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William Van Bokkelen Comstock Archive (113202)

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Paper Start Price:100.00 USD Estimated At:200.00 - 400.00 USD
William Van Bokkelen Comstock Archive   (113202)
SOLD
100.00USDto r******W+ buyer's premium (25.00)
This item SOLD at 2020 Apr 21 @ 17:07UTC-7 : PDT/MST
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Lot of 22 pieces of correspondence from William Van Bokkelen during his role as Grand Secretary for the Virginia City F& AM chapter. Archive includes: 1) Rare election sheet that lists the five top officials (including Van Bokkelen) and their signatures. Virginia City mayor Hopkins is one of the signers. 2) 17 letters, most on official letterhead, from Van Bokkelen to other lodges (including Dayton and Silver City). Sent 1865-1868. Covers a variety of official business. 3) Three receipts, 1865-1870, for dues received from the Dayton and Silver City lodges. Two are revenue stamped. 4) 1866 SF billhead to Van Bokkelen from A. Roman & Co. Bookseller (damaged). 5) 1868 typed notice listing rejected members and the establishment of a lodge at Belmont.

William Augustus Muhlenberg Van Bokkelen followed his brother Jacob out West. They arrived on the Comstock in Nov. 1860, when it was still part of Utah Territory. William was the secretary for numerous 1860s Comstock mining companies. Similar to Sam and Orion Clemens, one brother (Jacob) became involved in Territorial government (Jacob was Provost Marshall for Nevada Territory). The connection to Mark Twain is deepened by that fact that the two brothers are mentioned in one of Mark Twain's 1862 letters for their involvement with the Latrobe Mining & Tunnel Company. (They recorded the claim and incorporated in January 1861) Twain describes going into the mine with one of the Van Bokkelen brothers (whom he calls "San Francisco capitalists") and collecting mica or sellinite crystals. They also descended the Ophir incline ("We were around through the bowels of the earth, generally..."). (To read Twain's letter, see: Mark Twain's Letters, Volume 1: 1853-1866, pg. 153-154). Jacob and William (with others) also claimed 5 acres west of the Gould & Curry quartz mill. In 1863, William was an original member of the Virginia Stock Exchange. He was also a trustee for the Yellow Jacket. He married Comstock & railroad tycoon Isaac Requa's niece, Mary Grace, in 1870. Jacob's story ended tragically in 1873. He was an explosives agent, and a nitroglycerin explosion at his residence killed him and a dozen others.

Provenance:
Country (if not USA):
State: Nevada
City/County: Virginia City
Date: 1865-1870