To any interested Woolsey researcher: GOLD FEVER The ARGONAUTS of 1849 On the 24 Jan 1848, while engaged in deepening the tailrace of Sutter´s mill, at Coloma, on the south fork of the American River, James W. Marshall discovered some metallic flakes which proved to be gold, and changed the course of American History. Despite efforts to keep the discovery secret, word quickly spread. Soon San Francisco and other California settlements were denuded of their able-bodied men who abandoned their jobs to engage in a mad scramble for gold. News of the discovery was carried eastward to the Atlantic Coast during the summer and President Polk´s annual message to Congress on 6 Dec 1848 touched off a wave of excitement which soon swept the entire country. The gold rush of 1849 followed. Thousands went to California by sea, either around South America or across the Isthmus of Panama. Other thousands, from seaboard cities, inland hamlets and prairie farms, undertook to journey overland across mountains and plains to the new-found El Dorado, where, as they fondly dreamed, gold in generous quantities was to be had for the taking. Some had good luck, some made a fortune, some made a "dollar a day", some had "seen the elephant" and returned home, broke, wiser, and willing to settle down. Some never came back, but continued to follow the gold lust into the Black Hills, Montana, Idaho, and Alaska. My Great grand-father, George Washington Hickerson, left his wife Sarah Woolsey on their fertile farm at the mouth of the Weber river, near Ogden, Utah, and helped drive a herd of horses and cattle into California, in the fall of 1849. He ended up on Mormon Island on the Middle Fork of the American River where he met his brother Andrew J. Hickerson, and with old neighbors from Fayette County, Illinois, panned for gold. He stuck with that for about a year, with moderate success. On at least two occasions, he was able, each time, to send home $1000 in gold, $500 to his wife and $500 to Willard Richards, who had "staked" him in this endeavor. Tired and homesick, George wrote to Sarah, complaining of sickness, homesickness and not doing well at all in the ‘diggins´, certainly like nothing they had envisioned. George gave this classic statement: Experience teaches a dear school And fools learn in no other. George and his brother Andrew, with Sarah´s younger brother William Woolsey, then opened a "general" store, including the sale of vegetables, where they did quite well for a season. Finally returning home, sadder and wiser, but not much richer. This was not a good experience for the Hickerson family, as most of the boys spent the rest of their lives in chasing the elusive gold flakes and nuggets, some remaining bachelors all their lives, missing out on the joys and problems of marriage and parenthood. Many families have their stories of "Uncle Jim" who left for the gold fields and never was heard of again. Or Brother Michael, who "struck it rich" but was robbed and killed on his way home. Or of "Grandma´s brother" who went to California, made a "strike´ and returned with enough gold to buy a large farm and settle down. Etc. Etc. There were a few Woolseys who got caught up in the ‘Gold Fever´ and went to California early enough to be known as "49´ers", sometimes calling themselves "Argonauts". We find them in the 1850 Federal Census of California. Are any of these Woolseys part of your family? In Calaveras, [made famous by Mark Twain´s "Jumping Frog"] Calaveras County, California, we find one W. Wolsey, age 48 male a miner born in Pennsylvania, counted on 13 June 1850. In Placerville, El Dorado County, California, calling himself a "miner for gold, but only making "$1.00 per day" was James B. Woolsey, age 28, born in Ohio, counted 6 Nov 1850. He shows up in the 1860 census (age 38) in Santa Clara Co., California, with a wife Hannah (age 20, born in Ohio), and a daughter Mary (age 1 year, born in California). I don´t know if he returned to Ohio and wooed his wife there and then came back to California, but he is no longer "a miner for gold", but rather has a prosperous Dairy Farm. Samuel Woolsey, age 26 a "miner", and born in Tennessee, was in Mariposa County, California, and counted 6 June 1850. On Mormon Island, Sacramento Co., California on 28 Sep 1850, was enumerated one M. Woolsey age 30 male, miner, born Tennessee. By the time the U.S. Census was taken ten years later, in 1860, there were 11 heads of Woolsey families. That year, none of the Woolsey men list their occupation as "miner" but rather are listed as ‘farmer´, ‘merchant´, ‘labourer´, ‘engineer´, one, from England, lists himself as a ‘packer´, probably packing supplies back into the mining areas. One is a jeweler, one a ‘pattern maker´, and one a lumberman, ‘farm laborer´, rounds out the list. Also by this time, several are married, bringing their wives and children out "west", following the "main Chance" and putting down lasting roots. Let me know if you can add to the ‘49´ers´ list. I had some footnotes with this but I guess they got stripped when I copied it over to this file. Sincerely, Wilford W. Whitaker