The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1897-09-21

$3.50 from a Fayetteville goldsmith, he
became certain that the n that his
forbear disposed of for a song was an
80 pound lump of gold-and the family
believe so to this day. Whether it was
or not. it is a fact that the first report
of the United States Mint in 1898, re
cords the receipt of several thousand
dollars worth Of gold from North Caro-
lima.
"The second nugget was the H.
FOUNDER Of the Reed mine record, and
was the first one of that big lot found.
Reeds IL year old boy logged it in
from the creek one day, where he had
gone to shoot fish. 1t was shaped like
a hatiron, and was called the fatiron
stone on that account. 1t lay about
the house four or five years, and by
and by a Fayetteville goldsmith sent
word to Reed to teEch it with him some
day when he was coming to town, and
| Reed did 80. 1t was then he learned
that it was gold, aud readily accepted
$3.50 for it. Il was worth nearly ten
times that.
1.-THE selling of that nugget was the
beginning of gold hunting in North
Carolina, and it was not many months
before all the streams in that part Of
the State were lined with p~rospectors,
and it was there that the race new to
this Countrywide frenzied gold hunter
had it's origin. The placer mines
were in Cabafrus, Mecklenburg, Stan
ley and adjacent counties. Along their
streams the cradle and the long-tom
came into existence. Rich placer
mines were subsequently, found in
Rutherford. Mcdowell and Burke coun
ties, in the South Mountain district,
and repaid richly the diggers, many of
whom were women. The placer and
pit mines Of North Carolina were so
full Of gold that they supplied the
United States mints and the demands OF
trade in this country with the precious
metal until the discovery of gold in
California, when the miners deserted
tbs Carolina fields and rushed wildly
toward the new FL Dorado, jUst as peo-
pie are rushing on the Klondike now.
The gold districts of North Carolina
have furnished the United States minis
alone with &25, 600. 900 worth Of gold.
Beaver Dam mine, in Montgomery
county, was a wonder. This was the
property of a man named Thos. Fancy,
who, up the time Of the discovery of
gold or it, was a thrifty and steady
going cit z n. When he began picking
up $500 worth of gold in a day, how
ever-which was the amount his dig
gings yielded for months-his sudden
riches turned his head. He took to
trink and INDUCED in all sorts of ex-
travagances. He was a great deer /
hunter, and it is related Of him that it
became a favorite pastime Of his TO go /
hunting his favoriEe game with bullets
run from pure gold. Old residents Of ]
that locality tell of the killing Of a buck /
oy a hunter long after Faney's death, !
in the shoulder Of which, when this
deer was dressed, he found a fattened
piece OF gold, while in it's thigh was an,
oGher-nearly 800 worth Of gold in
all. 1t was supposed that these were
a pair Of Fancy g bullets with which he
had wounded the deer sometime when
he was hunting, Fancy drank himself
to death while his property was still
yielding a fortune.
The Barringer farm in Stanley
county, if it were giving up gold as it
was then, would be good enough Klon
dixie for any ordinary man. The owner
of this property washed for months out
of the gravel in the small creek that
flowed through his farm from 300 10 500
penny weights of gold per week. At
asst he came to the end of the gravel
deposit, and ~OutcrOpplng from a knoll
at the side of the creek he noticed q
peculiar rock formation. He dug into
the hill three feet, and there came to a
nest of gold In quartz. He took out
/. 500 pennyweights that day. Next
day he dug down further, and discov
cred another pocket, from which he
took 1 900 pennyweights of gold, max
ing 1000 worth the little knoll had
yielded in two days. The creek had
already yielded so, 600 in less than a
mile. Barringer dug down IL feet
deeper, and found IN all 81, 600 worth
of gold; but he had got below the water
level, and the water from the creek
broke through and flooded the mine.
D1F--0 hn oNgV15 mcnrfa thu Iar0Nr0 Ls- Z
title to the property was questioned.
and litigation was begun, which, al.
though more than a generation has