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This item SOLD at 2018 Jun 23 @ 15:26UTC-7 : PDT/MST
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Grosch Consolidated MC
F. Holabird
Introduction
This stock certificate, number 429, issued 12/31/1864 to Benjamin Nickerson, is one of two known. It represents a difficult period just after the discovery of the Comstock, when highly skilled and educated men conned the father of two deceased miners, who history has granted the rights of discovery for the Comstock Lode, Hosea and Allen Grosch. These two skilled professionals were Benjamin Nickerson and Sam Hastings, later founder of the Hastings School of Law in San Francisco.
The Grosch Consolidated Gold & Silver Mining Co. was no more than a powerful scam. They sold stock – not to fund a mine – but to pay for litigation against the core of the Comstock, attacking the exceptionally highly producing and profitable Gould & Curry in their 1863 suit after their 1860 attempts under another company name that perpetrated the same scam, the Washoe Silver Mining Co.
The entire story itself has never been written. I stumbled upon it while doing deep research on the Grosch Brothers, finding several sets of unpublished letters, rare documents in various western archives, and finally discovering the original Grosch Brothers letters themselves with the family 130 years later. This is the single most important archive regarding the beginning of Nevada in existence. These now reside at the Nevada Historical Society in Reno. My friend Rich Lingenfelter continued the path, culminating in a massive volume on mining scams.
The Short Version of “The Story”
Background
In July, 1863, a group of four people appeared before a notary in San Francisco, then filed incorporation papers at the California Secretary of State’s Office for the Grosch Gold and Silver Mining Company. They were following up on papers they had filed in 1860, under a different name, the Washoe Silver Mining Co.
The Members of the original company were a group of San Francisco businessmen: S.C. Hastings, Ira Rankin, CM Hitchcock, I.P. Dyer, W.H. Pratt, U.S. Martin, G. Griswold, B. R. Nickerson, John L. Samuels.
Hastings was an attorney and founded the Hastings Law School. Rankin was a revenue collector at the Customs House. Hitchcock was a physician. Dyer was co-proprietor of the Russ House. Prat was a SF lawyer, but in 1862 was a millwright at the Gould & Curry mill. Martin was a stockbroker, turned salesman for Purdy & Co. Griswold ran a drug store. John L. Samuels, we don’t know (yet), but was not found in San Francisco.
Benjamin R. Nickerson was born in 1820 in New York. He came to California in 1849-50. He was a clerk for the failed Bank of Barton Lee. Nickerson lived in Placerville 12 years, and may have met the dieing Grosh at nearby Last Chance. Nickerson was quite a character, having promoted two bear and bull fights, and the Placerville fire of 1856 started in his house. A year before the Grosh Consolidated was formed, he was passed over for an officer position at the Union Party convention, which resulted in getting into a fight with California politician Fitch in 1862.
The original incorporation was for 5,000 shares at $1000 each. On Feb. 24, 1864 they filed notice of an annual meeting with 3900 voting shares. They intended to raise the capital to $10 million, declared they had received $20,000 to date and had no debt.
The Corporate Fight
In 1863, Nickerson published a pamphlet “A Statement of the Grounds of the Claim of the Grosch Consolidated G& S MC to the Comstock Mine in Nevada Territory Together With Their Reply to Attacks of the Press”, printed by Towne & Bacon. The Grosch Co. claimed rights on 3750 feet of the “Comstock Lead”. In the pamphlet it was stated, not insignificantly, that the same group also incorporated the Washoe Silver Mining Co. on March 1, 1860.
The Nickerson pamphlet claimed that the Grosch brothers ”tested the croppings of the ledge where the Gould & Curry claim is now located, in what the Grosch brothers then styled their Hill or Mountain District. Further north, a few hundred yards, they sunk a shaft on the identical ground now occupied by the works of the Ophir Company”. Nickerson goes on to claim that Hosea struck his foot with a pick while working on the Ophir shaft. Nickerson claimed they posted the claim and made a diagram of it, entrusting all, including the cabin, to HTP Comstock. A hole in the timeline in the report seems to skip between December, 1857 and December, 1858 and confuse the two dates. The pamphlet reports that H.T.P. Comstock claimed in the spring of 1858 to have sold part of the Grosch claims for $10,000 in cash and $10,000 in merchandise, and give him a 1/11th royalty. The report discusses the Walsh assays in Grass Valley, which occurred in the late spring – early summer of 1859, clearly skipping a year. The Last Chance and Placerville parties who helped the stricken Grosch in 1857 felt they had a claim to some of the wealth of the Comstock, along with the senior Grosch who had lost his sons. The group formed the Washoe Silver Mining Co. – and in 1863 moved the business of the Washoe SMC into the Grosch Consolidated G& SMC.
The claim was utterly outrageous. The locals knew the Grosch discovery was near Silver City, not high up on the Comstock. Further, in a series of letters between Maurice Bucke and Aaron Grosch, it was apparent that Nickerson had conned the elder Grosch into Power of Attorney such that he then held the deed to any Grosch interest with the promise of money from a lawsuit. (Hastings and Nickerson sued the G& C and others.) While the money ($10,000) did end up in Nickerson’s hands, he never paid the promised money to Grosch! The outrageous claims were even parodied by none other than Sam Clemens, whose poem about the Grosch Consolidated claims was published in the Territorial Enterprise and later in A. E. Hutcheson’s Before the Comstock then later recited in my friend Richard Lingenfelter’s Book, Gold Lust and Silver Sharks (2012, p96).
During the course of my journey of discovery to the Grosch Brothers papers, I found much ancillary material. A key group of letters led me to the federal Court in San Francisco, where the original maps and papers of the Grosch boys, which had been sent to their father in Pennsylvania, had in turn been sent to Nickerson, and used as evidence in the 1863 suit. On a roll, I naively thought I was about to uncover an historical bonanza in a Federal warehouse, as I looked for the evidence presented at the trial. What I found took the wind from my sail: not unlike many other legal jurisdictions, the San Francisco Federal Court had been destroying the equivalent of excess paperwork from trials and appeals within a few years of their completion. The papers and maps were gone. No more. These were the last and only copies of the Grosch brothers maps and papers.
Summary
The timing of the incorporation of the both the Washoe Silver Mining Co. in 1860, and the Grosch Consolidated in 1863, was a perfect ploy by an adversarial group to try to pry, by deception, money out of the two biggest producers and money makers on the Comstock (and in the western USA). In 1860, the bog company was the Ophir Silver Mining Co.. By 1863, the Gould & Curry was building the largest mill ever built in America and mining and processing millions of dollars in gold and silver. The clear aim of the Nickerson band was to attack this cash flow, and try to extort a piece of it for themselves. It worked to a small degree, but the Grosch family never saw the money collected by Nickerson and his group.
About a decade ago, the direct descendant of the Grosch Brothers, Charles Wegman, came to Reno to help present the Papers to the Historical Society. Charles and I visited Allen and Hosea’s graves in Silver City and Last Chance, the first relative to make it west after the famous discovery.
At present, there are only two of these certificates known, this one, and the original one illustrated in Lingenfelter’s marvelous book. Since both are issued to Nickerson, it is assumed the Nickerson family still had at least these two passed down in the family. Perhaps they have other papers as well – wouldn’t that be a bonanza!
Date: 1863 Location: Virginia City, Nevada HWAC# 75261
Auction Location:
3555 Airway Drive Suite 309, Reno, Nevada, 89511, United States
Previewing Details:
Preview will be at our Auction Location,
3555 Airway Drive Suite 309
Reno, NV 89511
on Thursday, June 21st, from 9:00 am to 5:00pm or by appointment.
Please call 775-851-1859
Nevada State Sales Tax
Taxes:
| Tax | Rate | Desc. |
| NSST |
8.265% |
Nevada Sales Tax |
Buyer's Premiums:
| From (Incl.) | To (Excl.) | Premium |
| 0.00 |
Infinite |
25% |
Additional Fees:
| Fee | Amount | Applicable Locations | Applied To |
| Handling |
5.00
|
Not Applicable
|
This fee applies to the total of the invoice
|
Shipping Details:
SHIPPING & HANDLING: Shipping and Handling cannot be estimated prior to invoicing, based on the size and weight of your purchase. All shipping is subject to a minimum charge of $19.00. If additional shipping and handling costs are required, the buyer will be reinvoiced for the balance due. Items are not shipped until the invoice is completely paid. Many buyers purchase a number of lots. Every effort will be made to include all lots in a single shipping charge calculated to cover the weight and size of the package(s). NOTE: Some shipments (of unusual size, dimension, or weight) may require special handling for which individual costs will be calculated and applied to the shipping charge on the invoice. The buyer is responsible for arranging and paying for shipment of large or special items. The customer is responsible for all shipping charges. Purchases will be shipped via our approved, insured carriers: Federal Express or the US Postal Service. All items shipped Federal Express or USPS will be insured for the full value determined at auction by HWAC, which is included in our buyer’s premium. Pick up is available from our Reno office the next business day after the auction.
Large, heavy or fragile items will incur extra shipping charge. After initial payment we will pack your shipment and print shipping label. We will then re-invoice you for any additional charges.
Please consider extra costs of shipping and handling charges when you make your purchases.
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Terms and Conditions
This is a Live Auction conducted by Holabird Western Americana Collections, LLC (HWAC).
1. The placing of a bid shall constitute the bidder’s acceptance of these terms of sale.
2. BUYER’S PREMIUM & INSURANCE: There will be a 25% Buyer’s Premium added to the sale price (hammer) of each lot. We accept cash, checks, money orders or wire transfers, credit cards and PayPal.
3. COINS, CURRENCY AND PRECIOUS METALS, Insurance. The buyer’s commission for this section is 20.5%. Coins and currency shall be defined as any regular Federal issue circulating coins and currency. Tokens are not considered coins. Precious metals shall be defined as ingots, silver or gold rounds, bullion items, gold nuggets. Mineral specimens are not considered under the precious metals category. Commemorative items such as metals and ribbons are not considered coins or precious metals. However, lots that consist entirely of gold or silver of high purity, including commemorative metals, are considered precious metals. Please contact our office if you need clarification on a specific lot.
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5. SHIPPING & HANDLING: Shipping and Handling will be estimated prior to invoicing, based on the size and weight of your purchase. All shipping and handling is subject to a minimum charge of $19.00. If additional shipping and handling costs are required, the buyer will be re-invoiced for the balance due. Items are not shipped until the invoice is completely paid. Many buyers purchase a number of lots. Every effort will be made to include all lots in a single shipping charge calculated to cover the weight and size of the package(s). NOTE: Some shipments (of unusual size, dimension, or weight) may require special handling for which individual costs will be calculated and applied to the shipping charge on the invoice. The buyer is responsible for arranging and paying for shipment of large or special items. The customer is responsible for all shipping charges. Purchases will be shipped via our approved, insured carriers: Federal Express or the US Postal Service. All items shipped Federal Express or USPS will be insured for the full value determined at auction by HWAC, which is included in our buyer’s premium. Pick up is available from our Reno office the next business day after the auction.
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21. SHIPPING & HANDLING: Shipping and Handling cannot be estimated prior to invoicing, based on the size and weight of your purchase. All invoices are subject to a minimum shipping and handling charge of $19.00. If additional shipping and handling costs are required, the buyer will be re-invoiced for the balance due. Items are not shipped until the invoice is completely paid. Many buyers purchase a number of lots. Every effort will be made to include all lots in a single shipping charge calculated to cover the weight and size of the package(s). NOTE: Some shipments (of unusual size, dimension, or weight) may require special handling for which individual costs will be calculated and applied to the shipping charge on the invoice. The buyer is responsible for arranging and paying for shipment of large or special items. The customer is responsible for all shipping charges. Purchases will be shipped via our approved, insured carriers: Federal Express or the US Postal Service. All items shipped Federal Express or USPS will be insured for the full value determined at auction by HWAC, which is included in our buyer’s premium. Pick up is available from our Reno office the next business day after the auction.
22. NON-PAYMENT: HWAC reserves the right to cancel any invoice not paid in full within 15 days. A cancelled invoice does not relieve the bidder from their obligation to pay seller fees and buyer’s premiums compensating HWAC for its services in conducting the auction. Interest shall run on all outstanding balances at the highest rate permitted by law. HWAC shall have a lien against the merchandise purchased by the bidder, and any other of bidder’s property then held by HWAC or its affiliates, to secure payment of the invoice, and with respect thereto HWAC shall have all the rights of a secured creditor under the Nevada Commercial Code, including but not limited to the right of sale. HWAC may sell the lot(s) securing the invoice to any under bidders in the auction that the lot(s) appeared, or at subsequent private or public sale, or relist the lot(s) in a future auction conducted by HWAC. A defaulting bidder agrees to pay for the reasonable costs of resale (including a 10% seller’s commission, if consigned to an auction conducted by HWAC). The defaulting bidder is liable to pay any difference between his or her total original invoice for the lot(s), plus any applicable interest, and the net proceeds for the lot(s) if sold at private sale or the subsequent hammer price of the lot(s) less the 10% seller’s commissions, if sold at an HWAC auction. If HWAC refers any invoice to an attorney for collection, the bidder agrees to pay attorney’s fees, court costs, and other collection costs incurred by HWAC. Any bidder who fails to follow the terms of payment will be reported to iCollector and may be barred from participating in future Holabird Western Americana auctions.
23. CONDITION: We strongly recommend that you attend the live preview to see lots in their entirety. Conditions are not always noted, and large lots may not be itemized due to catalog restraints. For questions, detailed information, or additional images of any lot please contact our office at 775-851-1859. Bidders are responsible for understanding the condition of items. Conditions noted are subjective, and may differ in the opinion of different people or collectors.
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25. This sale is being held under the laws of the State of Nevada.
26. HWAC shall not be held responsible for any problem due to the bidder’s failure to follow the rules, terms and conditions of this sale, or any failure to bid due to the loss of the online auction process provided by any of the online auction networks; or missed bids, changed bids or cancelled due the bidder’s failure to follow the proper bidding procedure outlined herein.
27. By placing a bid or otherwise participating in the auction, Bidder accepts these Terms and Conditions, and specifically agrees to the dispute resolution provided herein.
28. HWAC shall not be responsible for consequential damages, incidental damages, compensatory damages, or any other damages arising or claimed to be arising from the auction on any lot. Bidder’s sole remedy for any proven act or omission shall be rescission of sale and refund of the amount paid by Bidder.
29. Any claim, dispute, or controversy in connection with, relating to and/or arising out of the Auction, participation in the Auction, award of lots, damages of claims to lots, descriptions, condition reports, provenance, estimates, return and warranty rights, any interpretation of these Terms and Conditions, any alleged verbal modification of these Terms and Conditions and/or any purported settlement shall be exclusively heard by, and the parties consent to exclusive in personal jurisdiction of, the Superior Court of Washoe County, Nevada. THE PARTIES EXPRESSLY WAIVE ANY RIGHT TO TRIAL BY JURY. Any claim must be brought within one (1) year of the auction from which the claim arose or the claim is waived. In every case, the prevailing party shall be entitled to an award of its attorney’s fees and costs.