3194

Theall & Co. Important Assays for "Bonanza King" James G. Fair as Supt. [164667]

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Mining Start Price:250.00 USD Estimated At:500.00 - 1,000.00 USD
Theall & Co. Important Assays for  Bonanza King  James G. Fair as Supt. [164667]
SHIPPING & HANDLING: The customer is responsible for all shipping and packaging charges. We offer shipping service as a convenience to our buyers. Items are not shipped until the invoice and shipping charges are completely paid. Shipping costs will be calculated and billed separately after your items have been paid for. Purchases will be shipped via our approved, insured carriers: FedEx, UPS, USPS or DHL. Pick up is available from our Reno office, once you have received your invoice post auction
Lot of 2. These important assay documents show James G. Fair "doing his job as superintendent," says FH. Fair is taking multiple samples of tailings, assigning two different numbers, and having them processed by two different assay methods. These are both from 1867, when Fair was superintendent of the Hale & Norcross Mine. 1) April 12th, 1867. Two samples, one processed by the Wheeler Pan, the other by the Hepburn Pan. Signed "Theall & Co." The assay results for the gold & silver content are identical; therefore the tailings are homogeneous, and Fair should be thrilled. 2) April 19th, 1867. Two samples, one processed by the Wheeler Pan, the other by the Hepburn Pan. Signed T&Co. (for Theall & Company). These results are "wrong." The gold and silver contents do not match. Something "weird" is going on with this ore. FH says possible reasons could be the presence of "free gold" or "free/high grade silver." Reverse of sheet says "Both assays same samples."

Nevada Assayer Hiram W. Theall is yet another important New Yorker who came to California for the Gold Rush. Theall made a trip to the Comstock perhaps late in 1862 and liked what he saw. In 1863 he opened his first assay office in Nevada Territory. Watching how Harris opened offices in new mining camps such as Aurora, Theall then opened an office in Austin at the onset of the Reese River Rush, managed by his associate J. M. Dawley.

In the early days of the Comstock, to survive as an assayer, you had to have contracts with producing mines. Theall lived near the Savage Mining Company's office, and he probably had a contract with them. The Savage was producing bullion at a high level, so they used a number of assayers, checking the work of each, as well as checking the work of the custom mills that processed the ores. Another important association was with the banking industry. Gold Rush assayers often acted as banks. They bought and sold gold, converted gold to coin, and in this manner acted to assist in paying bills. As the banking industry developed through time in the West, the association of bank and assayer became critical. Theall became associated with Comstock bankers Paxton & Thornburgh. They rode that partnership to Austin, where Paxton & Thornburgh quickly became the main bank, and was the main bank for the largest silver producing company, the Manhattan Silver Mining Company.
As the 1860's were coming to a close, mining was hitting hard times, and a general recession was well under way by late 1867. Theall sold his Virginia City office to W.C. Bousefield in February, 1868, the same month he sold the Marysville office. In an interesting business twist, he returned to his old, original business as a stock broker.

As Theall was settling into his brokerage business, another massive silver discovery was made in eastern Nevada. With it came the Rush to White Pine. Theall was tempted, and was off to Hamilton by late 1868. The White Pine Rush brought in 25,000 people by June 1869. Theall opened an assay office in Hamilton, the center of the region. Theall's second son Julian was born in Hamilton in early 1869. Active in local politics, Theall was elected as a Hamilton School Trustee in April, 1869.

In May, 1869, at the height of the White Pine activity, Theall suddenly died.


Date: 1867
Country (if not USA):
State: Nevada
City: Virginia City
Provenance: