Radio Script #630
Little Talks on Common Things
November 29, 1964
Letters coming back to Maine during the California gold rush are full of interest for us a hundred years later. Between 1849, when gold was discovered at Sutters Creek, and the beginning of the Civil War in 1861, hundreds of young men left Maine farms to seek their fortune in gold.
Such a man was Charles Cornforth of West Waterville (now Oakland), who went west in 1854 to the mines in Eureka, California, northeast of San Francisco. Among the letters and papers that came from the home of the late Ella Graves on Morrill Avenue and are now preserved in the manuscript collection at the Waterville Public Library, are letters from and about this Charles Cornforth, who came to a tragic end in the gold fields.
The first letter in the collection was dated March 17, 1854, and was written by Charles on board the Steamer Ohio, en route from New York to the Isthmus of Panama. Addressing his father in Oakland, Charles wrote: “We started from New York on the 6th, and everything went fine till the evening of the 8th, when we encountered a severe storm. I shall not try to picture my feelings, but I assure you I have learned only too well what it is to be seasick. Things became rather dull and our progress was not swift, owing to head winds, but we finally landed at Kingston, Jamaica on the 14th. Here, in the middle of March, everything was as green as it is in Maine in July. Oranges, lemons, cocoanuts and other fruits were growing on the trees, and numerous trees were in blossom.
“We stopped at Jamaica only to get a supply of coal and water. That loading took 24 hours. I guess you would have laughed to see the coal come aboard. The Negro wenches carried it on their heads, half a barrel at a time.
“We are now on the Caribbean Sea and have had favorable winds since we left Kingston. We shall land on the Isthmus tomorrow morning. I have not quite got over being seasick, but feel tolerably well. You must excuse the bad writing, because the sea is rough and I can do no better. Tell Hiram he had better stay at home rather than start for California till he can find some more comfortable way to travel than this miserable trip of mine.”
If Charles Cornforth wrote other letters, describing the wretched journey across the Isthmus, or the probably more pleasant voyage up the west coast to San Francisco, they have not been preserved. In fact we know little about the young man’s activities in California for more than six years after his arrival.
Then in November, 1861, when the Civil War had been waged for seven months, Charles Cornforth wrote his father a letter that did get preserved. In it he said: “I shall not write much this time, for a friend of mine, Mr. Stevens, started a little more than a week ago for the States. He will probably come direct to West Waterville and stop a while with you. By Mr. Stevens I have sent the money l owe you, and a few specimens of gold. Probably he will arrive before this letter does, if he has no bad luck. We have had a very dry summer and fall. Two days ago it started snowing and has not cleared off yet.”
Two months later, in January, 1862, Charles Cornforth’s father received from a stranger in California a shocking letter. The writer signed himself Prescott R. Brown, and this was what he had to say: “Two men have been killed at Eureka, eight miles above here, Charles Cornforth and a German. They were clearing out a tunnel in the diggings that had filled up. As there was not much water on, Mr. Cornforth went to the source and turned on a good stream, then went down into the tunnel, as he was foreman of the work. He went ahead, with the German workman close behind him. Suddenly the water broke through with such force that they were unable to escape. When his body was recovered, Mr. Cornforth did not seem to be greatly mangled, but the German’s head was crushed. Behind the German was a third man. The rush of water carried all three over the falls, where the third man luckily landed on his feet and was not injured. He says Mr. Cornforth came down head first and appeared to be lifeless. It all happened about midnight. Mr. Cornforth left about $6,000, part in a savings bank and the rest in notes. There is no one to look after his estate that I have heard of.”
Evidently the father got busy. He seems to have arranged with a certain S.C. Philbrick at Ukiah, Mendocino County, California to settle his late son’s estate. The Oakland man had once known Philbrick in Maine. On October 12, 1862 Philbrick wrote to the Oakland father as follows: “Yours of August reached me in due time. I have neglected answering until I should receive your promised power of attorney, giving me authority to settle your son’s affairs in Eureka. You thought you would have it ready to send by the next steamer, so I have delayed writing till that next steamer arrived. She has come in, but her mail brings me nothing from you. I am anxious to know whether the papers have been sent. If you have sent them, you are doubtless quiet and easy, thinking that I have received them and the matter is being settled. It may be, however, that you have changed your mind and are having the business settled by someone else. I have been in California long enough to know that the sooner such business is attended to, the more will be got out of it. Unless the deceased has some very near friends to look after his affairs, delay is lengthy and costly. If the papers do come to my charge, I will go directly to Eureka and settle the matter as fast as possible.
“I have been very busy for the past three months. Working in the County Clerk’s office as deputy, I have the taxes of the whole county to assess, two copies of assignment rolls to make for the sheriff so he can collect the taxes. All this has kept me working night and day, but the job is now finished.
“We are comfortably situated in Ukiah, have a nice little home and all the comforts we can ask for. In this locality we never have deep snow or severe cold. I like this country very much and think I shall always remain here, unless my mother and father in Maine need my assistance. I should urge them to come here if I thought mother could stand a sea voyage, but fearing the result I do not mention it.
“A few words regarding our once prosperous and happy nation and I am done. Here in Ukiah we are surrounded by secessionists of the blackest dye. They are scoundrels who have always been ready to string any Republican to the nearest limb. Still we have a little band of folks here who dare to hoist the Stars and Stripes, and when necessary are ready to fight for it. Since General Wright received orders to arrest any who openly proclaim secessionist sentiments, our little community has been pretty close mouthed. When I asked a young man on which side he intended to fight, he replied: ‘It’s getting rather risky for any man to say what he thinks nowadays.’ These secessionists have risen in arms to destroy the best government on earth, and now it remains to be decided whether that government shall stand or fall, whether freedom or tyranny shall rule. God grant the former.”
Evidently Philbrick employed a lawyer named Bliss in Eureka to take over the case, for on June 14. 1863 Bliss wrote to Mr. Cornforth as follows: “I enclose exchange for $300. Currency cost $222.86 in coin, for which amount I debit you. The probate court will soon call on me for a settlement, and I am advised that any further advances made by me will not be allowed.”
On this program I have often mentioned the frequent depreciation of paper currency a hundred years ago. when it was chiefly in the form of notes issued by individual banks. Notice that Cornforth’s agent in California bought $300 of currency for $222.86 of coined money. It certainly took a long time to settle the small estate of Charles Cornforth out there in the California gold fields. Another year went by. Then on June 10, 1864 Lawyer Bliss wrote Cornforth’s Maine father again: “I have been negligent in failing to communicate with you and fulfill my promise to forward you the balance due on the estate of Charles Cornforth. The season has been unusually dry, with no snow all winter, and early April seeing the soil like powder. At this time of year we usually have eight feet of snow on the ground, and its melting gives us our needed moisture. No snow, no spring moisture. The failure has nearly bankrupted this area, making it impossible for most inhabitants to meet their liabilities till another spring. I enclose a draft for $500. For the balance I beg your indulgence. I pray you will give yourself no uneasiness, as you shall have the last cent in gold or its equivalent. I, of course, am embarrassed at this time, or I should not fail to send you the whole amount. I doubt not I shall be able to satisfy you fully within one year.”
It would appear from that letter that Bliss had obtained a settlement but had used part of the money to pay his own bills, but would soon make good. Yet another letter which Bliss wrote to the Oakland father, three years later in October, 1867 reveals that the estate was still unsettled. Bliss wrote: “Yours of August 22 received. It has been my intention until quite recently to visit the Atlantic States this season and call to settle with you in person. I have finally had to relinquish the idea of so long a journey. I will soon go to our county seat and procure a copy of the expenses incurred in the estate of Charles Cornforth and will write you more fully within a month.”
That is the last of the letters. We have no inkling of how much money Robert Cornforth of Oakland finally got from that $6,000 estate his son Charles left when a flooded tunnel swept the young man to his death in the California mines. We only know that young Cornforth died in 1862, and more than five years later, in 1867, Lawyer Bliss in Eureka, California had not made his final settlement with Robert Cornforth of Oakland, Maine.
Now we have just time enough for one local item. Who remembers the Ticonic Mineral Spring Company? In the Board of Trade Supplement published by the Waterville Mail in 1900 there appeared a glowing account of that industry. The paper said: “This water has been familiar to our people since 1866, when it was first placed on sale. The spring was a favorite resort for the thirsty for many years, but not until analysis revealed its superior mineral qualities was it placed upon the market. When Messalonskee water was substituted for the old family wells, many people feared to drink it. Thus was opened a field for the sale of this spring water, and two delivery wagons now run through the city to supply the daily wants of customers. Some good judges say this water is as nice as that of Poland Springs. The output is 8,000 gallons a day and the supply never diminishes.”
Well, that is the story as it appeared in the Waterville Mail 64 years ago.
Whatever became of the Ticonic Mineral Spring Company? Does anyone know?
Year: 1964