The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-08-29
NORTH CAROLINA'S GOLD.
1T WAS PLoUGHED UP IN III Ds
AND WASHED OUT OF ROADS,

HihNta VIM EnTHfo EENNNoNn-RNuuy b0llgaA
Theory OF Gsid MakinG BY L,Ehtn,nE-,oid
Dust as Currency ana an Oid.TinIe Pr,.
waite Mint-Rhiiroads Through Gold Ninea,
II remember somo OF the old-time gold nus,
gets that were found on the heed farm IN
North Carolina and were described In THn
Sun the other day" said Jacob S. Bauman nt
Rowan county. y. c. There is. or was foe
a long time, a plaster cast OF the -
pound nugget in the possession OF n resident %
Concord. This big lump OF gold was Dug up "
ono Of the slaves on the Reed plantation. 10
lay only a foot beneath the surface. The Iva.
FOUNDER. one Of the s.pound ones, the j.pound
one, and both Of the 2tspounders were also
found by a slave, and all within four weeks
There Is a plaster cast OF tho 22.pound nuxHea
found on this farm in the old United States
Mint, now the Government Assay Office, at
Charlotte. After more than 100000 in gold
nuggets and dust lad been taken by surface
mining on the Reed plantation. the Reed deep
mine was sunk, and it yielded ore that assayed
from 50 TO 1900 a ton. The property early b-
came involved In expensive litigation, which
continued for years, and absorbed a largo share
Of the wealth 1t produced. When it was at its
beet the labor in II was nearly all done by
slaves. 1t wcs discovered that some Of them
were In the habit of seoreting gold in thetp
clothing and disposing Of It 10 speculatorSA
After that they were compelled to work naked,
In the mine, and even then, it lie said, they man3
aged TO steal enough gold to make it profitable
for traders 10 pay frequent secret visits to tho
slave quarters.
~ worked in the placer gold digyings Oh
North Carolina, more or less, from l-34 I'd
1s46. Farming and gold digging went hard tna
hand fer years. When the crops verc h-r{
vested the slaves were moved into the creed
bottoms, On some farms the gold yield in tho
interim between harvesting and the next plsn4
Ing was worth more than all the crops % The
kenzle. ~plougbed up in one field go penny.
weights Of gold. and at one time tie village q
might have ben :aIieG the place Of eo!Gea
streets, Cor after every rain gold In Enc grains
could 1e Risdked up in he streets irea ,S and quite.
ing fields. In one OF those feids a 5-pouBd lug.
get was found by a little negro boy who vas
I loo ise' i, ihf e.. !. ! f hssn TIE as5 TsdE ebP,t kiIG5; and a;
together IKE potatoes in a h:L- Tins socket q
farm. which yielded in this way. at various
Slave labor was used largely in the dig.
gtngs; Every other SATURDAY the masters gaTs
The SLAVES son1s half ph6, Of IL he d. day during whiSh I'm,
negro washet out enough gold TO buy h. tfre-
dom, and d., did % and q grea, insEy nors
times over. but did not buy It once. ~ every
camp Hhiskey shsn1ies were plentiful. and
most Of the negroes thought more Of what those
s%tAr.ties contained thar OF their fr.e1cp, and
work and Invest It in drink.
Hydraulic mining for gold originated in thas
TeS;oh more thsn forty ye:Es ago. The aTp!iSs-
II. Van Dyke Of New York, who was one Of the
frst capitalists to invest in gold mining, in
tune from his Mcdowell county mines,
- the TaN ~ Tho swim .RnrUr Dr#z- Af~W--
tain. N which curious elevation; ty the way,
there, are thirteen se?arate and distinct veins
a tree starting near the edge of the bank On ons
otthe streams was struck BY lightning and shat
s-hs cuent!r a mincr known as Sandy Bodies,
in the course Of his d~iRg1ngs- eXcavated at ths
i i2@5 o. be TIE sey s~aA' : rs1d H. 81 In 7o tas din iT, ae0g;
gold. in weight from 4 few grains 20 a penny
weight or more. Some Of ;he larger Jumps were
Immediately declared his belief TIA; the reason
the gold -ss their in such form was because
OF The miners accepted tbs treo.y as true. and
at once Wild kroti'ectins for tres mat bad been
ever after thar. whei. a thunder storm came, DIG
serS Toa.d hope and pray that some ra
IL happened on more thar one occasion sub
sequent to sandy's discovery that gold was
found at tbs, roots OF trees tha' had been
Vincei the miners tina, the theory of light
ming smelling OF gold was true, and its viii
o The wlsp fascination LED In6ny away from
Wealth. The tnd iSai Ssn1r Rotes made az
the root OF that hghtaing.s hattered ire brought
hia $3.50 and turned his head. He roamed
shout the reS.on seeking for trees Of that kind
ifuTr!a came he took himself ard his insane
tkeo.T th.iheE. and foE yeaTs was known among
penei tina; he q, last uncovered a three pound
nugget Al the foot " a lightning shattered tree.
stsbbed 10 death b. a MeS!can. and robbed q
his solo. The Mexican was lynched, but here
i 10 record OF what became Of poor SaIjy's
The production OF gold in North Care, -. in
those days was so large that gold dist 81 4sl"gs
9ul+!s ht.et with go.4 dust ard = pat: Z ny
sGa.Ss TO weigh II in yayinS a it.ii q 'lzk:nEa
early, days Of the .diGginss. "ki-.ey was "a
"rlic!e that was IN great @er.nd - \ ,rTta.-
the amount Of gold excnsrfsf III ,h.I o.
article alone during the tr,t lw"-t: LNe !lirs
the miners sent TO the Mint. A quart OF whis-
key cost 3's grains OF gold.
The digRers also disposed Of large amounts Of
me; gold 10 country merchants and travelling
pvidiers, who paid nom 30 to 81 cents q penny.
are Northumberland instances OF farmers or
Planters 10 whom tho closing OF some business
were hindercd from closing = il Satisfactorily AZ the
time through lack o. ready money, asking fo:a
time washing, out sufficient gold on their prop
erty TO enable them 10 complete the bargain
Even 10 Ih!s GA! x Il no rare thli.S Tor farmers
TO deposit AT the Assay Office in Chariot . from
an ounce TO several ounces OF the finest god.
which they have washed our al thu.- leisure
from the creek beds or old diCgincs on their
farms, or dug up by accident in their fields on
The inconvenience and risk Of using Sn!d
aust as a circulating medium led 20 the ssrao-
!lshlng OF a private mint near Ruthe-tort;on-
IN the south Mountain DISTRICT by a German
goldsmith named Christopher Bcchtlcr. lie
STAMPED from the miners gold coins " the Be-
nominations OF ~, 500. and ~. receiving .
certain percentage Of The gold for his w,rS.
Ihls mint was in operation from 1881 Urti
bechtier's death in l~i3, and he made n fortune
from his seniorAg", and although the Ir.:ci
states branch mini was established AZ ,aa-.
!otte in ls3S, the Bech,lcr money was for years
the popular currency OF a large part u ne
south. Even TO lay some 'wayback mHTt.-
taineer occasionally presents one OF these ;hEo
coins at the village store in payment for pur
chasesy I having been, perhaps. hearted !ur
began Ia be exhausted, quartz mining. AZ er =
crude and wasteful method. tooh ttv plancnt
MAsllIys WhPra supb Aan.Srtu nNErnJ ~