Volume 044-1 - January 1990 (8 pages)

dt The Lola Montez Home ~A History of the House and Its Inhabitants Ina previous issue of the Bulletin (July 1980), it was told that, near the site of the present Lola Montez house, there originally was a little Schoolhouse. Soon thereafter, in 1851, a combined office and living quarters for the Superintendent of the Gold Hill Quartz Mining Company, Gilmor Meredith, was built. Meredith's cottage was a social center of some sorts. In the summer of 1853, Meredith extended hospitality to Lola Montez and her consort Patrick Hull. Soon thereafter, Lola was the owner of the cottage and made it a social center for several years. In May 1855 Lola left for San Francisco and soon thereafter started on her illfated Australian tour. After her return, Lola decided against continuing to live in Grass Valley; in the middle of September 1856, Lola sold the cottage to Solomon Dewey Bosworth. Solomon Bosworth was born in Springfield, Massachusetts around 1826. It is reported that he came to California in 1849. Arriving in Grass Valley in 1852, he was one of the early inhabitants of the city. Together with some partx jers, he worked the “Grass Valley Slide,” a hydraulicly operated placer mine. This claim had been located in the autumn of 1851 by Mathew Patterson. The ‘Slide Ravine” was located north of Grass Valley and ended at Alta Hill. It is reported that, in December 1853, Bosworth and his partners recovered gold, worth 922 dollars in three days of operation. One of Bosworth’s partners, George D. Roberts, was a good prospector. Together with others, he located the ledge on Ophir Hill which later became the Empire Mine, in 1850. In 1854 he located the Lecompton Mine. He is credited with the first attempt to bring water to Grass Valley through log pipes, in 1855 or 1856. For protection against fire, a reservoir was built on Church Hill and small fire hydrants were connected to the pipes. He was quite a literary minded gentleman; he edited the Grass Valley National from May to November 1859. And in 1860 he was a member of a group, attempting to start a library in Grass Valley. The area north of Grass Valley appeared to be attractive to Bosworth; at a later time he is mentioned as a part owner of a gravel claim near Alta Hill. At a later time, Bosworth became interested in quartz mining; together with, among others, Alexander Buchanan Brady. The latter located the Idaho Quartz Mine in May 1863. He was born in Connecticut in 1825 and came to ralifornia in 1849, settling in Grass Valley in 1850. He was a mining and insurance agent, active in the Masonic fraternity and in the Emmanuel Episcopal Church. And he served as by Peter W. van der Pas Nevada County Supervisor from 1872 to 1877. Bosworth did not limit his business interests to gold mining. In his later years, he was stockholder in the Last Chance Copper Mine at Rough and Ready. Alonzo Delano was one of his fellow stockholders. He did not even limit his interests to mining in general. In the Directory for the Territory of Nevada (1862), we find him mentioned, together with H.C. Howard and G.D. Roberts (whom we have already mentioned), as owner of the toll road from Gold Carton to Dayton, a distance of seven miles. This was the route over which most of the quartz was transported to the several mills; it was a very lucrative business. From all this, we may infer that Bosworth prospered; in Bean's Directory of 1867 he was listed as a miner, but in Poingdestre’s Directory of 1895, we find him mentioned as a capitalist! Solomon Bosworth was quite civic minded. In 1864 he served on the County Board of Supervisors and during the years 1863-64 he was a member of the Board of Trustees of Grass Valley. He served as postmaster of Grass Valley for several terms. He is mentioned as a deputy to the Hon. John Sykes. The latter statement is puzzling, John Sykes is mentioned only as County Recorder in 1861-62; he was not a judge as the appellation “Hon.” would suggest. Finally, he was an officer of Grass Valley Lodge Nr. 12, 1.0.0.F. in 1855 and was probably among the founders of this lodge. The maiden name of Bosworth’s wife was Emma Lansing. The date of the wedding is unknown and little is known of Emma. Something is known about C.J. Lansing, who may have been a relative. He was a lawyer who came to Grass Valley in 1854, He was a State Senator in 1859-60 and is mentioned among the first officers of Emmanuel Episcopal Church. In connection with this church affiliation, it may be interesting to note that Emma L. Bosworth was baptized in this church on 29 June 1872. This is the only mention of the name Bosworth in the records of this church. The Bosworths had five children. Lizzie Lansing Bosworth was probably the oldest; she was born about 1853. On 28 May 1873 she married James Watt Kerr, who was an engineer who lived in Boston Ravine. He came from Edinburgh, Scotland. The next daughter, Gertrude W. was born in about 1864. She married Augustus W. Stoddard on 25 March 1885. Stoddard was a native of California, a mining superintendent of the Continental Mine of Grass Valley. The couple later lived in Johannesburg, South Africa. A third daughter of Bosworth, Jennie Lansing was born about 1866. She married Milton H. Bosworth on 26 May 1886. We do not know whether Milton was a distant relative. He was born in Leominster, Worcester County, Massachusets, in which state the couple later resided. There are two more known children of Bosworth, about whom nothing was found. They probably were born between Lizzie and Gertrude. Their names were Charles and Lillie; both lived in San Francisco in later life. A few months after moving into the Lola Montez cottage, Bosworth got a new neighbor. In Bean’s Directory of 1867, we read: “In December 1856, the Gold Hill Quartz Mining Company donated to the (Episcopal) Church a valuable lot of land, bounded by Church, Walsh and Mill Streets, on condition that a church edifice should be erected within eighteen months after the acceptance of the gift. The edifice, though not finished, was ready for occupancy in the summer of 1858.” The Episcopal Church had, since its organization on 27 April 1855, met at the Masonic Hall and, when the Hall was destroyed by fire, at the Hall of the Sons of Temperance. Hence Lola never had the Episcopal Church as a neighbor. The reader will notice that the lot, donated to the church, as described above, included the lot on which the Lola Montez House was located. This raises the following question: “Did Meredith, Lola Montez or Bosworth actually own the land on which the cottage was located?” The answer to this question is unknown. If Bosworth did not own the land, it must have been ceded or sold to him at a later date. This explains the action he took at a later date. On 4 February 1875 Solomon Bosworth and his wife Emma, as joint owners, homesteaded the lot. In the record of this action we read: “(The lot) commencing at the corner of Walsh and Mill Streets, thence N(orth) on Mill Street 1 chain 28 links, thence W(est) 1 chain 88 links, thence S(outh) . chain 21 links, thence E(ast) on Walsh Street 1 chain 82 links, containing .22 acres.” This description agrees with the lot, as it is known today. In 1947 the Union carried a small article by J.T. Hooper. In this article we find the following information: “‘S.D. Bosworth (postmaster at the time) gave W.P. Oliver, contractor and builder, to whom I was apprenticed, a contract to raise the roof and remodel the entire building. That was done about 1880. The result was the two-story building that stands today.” The photograph on the front page, which photograph dates from September 1898, shows the enlarged house. Anyone who has visited the cottage as it is today, a faithful replica of Lola’s original cottage, will agree that there was not sufficient living space for a family with four children 7

dt The Lola Montez Home ~A History of the House and Its Inhabitants Ina previous issue of the Bulletin (July 1980), it was told that, near the site of the present Lola Montez house, there originally was a little Schoolhouse. Soon thereafter, in 1851, a combined office and living quarters for the Superintendent of the Gold Hill Quartz Mining Company, Gilmor Meredith, was built. Meredith's cottage was a social center of some sorts. In the summer of 1853, Meredith extended hospitality to Lola Montez and her consort Patrick Hull. Soon thereafter, Lola was the owner of the cottage and made it a social center for several years. In May 1855 Lola left for San Francisco and soon thereafter started on her illfated Australian tour. After her return, Lola decided against continuing to live in Grass Valley; in the middle of September 1856, Lola sold the cottage to Solomon Dewey Bosworth. Solomon Bosworth was born in Springfield, Massachusetts around 1826. It is reported that he came to California in 1849. Arriving in Grass Valley in 1852, he was one of the early inhabitants of the city. Together with some partx jers, he worked the “Grass Valley Slide,” a hydraulicly operated placer mine. This claim had been located in the autumn of 1851 by Mathew Patterson. The ‘Slide Ravine” was located north of Grass Valley and ended at Alta Hill. It is reported that, in December 1853, Bosworth and his partners recovered gold, worth 922 dollars in three days of operation. One of Bosworth’s partners, George D. Roberts, was a good prospector. Together with others, he located the ledge on Ophir Hill which later became the Empire Mine, in 1850. In 1854 he located the Lecompton Mine. He is credited with the first attempt to bring water to Grass Valley through log pipes, in 1855 or 1856. For protection against fire, a reservoir was built on Church Hill and small fire hydrants were connected to the pipes. He was quite a literary minded gentleman; he edited the Grass Valley National from May to November 1859. And in 1860 he was a member of a group, attempting to start a library in Grass Valley. The area north of Grass Valley appeared to be attractive to Bosworth; at a later time he is mentioned as a part owner of a gravel claim near Alta Hill. At a later time, Bosworth became interested in quartz mining; together with, among others, Alexander Buchanan Brady. The latter located the Idaho Quartz Mine in May 1863. He was born in Connecticut in 1825 and came to ralifornia in 1849, settling in Grass Valley in 1850. He was a mining and insurance agent, active in the Masonic fraternity and in the Emmanuel Episcopal Church. And he served as by Peter W. van der Pas Nevada County Supervisor from 1872 to 1877. Bosworth did not limit his business interests to gold mining. In his later years, he was stockholder in the Last Chance Copper Mine at Rough and Ready. Alonzo Delano was one of his fellow stockholders. He did not even limit his interests to mining in general. In the Directory for the Territory of Nevada (1862), we find him mentioned, together with H.C. Howard and G.D. Roberts (whom we have already mentioned), as owner of the toll road from Gold Carton to Dayton, a distance of seven miles. This was the route over which most of the quartz was transported to the several mills; it was a very lucrative business. From all this, we may infer that Bosworth prospered; in Bean's Directory of 1867 he was listed as a miner, but in Poingdestre’s Directory of 1895, we find him mentioned as a capitalist! Solomon Bosworth was quite civic minded. In 1864 he served on the County Board of Supervisors and during the years 1863-64 he was a member of the Board of Trustees of Grass Valley. He served as postmaster of Grass Valley for several terms. He is mentioned as a deputy to the Hon. John Sykes. The latter statement is puzzling, John Sykes is mentioned only as County Recorder in 1861-62; he was not a judge as the appellation “Hon.” would suggest. Finally, he was an officer of Grass Valley Lodge Nr. 12, 1.0.0.F. in 1855 and was probably among the founders of this lodge.

The maiden name of Bosworth’s wife was Emma Lansing. The date of the wedding is unknown and little is known of Emma. Something is known about C.J. Lansing, who may have been a relative. He was a lawyer who came to Grass Valley in 1854, He was a State Senator in 1859-60 and is mentioned among the first officers of Emmanuel Episcopal Church. In connection with this church affiliation, it may be interesting to note that Emma L. Bosworth was baptized in this church on 29 June 1872. This is the only mention of the name Bosworth in the records of this church. The Bosworths had five children. Lizzie Lansing Bosworth was probably the oldest; she was born about 1853. On 28 May 1873 she married James Watt Kerr, who was an engineer who lived in Boston Ravine. He came from Edinburgh, Scotland. The next daughter, Gertrude W. was born in about 1864. She married Augustus W. Stoddard on 25 March 1885. Stoddard was a native of California, a mining superintendent of the Continental Mine of Grass Valley. The couple later lived in Johannesburg, South Africa. A third daughter of Bosworth, Jennie Lansing was born about 1866. She married Milton H. Bosworth on 26 May 1886. We do not know whether Milton was a distant relative. He was born in Leominster, Worcester County, Massachusets, in which state the couple later resided. There are two more known children of Bosworth, about whom nothing was found. They probably were born between Lizzie and Gertrude. Their names were Charles and Lillie; both lived in San Francisco in later life. A few months after moving into the Lola Montez cottage, Bosworth got a new neighbor. In Bean’s Directory of 1867, we read: “In December 1856, the Gold Hill Quartz Mining Company donated to the (Episcopal) Church a valuable lot of land, bounded by Church, Walsh and Mill Streets, on condition that a church edifice should be erected within eighteen months after the acceptance of the gift. The edifice, though not finished, was ready for occupancy in the summer of 1858.” The Episcopal Church had, since its organization on 27 April 1855, met at the Masonic Hall and, when the Hall was destroyed by fire, at the Hall of the Sons of Temperance. Hence Lola never had the Episcopal Church as a neighbor. The reader will notice that the lot, donated to the church, as described above, included the lot on which the Lola Montez House was located. This raises the following question: “Did Meredith, Lola Montez or Bosworth actually own the land on which the cottage was located?” The answer to this question is unknown. If Bosworth did not own the land, it must have been ceded or sold to him at a later date. This explains the action he took at a later date. On 4 February 1875 Solomon Bosworth and his wife Emma, as joint owners, homesteaded the lot. In the record of this action we read: “(The lot) commencing at the corner of Walsh and Mill Streets, thence N(orth) on Mill Street 1 chain 28 links, thence W(est) 1 chain 88 links, thence S(outh) . chain 21 links, thence E(ast) on Walsh Street 1 chain 82 links, containing .22 acres.” This description agrees with the lot, as it is known today. In 1947 the Union carried a small article by J.T. Hooper. In this article we find the following information: “‘S.D. Bosworth (postmaster at the time) gave W.P. Oliver, contractor and builder, to whom I was apprenticed, a contract to raise the roof and remodel the entire building. That was done about 1880. The result was the two-story building that stands today.” The photograph on the front page, which photograph dates from September 1898, shows the enlarged house. Anyone who has visited the cottage as it is today, a faithful replica of Lola’s original cottage, will agree that there was not sufficient living space for a family with four children 7