Collection: Books and Periodicals > Nevada County Historical Society Bulletins

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Title: Volume 050-2 - April 1996 Collection Type: Books and Periodicals Collection Name: Nevada County Historical Society Bulletins # of Pages: 16 Download PDF: User Login Required Download OCR Text: User Login Required

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

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BOOK REVIEWS Nevada County Mining Review; Reprinted from the Grass Valley Morning Union, August 1, 1895. Nevada City, Nevada County Historical Society, 1995. About twenty years ago, when I came to Grass Valley and became a member of the Nevada County Historical Society, there often was talk about reprinting the Mining Review of the Grass Valley Morning Union. At that time, I did not know this publication and thought they were talking about the 1895 directory of J. E. Poingdestre. But now the mystery is solved by the Nevada County Historical Society’s reprint of the Mining Review, Originally published in August 1895. The reprint has an index (not in the original) of Nevada County mines, 215 in total. Not all of these are quartz mines; some are placer, hydraulic, or drift gravel mines. And not all of these are discussed; some are merely mentioned in the text. The book opens with an essay: “Mining and its Development’, a general discussion of mining. This is followed by a discussion of Nevada County: its climate, its geology, and its minerals and mining. Thereafter, the book becomes more specific. The contribution “Grass Valley and its Mines” contains write-ups of a large number of mines, at or in the vicinity of Grass Valley. This section is closed with an essay on the Grass Valley Fire Department. There follows a general write-up of Nevada City, with a discussion of its mines or those in the vicinity. These two write-ups cover most of the important mines. The remainder of the county is discussed in a township review which presents brief discussion of places such as Moore’s Flat or French Corral. Mines in these townships are mentioned or briefly discussed. The descriptive part of the book is closed with a discussion of the school system. The remainder of the book is devoted to brief biographies, very much like the ones found in Thompson and West. These biographies are grouped according to the status of the individuals, such as mining men, professional men, businessmen. In total there are about 180 biographies. It is clear that his book is more than a mining review; of the 142 significant pages, 72 are devoted to general topographical descriptions and mines, 70 are devoted to personal matters, Herein lies much of the historical value of the book. However, there is more. There are some illustrations of mines and of a general nature. More important are pictures of dwellings in Grass Valley and Nevada City, while most of the individuals listed have their pictures in the book. It is therefore clear that this book is much more than a discussion of the Nevada County mines: it is a portrait of the county, shortly before the turn of the century. I understand that the Union produced such an insert only once; it is regrettable that this was done only once. This book will certainly take its place among the quick reference materials for the history of the county, such as the directories, Thompson and West, or Lardner and Brock. However, there is one feature which could be added to greatly increase the value of this book. This is a set of indices. Due to This detail from a photo of downtown Nevada City that appears in the Nevada County Mining Review, shows the Union Hotel and the Charles Marsh house as they looked in 1895 (see also the 1871 drawing on page 13). the organization of the book, it is difficult to locate an item in which one may be interested. Therefore, in addition to the index of mines, the following indices would be desirable: (1) index of buildings, (2) index of biographies, and (3) index of portraits. But, whether or not a person can be found to compile these indices, even without them the book is of great historical value. It is strongly recommended to all historians of our county. vdP. George D. Dornin, Thirty Years Ago, Nevada City, Carl Mautz Publishing, 1995. This is a reprint of a booklet which apparently was published in the 1880s. I have never seen or heard of the original edition. The booklet by George Dornin contains his reminiscences of his life in California. He left New York on February 3, 1849 at the age of 18 years, on the Clipper Ship Panama, and arrived in San Francisco on August 8, 1849. The description of the voyage requires about one half of the text (22 of 55 pages); we will not discuss it here. Arrived in San Francisco, Dornin was penniless, hence he could not afford an “outfit” to go to the mines. For several years, he had odd jobs in San Francisco or operated a small business. He worked as a painter of signs, even headboards for graves, ran a lunch counter, a dry goods business, waited on tables in restaurants and so on. At first he lived in the ship which was moored in the harbor, later the Panama was used as a warehouse and still later, even a church. An interesting event of those days was witnessing the hanging of Jenkins by the Vigilance Committee in 1851. Dornin has a brief discussion on vigilante justice and, as with many persons of the time, was not entirely negative about it. 21