Copyright has not been assigned to The Society of California Pioneers. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Librarian. Permission for publication is given on behalf of The Society of California Pioneers as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must be obtained by the reader.
Description
Available also in the original handwritten form in the member's Biographical File, and online Copyright has not been assigned to The Society of California Pioneers. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Librarian. Permission for publication is given on behalf of The Society of California Pioneers as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must be obtained by the reader Autobiography & Reminiscence of James Smith Payne, Alameda, 1901. The Society of California Pioneers J.P. Smith left New York on February 2, 1849 on board the Steamer "Crescent City" with Capt. Stoddard for Chagris. From Chagris they proceeded by boat up the Chagris River to Gorgona, then by mules to Panama. Smith stayed in Panama for several months, attending the office of a chartering company. In June of 1849 Smith decided to leave Panama and embarked on board the Brig "Cicilie Louise" of Hamburg. He arrived in San Francisco on August 8, 1849. After three weeks in San Francisco, Smith took passage on board a schooner for Sacramento, and then traveled by foot to Rose's Bar on the Yuba River. There he joined a company of 50 in digging a canal and damming the river. He later proceeded to Caldwells Store, on Deer Creek, and then Nevada. In Downieville Smith owned and worked claims on Steamboat Bar and started the Downieville and Marysville Express. In 1854, Smith was appointed Notary Public and Justice of the Peace for Sutter Township, Yuba County. In 1856, Smith bought a Glass, Crockery, and Cutlery store in Nevada which was burnt down. Until 1869 Smith kept a vegetable and fruit store on 16th Street at the Mission San Francisco. He then moved to Elko, Nevada where he was appointed Post Master. He was later appointed Post Master of Grayson Stanislaus County, California in 1894. He resigned in 1899 due to failing health Autobiographies and Reminiscences of California Pioneers, p. 130-134, Vol. 2. This is a typed transcript, bound into a volume, of the member's autobiographical reminiscence created as an institutional record for the Society of California Pioneers. The original handwritten version exists in the member's biographical file. This reminiscence includes a reference to a photograph of the member in a set of bound volumes, but there is no longer a photograph of this member in our collection. This reminiscence covers the period of Smith's life from 1849 to 1901. The topics it covers are Smith's journey to California (including a prolonged stop in Panama during which time he worked as an assistant in the survey of the line for a projected railway from Gorgona to Panama and later in the office of a chartering company), his work on the building of a canal and dam on the Yuba River, and his other mining activities.
Smith, James Payne--1812-1904 Pioneers--California--Biography Voyages to the Pacific Coast Gold mines and mining--California Gold mines and mining--California--Yuba River California--History--19th century
Time Period
California -- History -- 19th century
Place
Pioneers California Biography Gold mines and mining California. Yuba River. History 19th century. California, Northern.
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