May, 1830, 55.
North Carolina Spectator & Western Advertiser, "Capp's Mine." 29 January, 1831, 200.
North Carolina Spectator & Western Advertiser, "Gold Pieces," 2 July, 1831.
Olmsted, D., On the Gold Mines of North Carolina, American Journal of Science and Art, 1825, 9(5):15.
Olmsted, D., Report on Agricultural Subjects and Professor Olmsted's Report on the Geology of part of the Western Counties of North Carolina, conducted under the direction of the Board of Agriculture, Article IX, Part I, November 1824; Part II, November, 1825 (Raleigh: J. Gales and Son, State Printers, 1825).
Olmsted, D., Report on the geology of North-Carolina, conducted under the direction of the Board of Agriculture, Southern Review, 1828, 1:235-261.
Pardee, J.T. and Park, C.F. Jr., Gold Deposits of the Southeastern Piedmont, (Washington, D. C.: General Printing Office, USGS Professional Paper No. 213, 1948).
Pogue, J. E., Jr., Cid Mining District of Davidson County, North Carolina (Raleigh: Edwards and Broughton Printing Co., North Carolina Geological and Economic Survey, Bulletin 22, 1910).
Roberts, B., The Carolina Gold Rush (Charlotte: Heritage Printers, 1972).
Rochow, E. G., Modern Descriptive Chemistry (Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders Company, 1977).
Rowe, J., The Hard-Rock Men: Cornish Immigrants and the North American Mining Frontier (New York: Barnes and Noble/Harper and Row Publishers, Inc., 1974).
Russell, R. A., Gold Mining in Alabama before 1860, Alabama Review, 1957, 10:5-14.
Seventh Census of the United States, 1850, Rowan County Population Schedule.
Seymour, D. C., Templeton Reid, First of the Pioneer Coiners, Museum Notes (American Numismatic Society), 1974, 19:225-266.
St. Clair, D. J., New Almaden and California Quicksilver in the Pacific Rim Economy, California History, 1994/1995, 278-295.
Stockard, S. W., The History of Guilford County, North Carolina (Knoxville, TN: Grant-Ogden Co., 1902).
Strother, David. H. (aka Porte Crayon), North Carolina Illustrated: The Gold Region, Harper's New Monthly Magazine, 1857, 15(87):297.
Tarborough Free Press, April, 1830.
Taylor, R. C., Report on the Washington Silver Mine in Davidson County, North Carolina, with an Appendix containing Assays of Ores, Returns of Silver and Gold Produced and Statements of the Affairs of the Washington Mining Company (Philadelphia: E. G. Dorsey, 1845).
Thorndale, W. and W. Dollarhide, Map Guide to the U.S. Federal Censuses, 1790-1920 (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1987).
Thornton, W., Letter from W. Thornton, Esq. to the members of the North Carolina Gold Mine Company, Philosophical Magazine, 1807, 27:261-264.
Tischendorf, A. P., North Carolina and the British Investor, 1880-1910, North Carolina Historical Review, 1955, 32 (4):514.
Todd, A. C., The Cornish Miner in America (Glendale, CA: The Arthur H. Clark Co., 1967).
United States Geological Survey, Minerals Management Survey Permitted Gold Mines and Prospects Database for North Carolina (Washington, D. C., U. S. Government Printing Office, 1994).
West, R. C., Colonial Placer Mining in Colombia (Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, Social Studies Series Number Two, 1952).
Western Carolinian, 2 September, 1828.
Wilkinson, H., The Mint Museum of Art at Charlotte, A Brief History (Charlotte, Mint Museum, 1973).
Williams, D., The Georgia Gold Rush: Twenty-Niners, Cherokees, and Gold Fever (Columbia University Press, 1993).
Wright, C. W., Economic History of the United States (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1949).
Young, O. E., The Spanish Tradition in Gold and Silver Mining, Arizona and the West, 1965, 7(4):299-314.
Young, O. E., Jr., The Southern Gold Rush: Contributions to California and the West, Historical Society of Southern California, 1980, 62:136-137.
Young, O. E., Jr., The Southern Gold Rush, 1828-1836, Journal of Southern History, 1982, 48(3): 373-392.