Volume 041-1 - January 1987 (10 pages)

The reader will have to agree that a rich variety of subject matter is offered. And much of it pertains to Nevada County history. Some of the stories are well known to our historians; others may be quite new. The chapter on the Kanakas perhaps comes closest to a history of this group; the fact that they ultimately mingled with the Indian tribes is certainly not generally known. The story of the Kanaka Jim Crow, who located the Tin Cup Mine and later several others on the North Yuba River and the stories of several other Kanakas are of great interest. The story of the “Old Slave Mine” is a real contribution to the history of Blacks in Nevada County. A Colonel English from South Carolina had brought a number of slaves, perhaps as many as one hundred, to California in the early 1850’s and used them to operate a mine, located somewhere between Rough and Ready and Newtown. The mine was not a success, therefore the Colonel contemplated starting a southern style plantation in the Sacramento Valley. This was not acceptable to the California population in general and it was, at least from the slave’s point of view, fortunate that the Colonel was murdered. The slaves were not able to operate the mine and, realizing that they were free, moved to Grass Valley where the women entered into domestic service and the men found employment in the mines. They moved their shacks from Kentucky Ridge to Boston Ravine. It was quite a settlement which even had its own Methodist Church. Later the employment opportunities for the men dwindled and the group moved to the Oakland-Berkeley area. It is stated that, when the railroad across the country was completed, the porters were all recruited from this group. There is some interesting information on the physician Carl Jones. The author knew him very well and his story adds to what we know about the Jones family of physicians already. One of the most interesting tales in this book is the one on Edward F. Beale. He is remembered for giving his name to Beale Air Force Base, quite well known to the citizens of Nevada County. His extraordinary history is quite unknown and deserves a monograph which, as far as I know, does not exist. Finally, in singling out information, of interest to Nevada County historians, I may mention the story on Bill and Marian Ghidotti, whose history may be familiar to old timers, but which will be certainly new to most of us newcomers. I have the impression that Mr. Calhoon has spent his entire life in Northern California, first as a teacher and principal at various high schools in the area, north of the Bay and later in various other pursuits. As a result, many 8 of his stories came from people he knew or who enticed him to do research on a particular subject. In an appendix he discusses where he obtained his information and also qualifies the versions he decided to adopt. I will not vouch for the absolute truth of everything narrated in this book; the author himself expresses doubt in a few places. However, the material offered here is sufficiently rich to interest those who are interested in Northern California history, especially the history of Nevada County. Loraine Juvelin, A Charmed Life, Arthur Kendall’s Life History as Told by his Daughter. Privately printed; Grass Valley; 1986. As the title of this book says, this is a biography of Art Kendall, well known to many of us, written by his daughter. Like all ~ mining engineers, Art led an itinerant life, including several stints at Grass Valley and ending with living among us here; this is the reason the book interests us here. Art was born in Quincy, Michigan on 7 (or 16) November 1893, into a Cornish miner’s family. The first chapters of the book are, obviously, devoted to the early years of Mr. Kendall and, incidentally, to a description of a Cornish miner’s household at the turn of the century. Here I was most intrigued by the story of the laundry operations on Monday morning and, while reading this, it struck me how little we know about the daily life of the average citizen in the past. Would it not be interesting to have a narrative on how a typical Cornish family lived in Grass Valley in, say, the 1860’s? After high school, Art’s first job was as an apprentice in the machine shop of one of the mines. After 18 months of this, he decided to attend the Michigan College of Mines which was located near Quincy. On weekends he worked in the mines, earning his own keep and helping to support the large family (14 children). He graduated as a mining engineer in 1917 and very shortly thereafter married his childhood sweetheart, Annie May Giles, who also came from a mining family. After graduation, the itenerant life of the young couple started. 1917-18, at the old Dominic Copper Mine at Glove, Arizona, 1918-22, back to the coppermines at Quincy, Mich., 1922, in Davis and Sacramento in a nonmining occupation, 1922-23, at the North Star Mine in Grass Valley, 1923-26, at the Nevada Consolidated Mine in Ruth, Nevada, a copper mine, 1926, at Carson Hill Mining Co., Melones, California (near Angel's Camp), 1927, at the North Star Mine in Grass Valley, 1927-31, at Woodward Iron Co., Bessemer, Alabama, 1931-37, at the Empire and North Star mines in Grass Valley, 1937-42, at the Empire Mine, Ontario, Canada, 1942-44, at the Resurrection Mine, Leadville, Colorado, 1944-45, at the Baghdad Copper Co., Arizona. Later flower business in Oroville, 1945-49, At the Magnet Mine, Canada. Mrs. Kendall starts a theater in Plymouth, Calif. 1949-53, at the Central Eureka Mine, Sutter Creek, Calif., 1953-57, at a tungsten mine in South Korea in the employ of the Utah Construction and Mining Co., 1957-65, in San Francisco at the home office of this company. I have given here this list of Mr. Kendall’s various occupations (and I hope I got it right) to illustrate the kind of life, led by a mining engineer. Such peregrinations can probably only be matched by members of the armed forces. An assignment was often terminated by the mine ‘playing out’’ or by a dramatic drop in metal prices. In such cases, the family had to be kept going by, for example, starting a flower business. From 1931 until 1949 Mr. Kendall wae, employed by the Newmont Mining Company, In their service, there were several assignments. One of the advantages of this association was that there were no waiting periods between jobs. While working for the North Star Mine in Grass Valley, Mr. Kendall was a member of the rescue party, sent by the North Star to the Argonaut mine in Jackson, Amador County. The Argonaut disaster was the worst mining disaster in California history. An account of this event is found in J.R. Wagner, Gold Mines of California, pp. 95-108. While working for the Empire-North Star Mines, Art built a house for his family near the entrance of the Empire Mine State Park of today. Most of the work was done by himself. The house is still standing; it now serves as the house for the Park Superintendent. This book tells much about Kendall’s family life, which was not always easy going. The story of a trip from Grass Valley to Bessemer, Alabama, ina model T Ford. containing not only a family of five, but also their essential possessions, is of great interest. It is not easy to visualize long distance travel in an automobile in 1927, a time when there were feysom, if any, freeways. Students of mining history will be interested in this book and the portrayal of the

The reader will have to agree that a rich variety of subject matter is offered. And much of it pertains to Nevada County history. Some of the stories are well known to our historians; others may be quite new. The chapter on the Kanakas perhaps comes closest to a history of this group; the fact that they ultimately mingled with the Indian tribes is certainly not generally known. The story of the Kanaka Jim Crow, who located the Tin Cup Mine and later several others on the North Yuba River and the stories of several other Kanakas are of great interest. The story of the “Old Slave Mine” is a real contribution to the history of Blacks in Nevada County. A Colonel English from South Carolina had brought a number of slaves, perhaps as many as one hundred, to California in the early 1850’s and used them to operate a mine, located somewhere between Rough and Ready and Newtown. The mine was not a success, therefore the Colonel contemplated starting a southern style plantation in the Sacramento Valley. This was not acceptable to the California population in general and it was, at least from the slave’s point of view, fortunate that the Colonel was murdered. The slaves were not able to operate the mine and, realizing that they were free, moved to Grass Valley where the women entered into domestic service and the men found employment in the mines. They moved their shacks from Kentucky Ridge to Boston Ravine. It was quite a settlement which even had its own Methodist Church. Later the employment opportunities for the men dwindled and the group moved to the Oakland-Berkeley area. It is stated that, when the railroad across the country was completed, the porters were all recruited from this group. There is some interesting information on the physician Carl Jones. The author knew him very well and his story adds to what we know about the Jones family of physicians already. One of the most interesting tales in this book is the one on Edward F. Beale. He is remembered for giving his name to Beale Air Force Base, quite well known to the citizens of Nevada County. His extraordinary history is quite unknown and deserves a monograph which, as far as I know, does not exist. Finally, in singling out information, of interest to Nevada County historians, I may mention the story on Bill and Marian Ghidotti, whose history may be familiar to old timers, but which will be certainly new to most of us newcomers. I have the impression that Mr. Calhoon has spent his entire life in Northern California, first as a teacher and principal at various high schools in the area, north of the Bay and later in various other pursuits. As a result, many 8 of his stories came from people he knew or who enticed him to do research on a particular subject. In an appendix he discusses where he obtained his information and also qualifies the versions he decided to adopt. I will not vouch for the absolute truth of everything narrated in this book; the author himself expresses doubt in a few places. However, the material offered here is sufficiently rich to interest those who are interested in Northern California history, especially the history of Nevada County. Loraine Juvelin, A Charmed Life, Arthur Kendall’s Life History as Told by his Daughter. Privately printed; Grass Valley; 1986. As the title of this book says, this is a biography of Art Kendall, well known to many of us, written by his daughter. Like all ~ mining engineers, Art led an itinerant life, including several stints at Grass Valley and ending with living among us here; this is the reason the book interests us here. Art was born in Quincy, Michigan on 7 (or 16) November 1893, into a Cornish miner’s family. The first chapters of the book are, obviously, devoted to the early years of Mr. Kendall and, incidentally, to a description of a Cornish miner’s household at the turn of the century. Here I was most intrigued by the story of the laundry operations on Monday morning and, while reading this, it struck me

how little we know about the daily life of the average citizen in the past. Would it not be interesting to have a narrative on how a typical Cornish family lived in Grass Valley in, say, the 1860’s? After high school, Art’s first job was as an apprentice in the machine shop of one of the mines. After 18 months of this, he decided to attend the Michigan College of Mines which was located near Quincy. On weekends he worked in the mines, earning his own keep and helping to support the large family (14 children). He graduated as a mining engineer in 1917 and very shortly thereafter married his childhood sweetheart, Annie May Giles, who also came from a mining family. After graduation, the itenerant life of the young couple started. 1917-18, at the old Dominic Copper Mine at Glove, Arizona, 1918-22, back to the coppermines at Quincy, Mich., 1922, in Davis and Sacramento in a nonmining occupation, 1922-23, at the North Star Mine in Grass Valley, 1923-26, at the Nevada Consolidated Mine in Ruth, Nevada, a copper mine, 1926, at Carson Hill Mining Co., Melones, California (near Angel's Camp), 1927, at the North Star Mine in Grass Valley, 1927-31, at Woodward Iron Co., Bessemer, Alabama, 1931-37, at the Empire and North Star mines in Grass Valley, 1937-42, at the Empire Mine, Ontario, Canada, 1942-44, at the Resurrection Mine, Leadville, Colorado, 1944-45, at the Baghdad Copper Co., Arizona. Later flower business in Oroville, 1945-49, At the Magnet Mine, Canada. Mrs. Kendall starts a theater in Plymouth, Calif. 1949-53, at the Central Eureka Mine, Sutter Creek, Calif., 1953-57, at a tungsten mine in South Korea in the employ of the Utah Construction and Mining Co., 1957-65, in San Francisco at the home office of this company. I have given here this list of Mr. Kendall’s various occupations (and I hope I got it right) to illustrate the kind of life, led by a mining engineer. Such peregrinations can probably only be matched by members of the armed forces. An assignment was often terminated by the mine ‘playing out’’ or by a dramatic drop in metal prices. In such cases, the family had to be kept going by, for example, starting a flower business. From 1931 until 1949 Mr. Kendall wae, employed by the Newmont Mining Company, In their service, there were several assignments. One of the advantages of this association was that there were no waiting periods between jobs. While working for the North Star Mine in Grass Valley, Mr. Kendall was a member of the rescue party, sent by the North Star to the Argonaut mine in Jackson, Amador County. The Argonaut disaster was the worst mining disaster in California history. An account of this event is found in J.R. Wagner, Gold Mines of California, pp. 95-108. While working for the Empire-North Star Mines, Art built a house for his family near the entrance of the Empire Mine State Park of today. Most of the work was done by himself. The house is still standing; it now serves as the house for the Park Superintendent. This book tells much about Kendall’s family life, which was not always easy going. The story of a trip from Grass Valley to Bessemer, Alabama, ina model T Ford. containing not only a family of five, but also their essential possessions, is of great interest. It is not easy to visualize long distance travel in an automobile in 1927, a time when there were feysom, if any, freeways. Students of mining history will be interested in this book and the portrayal of the