In looking at the voter's registration for San Francisco in 1868 my ancestor said he was a powder maker. That was very likely his occupation after the civil war in Connecticut, but were there gun powder mills in San Francisco at that time? I think he might have been falsifying a litte bit. He registered to vote on Sept. 30, 1868. He was born in Connecticut in Nov. 1848. He enlisted when he was 14. I have copies of several letters he wrote to his mother in Connecticut before they came to California. Nancy Lowrie Wright

Just a thought. Powder did not necessarily mean gunpowder, it could have meant powder for the transcontinental railroad work. A lot of stuff for the railroad came from San Francisco. -----Original Message----- From: norcal-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:norcal-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Nancy Sent: Wednesday, April 30, 2014 3:57 PM To: norcal@rootsweb.com Subject: [NORCAL] gun powder factory in SF In looking at the voter's registration for San Francisco in 1868 my ancestor said he was a powder maker. That was very likely his occupation after the civil war in Connecticut, but were there gun powder mills in San Francisco at that time? I think he might have been falsifying a litte bit. He registered to vote on Sept. 30, 1868. He was born in Connecticut in Nov. 1848. He enlisted when he was 14. I have copies of several letters he wrote to his mother in Connecticut before they came to California. Nancy Lowrie Wright ----------------------------------------- NORCAL ARCHIVES: http://archiver.rootsweb.com/ Enter NORCAL. Browse by month. Or click the "Search all archives" link to search by keyword. ----------------------------------------- To post a message to the NORCAL mailing list, send an email to NORCAL@rootsweb.com ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to NORCAL-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Rosemary, I had not thought of that. Would that be blasting powder? TNT? Dynamite? Probably the manufacture of that would be similar to making gun powder. Nancy From: "RoseMary" <nebettawy@pacbell.net> > Just a thought. > Powder did not necessarily mean gunpowder, it could have meant powder for > the transcontinental railroad work. > A lot of stuff for the railroad came from San Francisco. > > In looking at the voter's registration for San Francisco in 1868 my > ancestor > said he was a powder maker. That was very likely his occupation after the > civil war in Connecticut, but were there gun powder mills in San Francisco > at that time?

I do not know, I imagine any of those that are a powder. That gun-free powder for the RR just popped into my head, it is not my specialty. :-) -----Original Message----- From: norcal-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:norcal-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Nancy Sent: Wednesday, April 30, 2014 5:01 PM To: norcal@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [NORCAL] gun powder factory in SF Rosemary, I had not thought of that. Would that be blasting powder? TNT? Dynamite? Probably the manufacture of that would be similar to making gun powder. Nancy From: "RoseMary" <nebettawy@pacbell.net> > Just a thought. > Powder did not necessarily mean gunpowder, it could have meant powder > for the transcontinental railroad work. > A lot of stuff for the railroad came from San Francisco. > > In looking at the voter's registration for San Francisco in 1868 my > ancestor said he was a powder maker. That was very likely his > occupation after the civil war in Connecticut, but were there gun > powder mills in San Francisco at that time? ----------------------------------------- NORCAL ARCHIVES: http://archiver.rootsweb.com/ Enter NORCAL. Browse by month. Or click the "Search all archives" link to search by keyword. ----------------------------------------- To post a message to the NORCAL mailing list, send an email to NORCAL@rootsweb.com ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to NORCAL-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

HI Nancy,   One of the chemical and powder companies in the bay area was The Giant Powder Company relocated from "a sand dune area near San Francisco because of protests over possible explosions" to Fleming's Point, which is now near Golden Gate Fields Racetrack in Albany, CA. Another company operating around Fleming's Point was the Judson & Shepard Chemicals works. I don't have the exact dates of operations at my finger tips right now, but if you need me to I'll dig into some buried files to find them. The book that I have states the companies began operating in the area of Fleming's Point in the late 1870s.   Bob ________________________________ From: Nancy <wright4766@bellsouth.net> To: norcal@rootsweb.com Sent: Wednesday, April 30, 2014 3:56 PM Subject: [NORCAL] gun powder factory in SF In looking at the voter's registration for San Francisco in 1868 my ancestor said he was a powder maker.  That was very likely his occupation after the civil war in Connecticut, but were there gun powder mills in San Francisco at that time? I think he might have been falsifying a litte bit.  He registered to vote on Sept. 30, 1868.  He was born in Connecticut in Nov. 1848.  He enlisted when he was 14.  I have copies of several letters he wrote to his mother in Connecticut before they came to California. Nancy Lowrie Wright ----------------------------------------- NORCAL ARCHIVES: http://archiver.rootsweb.com/ Enter NORCAL.  Browse by month. Or click the "Search all archives" link to search by keyword. ----------------------------------------- To post a message to the NORCAL mailing list, send an email to NORCAL@rootsweb.com ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to NORCAL-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Yes there were.Black Powder was used then,Sulfer/charcoal,and Potassium nitrate derived from Bat Guano shipped up from Peru.Dangerous stuff. It was ground into about 3-4 grinds,FFFF frison[sp] powder in Flintlocks,FFF used in Pistols ,FF used in Long guns,smooth and Rifled and F in Cannon. On Wed, Apr 30, 2014 at 4:51 PM, Robert Hughes <n6spy13@att.net> wrote: > HI Nancy, > > One of the chemical and powder companies in the bay area was The Giant > Powder Company relocated from "a sand dune area near San Francisco because > of protests over possible explosions" to Fleming's Point, which is now near > Golden Gate Fields Racetrack in Albany, CA. Another company operating > around Fleming's Point was the Judson & Shepard Chemicals works. I don't > have the exact dates of operations at my finger tips right now, but if you > need me to I'll dig into some buried files to find them. The book that I > have states the companies began operating in the area of Fleming's Point in > the late 1870s. > > Bob > > > ________________________________ > From: Nancy <wright4766@bellsouth.net> > To: norcal@rootsweb.com > Sent: Wednesday, April 30, 2014 3:56 PM > Subject: [NORCAL] gun powder factory in SF > > > In looking at the voter's registration for San Francisco in 1868 my > ancestor said he was a powder maker. That was very likely his occupation > after the civil war in Connecticut, but were there gun powder mills in San > Francisco at that time? > > I think he might have been falsifying a litte bit. He registered to vote > on Sept. 30, 1868. He was born in Connecticut in Nov. 1848. He enlisted > when he was 14. I have copies of several letters he wrote to his mother in > Connecticut before they came to California. > > Nancy Lowrie Wright > > > ----------------------------------------- > NORCAL ARCHIVES: > http://archiver.rootsweb.com/ > Enter NORCAL. Browse by month. > Or click the "Search all archives" link to search by keyword. > ----------------------------------------- > To post a message to the NORCAL mailing list, send an email to > NORCAL@rootsweb.com > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > NORCAL-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > ----------------------------------------- > NORCAL ARCHIVES: > http://archiver.rootsweb.com/ > Enter NORCAL. Browse by month. > Or click the "Search all archives" link to search by keyword. > ----------------------------------------- > To post a message to the NORCAL mailing list, send an email to > NORCAL@rootsweb.com > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > NORCAL-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

Interesting Roland, In one of the letters Robert's brother in law asked him to bring him some sporting powder [from CT to MA] - duck no. 1 and no. 2. Probably the FFFF or FF. I learn something new everyday. Robert's father was killed in 1856 when the powder mill in CT exploded. Robert was the oldest surviving son so I can understand why he enlisted at age 14. Nancy ----- Original Message ----- From: "ROLAND ELLIOTT" <rolandelliott2@wildblue.net> To: "Robert Hughes" <n6spy13@att.net>; <norcal@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, April 30, 2014 7:04 PM Subject: Re: [NORCAL] gun powder factory in SF > Yes there were.Black Powder was used then,Sulfer/charcoal,and Potassium > nitrate derived from Bat Guano shipped up from Peru.Dangerous stuff. It > was ground into about 3-4 grinds,FFFF frison[sp] powder in Flintlocks,FFF > used in Pistols ,FF used in Long guns,smooth and Rifled and F in Cannon. >

There was the California Powder Works and the Dupont Powder Co. in San Francisco in 1868 along with four dealers. https://archive.org/stream/sanfranciscodire1868lang#page/634/mode/2up Gunpowder was typically manufactured locally.  As late as 1887, San Francisco was producing and shipping gunpwder as evidenced by the following story.  http://www.historysmith.com/tales_sf_lost_land_01.html Cheers, Jim On Wed, 30 Apr 2014 17:56:39 -0500, Nancy <wright4766@bellsouth.net> wrote: In looking at the voter's registration for San Francisco in 1868 my ancestor said he was a powder maker. That was very likely his occupation after the civil war in Connecticut, but were there gun powder mills in San Francisco at that time? > > I think he might have been falsifying a litte bit. He registered to > vote on Sept. 30, 1868. He was born in Connecticut in Nov. 1848. He > enlisted when he was 14. I have copies of several letters he wrote > to his mother in Connecticut before they came to California. > > Nancy Lowrie Wright > > > ----------------------------------------- > NORCAL ARCHIVES: > http://archiver.rootsweb.com/ > Enter NORCAL. Browse by month. > Or click the "Search all archives" link to search by keyword. > ----------------------------------------- > To post a message to the NORCAL mailing list, send an email to > NORCAL@rootsweb.com > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > NORCAL-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > -- James R. Smith Author: San Francisco's Lost Landmarks California Snatch Racket, San Francisco's Playland at the Beach: The Early Years San Francisco's Playland at the Beach: The Golden Years www.HistorySmith.com