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Mokelumne Hill Canal & Mining Co. Stock issued to I.C. Woods (of Adams Express)

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Mining Start Price:350.00 USD Estimated At:700.00 - 2,000.00 USD
Mokelumne Hill Canal & Mining Co. Stock issued to I.C. Woods (of Adams Express)
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A choice certificate. No, 1655. Issued to I.C. Woods for one share. Signed by Henry Eno (president) and E.H. Pomeroy as secretary. No date. Lith. Britton & Rey, SF. Excellent condition. What makes this certificate so special is that it was issued to Woods. Isaiah C. Woods ran the California branch of the Adams Express Company with D.H. Haskell. Haskell had been working for the Boston branch of the New York based company and argued that a California office was necessary in 1849 (Gold Rush). He and Woods ran the branch for the company until 1854, when Adams & Co consolidated into Adams Express. To save expenses, they (NY) decided to only forward and accept freight from W&H, and in return, to cash drafts for them. Woods went from being manager to partner, and Haskell made Alvin Adams a "special partner" so that they could keep the Adams name in San Francisco. While the fame and prosperity of the California office was largely due to Woods, the New York directors considered him "too bold and unsafe an operator." Their fears were confirmed when the CA office declared bankruptcy within a year. This led to the shift of business in California to Freeman & Co.'s California Express, as well as other companies. [Ref: Stimson, 1858, pg 111-127]



Mokelumne was first known as Big Bar in 1848 and was an important business center for the early gold miners in the southern region [Gudde, 1949]. The Mok Hill Canal and Mining Co. is not listed in Browne’s 1868 work covering the district (mineral Resources West of the Rocky Mountains, 1868). It is likely that this company was the predecessor to the Mok Hill and Camp Seco Ditch Co., active in the mid-1860’s. The canal, or ditch, as they were later known, probably brought water to the dry Tertiary channels, known as the Mokelumne Hill Old Channel. It was basically mined out by the mid 1860’s. These certs are rare, but there are about four to six known. They are among the oldest of the Mok Hill certificates.(Prag Collection)

City: Mokelumne Hill
State: California,
Date: c.1852

FHWAC#: 27759