Collection: Books and Periodicals > Nevada County Historical Society Bulletins

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Title: Volume 049-2 - April 1995 Collection Type: Books and Periodicals Collection Name: Nevada County Historical Society Bulletins # of Pages: 8 Download PDF: User Login Required Download OCR Text: User Login Required

Date Scanned: 2014-03-05 07:08:10 OCR Software Version #: tesseract 5.4.1 Item Sourced From: PDF First Created: 2025-03-17 04:06:00 Last Updated: 2025-03-17 04:06:00

Original Held At: Searls Historical Library Location: 161 Nevada City Hwy, Nevada City, CA 95959

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intently fixed on the coast, I had not perceived several boats which were rowing towards me, when all of a sudden I hear the noise of the oars, and turning I see an oar extended towards me. I seize it; they draw it, and it requires not less than four men to draw me on board. I then discover that I am very weak—much more so than I thought. I am unable to speak or move. I can only stammer the word, enfin [at last.] And this signified a good many things. The people who save me are Mexicans, black and frightfully ugly; nevertheless they appear to me beautiful. An Italian who is the master of the boat seems happy to have fished me up. They take my clothes off and give me a glass of whiskey which tastes like turpentine, but I find it delicious. I drink a litthe water which is quite warm but find it delightful. I look around me in astonishment. I look at that coast which I had vainly tried to reach, and it appears to me farther than it did when I was in the water. ] feel much tired and ~= bruised. I ask for a cigareto [sic], and to satisfy myself that I still live, I puff a few whifs [sic] with pleasure. Then all of a sudden my ideas get confused, my mind is assailed with thoughts of my friends in San Francisco, in California, in Europe and of my parents, which choke me, and I cry like a child. . . .I am on board of a little schooner, the Liberato, which runs between Manzanillo and Acapulco. The captain tells me that the current had carried me 30 or 40 miles. BOOK REVIEWS Michel Janicot, A History of Nevada County Post Offices, 1850-1994, Nevada County Historical Society; 1994. A short time after the discovery of gold in Coloma, the gold region of California was swamped with eager miners. Most of them had left relatives and friends in what was called “The States”, and wanted to keep in touch with them. In those early days, mail from the East was sent to San Francisco or to Sutter’s Fort and from there conveyed to the recipient by any way which was available. This was an unsatisfactory situation, therefor local post offices, where the miners could collect their letters and send their own, were soon established. Janicot’s book discusses and describes these post offices. Of the 59 post offices which are mentioned, the larger part was located in the lesser populated areas and most of them do not exist anymore. The book is divided into two parts; the first of which presents a chronological review of them, while the second part describes in detail the various post offices, in alphabetical order. In addition to the text, we find a series of photographs of some of the early post offices, the reproduction of a map of the NGRR which locates two post offices and a collection of Nevada County postmarks. Many of the post offices were short lived and had therefore only one postmaster. It would have been interesting to have a list of the successive postmasters for the longer lived Offices. This discussion of the Nevada County post offices is obviously the result of intense research, and therefore I am sorry to have to report an error, probably typographical. On page 15 the English Dam disaster is dated June 18, 1863. This should be 1883. A study like the present one invites some reflection. In 1850, world-wide postal service was already hundreds of years old. In those early days, the recipient of the latter had to pay the postage; if this was refused, no delivery took place. Around 1840, at the time the first post stamps were issued in England, the postage had to be paid by the sender. The first post stamps of the United States were issued in 1847, and around that time, the United States probably started the rule that the recipient had to 14 pay the postage. Before that time, the postmaster collected the postage and put an impression on the letter, saying something like: “Paid 10¢” or whatever the postage was. Among the postmarks illustrated in Janicot’s book, there is one from Nevada City with the date “Dec. 18, 1855" and the notice "Paid 10¢". Hence in 1855, post stamps as we know them now, were apparently not yet used in Nevada City. It is of interest to remark that the first U.S. post stamps were for 5¢ and 10¢. The other postmarks which are illustrated are of a later date, and none of them have an indication that a fee was received. In fact, these postmarks were probably not cancellations of regular post Stamps, but were placed on the letter after arriving at the post office, this way recording the time the mail had arrived. This practice was still followed after the year 1900. For some post offices, Janicot mentions the income, variously indicated as proceeds, receipts, or profits. One would expect that the only income of a post office was the postage collected, at first postage collected at delivery and, at a later day, the sale of stamps. For some post offices, Janicot mentions the salary of the postmaster, and in most cases this salary exceeded the income of the post office. No wonder that many of the early post offices did not survive. However, the compensation of postmasters was not high; most of them below $100 per year. In the eighteen sixties, the average income of a worker was about $900 annually; hence the office of postmaster had to be a part-time job. Post offices were usually part of another business, such as a shop or a hotel. It appears that most of the rural post offices were relatively small operations. But there were two exceptions: Nevada City and North San Juan. For Nevada City, in about six and a half months, mainly in 1851, the salary of the postmaster is quoted as $1,122.19, which would be about $2,000 annually, while the income which is mentioned is $2,281.48 or, prorated for one year, about $4,200. This would indicate an enormous postal activity. Janicot’s book will probably be mainly appreciated by stamp collectors. Nevertheless, it will be worthwhile for others to peruse this book, as it focuses on a neglected aspect of Nevada om County history. vdP.