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 Benjamin Franklin Mead, San Francisco, 1901. The Society of California Pioneers B.F. Mead was born Dec. 24, 1824 in New York City. He left New York City on March 30, 1849 on the ship "Canton" with "The Island Mining and Trading Association". They arrived in San Francisco on October 5, 1849. By October 6th they had started work digging out cellars for DeWitt Harrison & Co. After two weeks in the city the company started for Stockton and experienced trouble during their 30-day journey up the San Joaquin River. Once in Stockton, the company divided into smaller parties to head into the mines. Mead and his party traveled to Woods Creek and then to place known as "Poverty Hill" to prospect. They later traveled to Big Oak Flat, Merced River and Mariposa in search of a place called "New River". After his time spent mining Mead returned to San Francisco and continued in the hatters trade. He was a member of the Vigilance Committee Co. 2 Autobiographies and Reminiscences of California Pioneers, p.45-51, 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 covers the period of Benjamin Franklin Mead's life from 1824 to 1854. It provides details on his trip to California, some of the struggles he encountered in attempting a voyage to Stockton from San Francisco, and an incident occurring near the Yosemite Valley involving Indians that stole his party's animals. Mead names all the mines he worked and provides a descriptive account of his experiences.
Mead, Benjamin Franklin--1824-1903 Pioneers--California--Biography Frontier and pioneer life Gold mines and mining Voyages to the Pacific Coast California--History--19th century
Time Period
California -- History -- 19th century
Place
Pioneers California Biography History 19th century. California, Northern.
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