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Volume 059-4 - October 2005 (8 pages)
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Page: of 8
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Caroline Mead Hanson: Wife, Mother,
Activist, and Originator of Donation Day
by Maria E. Brower
C AROLINE MEAD HANSON'S NAME HAS APPEARED
in local newspapers since 1883 naming her as being
the “originator” of Donation Day, an event currently held
each year in both Grass Valley and Nevada City. In the
various articles Hanson is described simply as being “an
invalid woman who sat in front of the bay window of her
home on the corner of Neal and School streets in Grass
Valley observing the school children as they passed by
each day.”
With no additional background about the woman herself,
this paints an image of an old lady sitting with a shawl over
her shoulders, alone and with no family or friends to occupy her days. Although the physical image may be close to
accurate, the depth of character and flesh and bones are
missing. In contrast to that image, Caroline Mead Hanson
was a wife, the mother of eight children, an early activist in
Nevada County, and for a long time one of the most popular
young ladies in Nevada City.
Both the Mead and Hanson families were early settlers of
Nevada City. On January 26, 1859, the following announcement appeared in the Nevada Democrat, one of the
early Nevada City newspapers:
Married
On Monday evening, Jan. 24th, at the Congregational
Church in this city, by Rev. H. Smeathman, Mr. Abel H.
Hanson to Miss Caroline Mead, all of this place.
The church was crowded to its utmost capacity, and
after the ceremony a large number of friends assembled
at the residence of the bride’s father to congratulate the
bride and groom. After partaking of refreshments, the
company repaired to Temperance Hall, where a dance
was kept up until midnight, when the happy couple took
their departure in the Sacramento Stage, on a bridal tour.
We extend to our friend Hanson and his charming bride,
our best wishes, and may their union, so auspiciously
begun, be long and happy.
In addition, the Nevada Journal on January 28th added
these comments to its own marriage announcement:
... The Journal was most munificently remembered
by the happy pair on the auspicious occasion.—We pronounce the bride’s cake inimitable and the champagne
super-excellent. Bliss unalloyed and unending, is our
prayer.
Caroline Mead was born in 1842 in New York, the oldest
child of Charles H. and Helena (unknown) Mead. The
Mead family was still living in New York in 1850, as evidenced by the enumeration in New York County on the
1850 U.S. Population Census. The following Mead children
(— —_ )
Nevada County Historical Society
Billelin
\ vous 59 NUMBER 4 OCTOBER 2005
were born in New York: Caroline (8), Maria, Walter,
Charles, Frank R and Wm. S. The family had moved to California by 1860 and was living in Nevada City. Two additional children were born in Nevada County—Alice in
1858, and Edmond H. in 1861.
Charles Mead had mining interests and owned the Rainbow Mine in the Graniteville mining district; he was agent
for Wells, Fargo and Co. at Nevada City, and was an accountant and businessman during the time he lived in
Nevada City. Most of the Mead family had moved to San
Francisco by 1880, and at age 62 Charles was employed as
a U.S. Deputy Marshal while living there. Later the Hanson
family too would relocate to San Francisco. (A son, William, may have continued to live in Nevada City, as his occupation as a miner kept him in Nevada County.)
Abel H. Hanson and Mr. Boswell had a store at the foot
of Main Street in 1855. It was destroyed in the fire of 1856,
and he and Boswell rebuilt it and incorporated a public hall
in the new building to be used for meetings and theatrical
events. In February 1857 the building was destroyed by
flood when the Laird and Chambers dam collapsed. In May
1858 Hanson was elected to the city board of trustees.
In June of 1861 Abel Hanson was elected as a delegate
from the Nevada City precinct to the county convention of
Union Democrats to be held on the 29th of the month.
There were three hundred voting to select delegates from
Nevada City. Others who were elected in that precinct included David Belden, Tallman H. Rolfe, George E.
Withington, Ed Muller, C. McCauliff, Tim Parker, Isaac
Williamson, S. S. Penny, J. M. Ballard, William Heugh, G.
Schmittburg, James H. Helm, P. Henry, A. F. Mc Kay, Dan
Collins, John Kendall, James Malone, A. B. Gregory, Elijah
O. Tompkins, George Story, Charles Maltman, George F.
Turner, Matthew H. Funston, Charles H. Mead, A. Davis,
John William, Thomas P, Hawley, and George S. Hupp. The
object of the convention was to nominate candidates for
county officers for the election to be held on September
4th. Delegates were selected in each of the county’s precincts.
Caroline Mead Hanson continued to be popular after her
marriage. On January 26, 1869, the following appeared in
the Nevada Daily Gazette: