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823

ID - Silver City,Owyhee County - 1872-1873 - Blake Silver City Ingot *Territorial*

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / Bullion Start Price:10,000.00 USD Estimated At:20,000.00 - 30,000.00 USD
ID - Silver City,Owyhee County - 1872-1873 - Blake Silver City Ingot *Territorial*
Session D is a Mail-Bid Only Auction. Absentee bids will be accepted only. No live bidding will be allowed. All winners will be contacted after the auction. BIDDING ENDS MONDAY JUNE 27 AT 5PM PACIFIC TIME!!!
Silver and gold ingot from Silver City, Idaho Territory. This broad ingot measures approximately 1.5" X 2.25" X 3/8" or 60.0 mm x 1 mm and weighs 222.5 grams. It is silver gray in color with sharp edges and squared off corners. It is very similar to other Blake & Co ingots. Obverse: No. 1680/BLAKE & CO./ASSAYERS/OWYHEE, I.T./OZ. 7.13/G.F..022/S.F. .974/G.$3.24/S.$8.97. The other sides are blank.

There are marks on the face, but they were most likely in the surface of the bar before it was stamped, according to Stack's catalog. This ingot must predate October 1873 when Blake closed his assay office in Silver City, but was probably made after December 1872 when the tax law of 1862 was terminated. According to Fred Holabird, "Blake made a number of fine silver ingots for presentation purposes in Idaho. Most are far above normal in quality, often highly polished on the obverse. Blake's assay office had become an important part of the Idaho mining community, and his many surviving ingots are a tribute to this period. Blake many have had the assay contract for the famous Poorman mine, because many of his ingots are related to that mine" [Ref: Holabird, The Rush For Gold, America's Gold Rushes, 2008, 471]. Extremely Fine. From the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection.

Blake Story, By Fred N. Holabird

Introduction
This silver ingot is from the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection, is marked with Blake’s name.
The Blake Cousins From Boston
Blake came to California with his cousin Gorham Blake in 1852 on board the steamer Constitution. The pair were the same age, born and raised in Boston. Gorham’s father died in 1847 when Gorham was 18. The family fortune was left to his sister [Suffolk County PR 37379, 149:70]. Both Gorham and Francis (Frank) Blake probably became acquainted with Johan Agrell in Boston, a young goldsmith from Sweden about the same age. Agrell came to California at the same time, and may have even come with the cousins. When they landed, however, the group split up. Frank went to Weaverville, an important mining camp in the central Trinity Mountains along the Trinity River, and Gorham and Johan went to Placerville. The group would follow very parallel lines of work until they met up again in 1860.
FW Blake Enters the Express Business
Blake immediately went to work for Rhodes & Lusk in Weaverville as an express agent [History of Northern California, p276 Lewis Publishing, 1891. Much of this is repeated in Cross, and may have been Cross’ source]. Rhodes & Lusk were the most prominent express firm in the entire Trinity-Shasta gold regions, and by November of 1852 were the primary banking house as well. The region, and Shasta in particular, was so important that Shasta made a play for the California State Capital just before it was firmly established in Sacramento. The
Rhodes & Lusk experience introduced Frank into the gold business in a big way. The business was processing $15,000 per week in gold. The year Blake got there was notable, since Weaverville was home at the time to James W. Denver, the future namesake of Denver, Colorado, and participant in the Colorado gold rush. Denver and California governor John Bigler managed a relief train for emigrants, and after the pair were accused of skullduggery by the Alta Californian, Denver challenged the editor (Gilbert) to a duel. Gilbert was killed . . . Denver was appointed Secretary of State by Bigler, then elected to Congress in 1854.
That same year in 1854, a terrible uprising took place in Weaverville between whites and Chinese miners, with numerous deaths on both sides.
The Rhodes & Lusk business was connected to Wells Fargo by contract, and their competitor, Cram Rogers & Co., were connected with Adams Express. Rhodes & Co. changed partners a number of times until the firm ultimately “retired” in 1857[Cross, Financing an Empire. 1927. Also Winther, O.; Via Western Express Stagecoach; 1945, p. 51-2]. Blake may have purchased the business, because in 1857 he was listed as the senior partner in the F. W. Blake & Co. Express [Wiltsee, E.; The Pioneer Miner and Pack Mule Express, 1931 (1976 edition), p. 103]. Blake continued to run this firm for at least another year.
There is disagreement between historians when Blake opened his own Express company in Weaverville. McDonald claimed it was 1852, and Owens said it was at least 1854 [See Owens, D.; California Coiners and Assayers, 2000, p. 102]. Wiltsee says 1857. Regardless, Blake kept the Wells Fargo agent designation with whatever company he was with. He remained in business in Weaverville until 1859 [McDonald, Doug; in Rare Coin Review, Spring 1987 and others (FH manuscript); Owens, D.; California Coiners and Assayers; 2000].
Gorham Blake after Placerville
Gorham Blake, meanwhile, left Placerville and joined with William Waters. He had been an agent for Adams & Co.’s Express and other businesses. Blake got to know W. C. Waters, son of William Waters a Sacramento businessman.
In 1855 Blake opened an assay office with John Agrell in Sacramento in November. They hired David Lundbom who had worked for the USAO in San Francisco and also for Kellogg & Co. But the partnership only lasted a month until the year’s end. Blake started his assay office just one month after Harris & Marchand started theirs. In 1856 they noted that the poorest quality gold dust was “coming from Carson Valley” worth only $12.13 per oz. At that time the business was known as Blake & Co. The senior Waters, William Waters, became a partner within the year, and the partnership would last for many years to come.
Blake was not listed in the residential section of the Sacramento Directory in 1858. He may have returned briefly to Boston, or ventured into the mining region near Sacramento looking for a mining investment.
In late 1859, Frank Blake moved to Sacramento to join his cousin. From there the pair moved quickly to Grass Valley, and were both there when the 1860 Census was taken in June. Here they heard the news of the great Comstock discoveries, but were deeply involved in their own mine. Meanwhile, Waters, four years older, was running the Sacramento assay office under the name Waters & Co, and Gorham was this time the minor partner. That partnership formerly ended April, 1861. Gorham went back to Boston immediately. About this time he began a letter correspondence with his cousin Louisa. He even tried to talk her into sending west her husband, who opted to stay in Boston [The letters are at the Bancroft Library. See Owens].
The Blakes Strike Silver in Nevada
Frank moved to Carson City in 1861 after the Nevada County mining fray, where he may have contemplated opening an assay office, or perhaps worked for Harvey Harris [FW Blake is listed in Carson City in the 1862 Territorial Census. No occupation]. David Lundbom, the assayer who worked for Gorham in Placerville, went to work for Harris when he opened his Carson City assay office in 1861 and later the Gold Hill office in 1862. Harris used the name “Pioneer Assay Office” in both Carson City and Silver City, a phrase he used to his advantage in Marysville as well [10/20/1861 Carson City Silver Age].
In Carson, Frank Blake at one time worked for J. O. Pope. He was a member of the Odd Fellows, and might have met up with Sam Clemens, who was a Mason. They were all about the same age, and in the early winter of 1861, the Clemens brothers were off to Unionville to seek their fortune [Much is written by Sam Clemens of their Unionville forays. See Roughing It]. Blake either followed about that time, or went the next summer when his cousin Gorham returned to California, first to Placerville, then to Carson City the first week in June. In a letter to Louisa in June, he said he had sent for his assaying tools, so he clearly envisioned opening an assay office somewhere.
Unionville, the Land of Silver
During 1862, the pair left Carson City on June 9th, and arrived in Unionville several days later. Long letters from Gorham to Louisa explain the intense and long exploration of the mines in the Humboldt region[See Owens, California Coiners and Assayers]. The cousins were obviously looking to buy a mine. Gorham notes in the letters that he expects to return to Sacramento to see Mr. Waters, perhaps to continue their assay business.
The Blake cousins had such a good time in Unionville, well described in several letters to Louisa in Massachusetts, that Frank may never have returned to Carson City except to get his things. Gorham probably did not either. By 1863, F. W. Blake was running his own assay office, probably with Gorham as a partner, and the pair were no doubt buying and selling feet in mines just like the rest of the crowd who specialized in mining. Indeed, in May, 1863, Frank Blake reported to the Humboldt Register that the discovery of the Miami ledge in the Sierra District by Ferguson & Wilson yielded $1340.86 per ton, and another $4786.74, according to an assay certificate issued by F W. Blake, assayer [Humboldt Register, May 23, 1863]. The Blakes did not advertise in the Humboldt papers until much later, probably because the market was so small that everybody knew them anyway. F. W. Blake also acted as a mining secretary, a potentially lucrative job, since it was customary to pay corporate secretaries in stock. Advertisements in the 1863 Humboldt mining region newspapers included companies such as Manitowoc G&S MC, Humboldt Salt Mining Co. Blake was the secretary for both companies and others [See also McDonald]. The Blake cousins may have been among the original incorporators of the Manitowoc, which was organized in May 1863.
The Unionville Discovery History
The mines at Unionville were discovered on May 15, 1861. The first locators were William J. Whitney, Hugo Pfersdorff and J. C. Hannan. A small rush ensued. The first miner’s meeting was eight days later. Pfersdorff and Hannan had come to the country in the company of a few local Indians. It was first recorded thus in the Humboldt Register: “On the twelfth day of May, 1861, just as the sun was sinking behind the Sierra, two men, a couple of donkeys, and four native Paiutes, reached the summit of the mountain that overlooks the present town of Unionville. Until that time it is supposed that no white man had ever visited, or even seen, Buena Vista Canyon,” which they named on the spot because of the view [5/16/1863 Humboldt Register, p1, column 3].
The Aftermath. Silver City, Idaho
Gorham Blake disappeared from the western mining scene, possibly returning to Boston. F. W. Blake remained in Unionville until 1866. As a former owner of an express company, Blake undoubtedly noticed the traffic between Unionville and the new gold camps of the Boise Basin in Idaho. Just after their discovery, silver was found at a new site known as Silver City in southern Idaho. With business slowly dwindling in Unionville, Blake took up his tools, business and goods and was off to Silver City, where he immediately set up an assay office.
In Silver City, the business was an immediate hit. He soon earned the business of most of the mines, and as a friendly family man with a new son, the family was well liked. He had a few competitors, but in the end, Blake was the most experienced assayer, and as such was likely to receive the bulk of the business.
In 1869, Blake took a foray into Golconda, Nevada while continuing to run his assay office in Silver City [From the F. W. Blake Correspondence, Golconda, Nevada and Silver City, Idaho, c 1867-1870]. The Golconda business lasted less than a year, and he returned to Silver City, where he continued to build his business empire with the acquisition of a jewelry store and other real estate.
Back To Boston
In 1873 Blake and his family left for Boston, ostensibly to visit his ailing mother, but, they remained there for some time. Gorham also returned home about the same time too. In 1875 they again travelled west to the gold camp of Prescott, where he was appointed an express agent for the Arizona and New Mexico Express. Within a few months he opened his own assay office as well, and quickly secured some of the assaying work needed by the Peck Mining Company, for which there is only one ingot known today. When Wells Fargo opened their office, Blake was appointed agent, and no doubt had some say in getting Wells Fargo to bring their business to Prescott anyway. Blake was so popular that he was elected Mayor. He remained there for the rest of his life, working at various management jobs from dawn to dusk.
Gorham, meanwhile, went to Georgia to investigate gold mines there. He looked at properties in Lumpkin County around Dahlonega and Auraria without success. He found good placer ground in White County just a couple of miles outside of the County Seat, and bought a huge parcel, which he worked for a few years.
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