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THBCalifornia Pioneer & Business Owner, Charles C. Crosby, Correspondence, 1865-1866
About Seller
6270 Este Ave.
Cincinnati , OH 45232
United States
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About Auction
LiveSep 8, 2017 - Sep 9, 2017
Cowan's Auctions dawnie@cowans.com
View Full Catalog (427)
- Lot Description
Lot of 24 letters written by California businessman Charles C. Crosby, ca 1863-1866, in Forest Hills, California.
Twenty-five-year-old Charles C. Crosby left his family in Wisconsin and went to the mountains in California. He settled in a very small mining town of Forest Hills, California. The town was very remote and severely lacked in women. His sisters teased him in their letters and asked if there were any attractive women to marry. He explained to them, "I think my chances of being struck by lightening and being struck by some charming young lady are about equal" (Forest Hills, August 27, 1865). He also explained that Forest Hills, like many areas of California, was entirely dependent upon miners. "When it is dull times for miners it is dull times for all that depend on them as much as on farming at home" (Forrest Hills, February 10, 1864).
Initially, Crosby did not mine but worked as a store clerk. He observed that, "Men frequently spend years here running these tunnels thousands of feet into the hill and then quit poorer than they began while others possessed of better judgement or lack of toil on in the same manner and finally strike good fortune just as they are getting old and pretty well used up by hardships" (Forrest Hills, December 7, 1864). Business did not pick up for the store, and, as a result, Crosby lost his job. Instead of pursuing work in another store, he opted to try his hand at mining and working for a man by the name of Crumpton. He wrote home about the work he enjoyed. Although he did not do as much physical labor, he assisted in fixing broken implements, sharpening tools, and panning for gold. When the work became too physically rigorous, he changed positions again to a collector. He wrote:
The work of collecting here is entirely different from collecting in your civilized country. In the first place we have a very large amount of territory to get over (4 large townships) and such getting over ground you never saw and can never appreciate till you try it. The road and rails of Cala are generally supposed to be rough but when one has to travel over the whole country rivers and all regardless of trail and roads the word rough is altogether too tame. Then there is another very unpleasant feature about this business which is the collection of Foreign Miner's license. This brings us in contact with a set of rouge thieve and liars that can not be found on your side of the ocean-namely the Chinese (Michigan Bluff, July 29, 1866).
Lightening eventually struck Crosby. He married a woman named Carrie by 1870. They had several children together while he continued to work as a collector for a time, but also served as Superintendent of Public Schools and county recorder. Later in life, he was the proprietor of the Empire Livery Stables until his accidental death in 1898 when his horse and cart, heavy with supplies, tipped over a dam. He severely injured his head and died several days later from his wounds.
Condition
Typical folds in the letters but remain clean and legible.
Original, working condition.
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