A Little Piece of Personal History

[mathewjonz]

This little nugget belonged to my great grandfather. He attatched it to a piece of varnished wood that he wore as a tie tack. According to my mom he was a placer miner and had at least one claim up in Washington. My Mom's knowledge about this topic is pretty limited but she did say that she had some old letters from my great grandpa's mining partner that might give me some clues as to where the claim was located. I'm sure it's claimed by someone else now but I plan on trying to figure out where it was anyways. I never knew my great grandfather but it's crazy how connected this little shiny rock can make me feel to a man I've never met. Anyways, just thought I'd share this little piece of old timer history with you all. Happy hunting!

[rookieminer]

That's a cool story, and nugget. Thanks for sharing.

I also have a little gold miner ancestry. My great grandfather was a miner in Halfway. In the museum there, there is a ledger book from the general store with orders of misc. supplies for him.

I'll bet most people with ancestors from the west coast have some gold miners in it, it is after all what caused most people to come out here.


Thanks again for posting that cool story, and picture.

rookiminer

[Mr. K]

My Grandfather was also a miner and owned two mines North of Railroad Flat CA. in the heart of the motherload.
I would play in the mines as a kid. I spent many summers up there at the camp they had.

Mathew if you PM me with your Grandfathers name I can check in LR2000 and see what I can find for you.

A young man I worked with until a few days ago told us how his Grandfather was a miner and had several claims in this area. I punched in his name and one of his claims is now Island Creek Day Use Area.
Nichtijo and I had the pleasure of taking him there and showing him around the area. You only know the look on his face was priceless.

So do you guys ever feel like our ancestors are looking down on us and smiling? I know they are.

[mathewjonz]

Thanks to both of you for reading my post and sharing your own stories as well! I find it amazing that the only thing that separates us from our ancestors is time and technique but the desires, interests and dreams are still very much the same.

Mr. K, I sent you a pm and again, I appreciate you taking the time to see if you can find anything out for me. Happy hunting to the both of you!