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“If you wanted to be in the political arena, Nevada City was a hot spot. People who came out west for the Gold Rush could ‘reinvent themselves’. Everything was brand new, there was little competition,” said Maria Brower, manager of the Historical Branch of the Nevada County Library.
Nevada City historian and author Dave Comstock agreed. “It was a daring and dangerous thing to go west, a hazardous trip. But the gold rush was like a giant lottery. Anybody had a chance and enough people were winning in this lottery, so it was convincing,” he said.
“The pioneers were young and ambitious, some were educated, some not. They had to invent everything, including the government,” Comstock said.
Maybe that is why Nevada County had eight pioneers who ascended to the United States Senate.
Aaron Augustus Sargent, the publisher of the Nevada City Journal and an attorney, was the first elected U.S. Senator from Nevada County. He went on to be appointed as ambassador to the court of Berlin. Sargent wrote the first history of Nevada County in 1856, which you can read in the Historical Library. He believed in a woman’s right to vote and he and his wife were friends with suffragist Susan B. Anthony, who spent time with them in Nevada City.
Nevada City historian and author Dave Comstock agreed. “It was a daring and dangerous thing to go west, a hazardous trip. But the gold rush was like a giant lottery. Anybody had a chance and enough people were winning in this lottery, so it was convincing,” he said.
“The pioneers were young and ambitious, some were educated, some not. They had to invent everything, including the government,” Comstock said.
Maybe that is why Nevada County had eight pioneers who ascended to the United States Senate.
Aaron Augustus Sargent, the publisher of the Nevada City Journal and an attorney, was the first elected U.S. Senator from Nevada County. He went on to be appointed as ambassador to the court of Berlin. Sargent wrote the first history of Nevada County in 1856, which you can read in the Historical Library. He believed in a woman’s right to vote and he and his wife were friends with suffragist Susan B. Anthony, who spent time with them in Nevada City.
Sargent was involved with the ‘big four’ Stanford, Crocker, Huntington and Hopkins, who created the Trans Continental Rail Road. Sargent helped to write the bills to congress to authorize the railroad.
Some pioneers came for the gold rush, made their fortunes, then returned home to the east. Richard James Oglesby, a Nevada City merchant and owner of Oglesby’s store on Main Street, lived in Nevada City a year, then went back to Illinois, where he became a Senator and then governor. Oglesby knew Abraham Lincoln before the Civil War and the gold rush. He had visited his friend President Abraham Lincoln at the White House on the day Lincoln was assassinated.
William Morris Stewart, also a Nevada City attorney, and miner at Coyote Diggins mine, later represented the state of Nevada in the Senate. “Stewart was the real political genius, a lawyer who almost never lost a case and it is said that he used all means to do so. He made millions over and over again,” said Comstock.
The day Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, Stewart was in Washington with fellow Nevada City attorney Niles Searls. He tried to get in to see the President to introduce Searls, but Lincoln was busy meeting with Oglesby. Stewart saw Lincoln getting into his carriage to go off to the theater and said: “Just a minute Mr. President, I’d like to introduce my friend Niles Searls.” Later that evening, Stewart was at Lincoln’s bedside as Lincoln lay dying.
Stewart, Sargent and Niles Searls were instrumental in molding the mining laws that helped create order in the different mining areas of the county. “In mining, water was the most important commodity. You couldn’t wash gold without water. They created the water ditches and the ‘miner’s inch’ of water which we still use to this day,” Comstock said. George Hearst, father of William Randolph Hearst, began the family fortune here in Nevada City as a miner at Gold Flat and Willow Valley mines. The senior Hearst then served as a senator from California. He bought the San Francisco Examiner newspaper for his son William, who built the famous Hearst Castle.
“George Hearst made a lot of money as a miner. He was great at finding gold. Then he helped others to find gold and got a percentage. They got rich and he got richer,” Comstock said.
Other Senators included Charles Norton Felton, a bank cashier, John Sharpenstein Hager, miner on Gold Run and Deer Creek mines, Edmund Winston Pettus, miner at Coyote Diggins and Samuel Morgan Shortridge, miner at Cold Springs and a National Hotel porter.
Attorney Niles Searls, who was district attorney for Nevada Sierra and Yuba counties in 1855, went on to serve as chief justice of the California Supreme Court. His family created the Searls Historical Library, which has an extensive collection of papers, letters, and books documenting the history of Nevada County and the Gold Rush and is open to the public.
Some pioneers came for the gold rush, made their fortunes, then returned home to the east. Richard James Oglesby, a Nevada City merchant and owner of Oglesby’s store on Main Street, lived in Nevada City a year, then went back to Illinois, where he became a Senator and then governor. Oglesby knew Abraham Lincoln before the Civil War and the gold rush. He had visited his friend President Abraham Lincoln at the White House on the day Lincoln was assassinated.
William Morris Stewart, also a Nevada City attorney, and miner at Coyote Diggins mine, later represented the state of Nevada in the Senate. “Stewart was the real political genius, a lawyer who almost never lost a case and it is said that he used all means to do so. He made millions over and over again,” said Comstock.
The day Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, Stewart was in Washington with fellow Nevada City attorney Niles Searls. He tried to get in to see the President to introduce Searls, but Lincoln was busy meeting with Oglesby. Stewart saw Lincoln getting into his carriage to go off to the theater and said: “Just a minute Mr. President, I’d like to introduce my friend Niles Searls.” Later that evening, Stewart was at Lincoln’s bedside as Lincoln lay dying.
Stewart, Sargent and Niles Searls were instrumental in molding the mining laws that helped create order in the different mining areas of the county. “In mining, water was the most important commodity. You couldn’t wash gold without water. They created the water ditches and the ‘miner’s inch’ of water which we still use to this day,” Comstock said. George Hearst, father of William Randolph Hearst, began the family fortune here in Nevada City as a miner at Gold Flat and Willow Valley mines. The senior Hearst then served as a senator from California. He bought the San Francisco Examiner newspaper for his son William, who built the famous Hearst Castle.
“George Hearst made a lot of money as a miner. He was great at finding gold. Then he helped others to find gold and got a percentage. They got rich and he got richer,” Comstock said.
Other Senators included Charles Norton Felton, a bank cashier, John Sharpenstein Hager, miner on Gold Run and Deer Creek mines, Edmund Winston Pettus, miner at Coyote Diggins and Samuel Morgan Shortridge, miner at Cold Springs and a National Hotel porter.
Attorney Niles Searls, who was district attorney for Nevada Sierra and Yuba counties in 1855, went on to serve as chief justice of the California Supreme Court. His family created the Searls Historical Library, which has an extensive collection of papers, letters, and books documenting the history of Nevada County and the Gold Rush and is open to the public.
Learn More
Historical books by local author David Allen Comstock:
• Gold Diggers and Camp Followers • Brides of the Gold Rush • Greenbacks and Copperheads. |
