The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1896-04-30
RICH FIND OF GOLD.
The WONDERFUL REED MINE, IN CA
BARRUS COUNTY.

I'LL VONDENTUL NEED WlNE, I'm IA
BARRUS COUNTY,
Some Remarkably Large Nuggets
Found There-History of the nine
From the Time the First Piece of
Gold Was Discovered-The Latest
Find Valued at Nearly $4,000.
concord Standard,l
On last Thursday morning about II
O'Clock nugget of gold weighing 2225
pounds Troy was found at the already
famous Reed mine in No. 9 township,
this county. Messrs. Jacob l.. Shinn,
d. M. Cox, Jessie Cox and Adam Ca
nup were working the mine at the
time. They were digging about three
and half feet under the surface. Mr..
Shinn unearthed the precious nugget,
and came near casting it aside. He
took a second look at it, however, and
its appearance made him examine it
more closely. He alone (the others
not knowing Of his fnd) took it to the
branch and washed it. He at once
saw what he had found, and cried out:
'Boys, I've got it!'' The other men
went to where he was, and when they
saw the treasure they could hardly con-
tain themselves.
DR.. Lisle, one of the owners of the
mine, who lives near, was at once in
formed, and they say the doctor was
almost as much excited as uncle Jesse
Cox, whose excitement and joy found
expression in continued shouts. One
of the other men told him if he didn't
hush he would alarm the neighborhood,
but DIR. Lisle told him to shout on, as
his had something to shout for.
The men worked on until d O'Clock
in the afternoon, when DR.. Lisle had
his conveyance hitched up and carried
them and their find over to Georgeville.
AS they entered the village Mr.. Cox
heralded the fact as he went, and soon
the whole neighborhood was all ex-
citement. Hundreds Of people went to
Widenhouse & Shinn' store to examine
the nugget
The nugget weighs II pounds avoir-
dupois, or 2223 pounds Troy. AS there
are 24o pennyweights in Troy pound,
there would therefore be $500 penny
weights in the chunk. At 90 cents a
pennyweight the nugget would, if it
were all gold, be worth S4,S66. 1t is
estimated that there are at least five
pounds of quartz in the nugget.
DR.. Lisle came up to Concord on
Saturday bringing the nugget with
him. 1t was deposited in the Concord
National Bank for safe keeping for the
present. 1t is about 4 inches in diam
eter and 10 inches long. If it were
not for few shining spots over it, it
would look like common flint rock.
Its weight however, tells the tale, as a
rock of the same size would not weigh
over five pounds. Dr. Lisle took the
nugget to Charlotte yesterday.
The Reed mine is now' owned by
Messrs. O. S. and O. w. Kelley, and
DIR. J. d. Lisle, of Springfield, O. Dr..
Llsle lives near the mine. The mine
was being operated by Messrs. J. l..
Shinn, D. NJ. and Jesse Cox and DR..
J. r. Jerome, who got half the output.
Each man will, therefore, get one eighth
the amount the nugget brings, the own
ers getting one~h half. The day before
the nugget was found Mr.. Jesse Cox Of
fered to sell out to DR.. Jerome for five
dollars.
The first gold ever discovered in
the United States was found at the
Reed mine, and also the largest mug
get. The last discovered nugget is the
second largest ever found in the coun-
try.
The present nugget will no doubt
be sold for much more than its intrin-
sic value, as it will be valuable as a
curiosity for all time to come, and will
be much sought after.
We find in Wheeler's History of
North Carolina the following history
of the Reed mine, furnished that book
by Col. George Barnhardt in 1S4S:
The first piece of gold found at this
mine was in the year 1900, by Conrad
Reed, 4 boy of about twelve years old,
a son of John Reed, the proprietor.
The discovery was made in an acciden-
tai manner. The boy above named,
nd
brother, went to small stream, called
Meadow Creek, on a Sabbath day,
while their parents were at church, for
the purpose of shooting fish with bow
and arrow, and while engaged along
the bank of the creek, Conrad saw a
yellow substance shining in the water.
He went in and picked it up, and found
it TO be some kind of metal, and carried
it home. Mr.. Reed examined it, but
as gold was unknown in this part of the
country at that time, he did not know
what kind of metal it was; the piece
was about the size of a small smoothing
iron.
Mr.. Reed carried the piece of metal
to Concord, and showed it to William
Atkinson, silversmith, but he, no,
thinking of gold, was unable to say
what kind of metal it was.
Mr.. Reed kept the piece for several
years on his house floor to lay against
the door to keep it from shutting. In
the year 1902 he went to market tc
Fayetteville and carried the piece oi
metal with him, and on showing it to
jeweler, the jeweler Immediately told
him it was gold, and requested Mr.
Reed to leave the metal with him and
| o.. l.. ,,a.,II a,,, NIr p eed left II