Showing posts with label Benjamin Jaquis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Benjamin Jaquis. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Benjamin H. Jaquis, The Father and His Wife, Mary, err, Rachel, err???

Copyright 2017, CABS for Reflections From the Fence


I only found those interesting California probate files because I was looking for Benjamin H. Jaquis, the father of the disappearing Benjamin.

I have a cache of files and documents that are waiting to have the information mined and then attached to the data base. I have additional probate info, this time from the state of New York for one Uz Jaquis, yes, that IS his name, and another for one Lucy Jaquis.

As I was inspecting these files, I of course traveled to my fav research web sites, Ancestry dot com, Family Search, Find A Grave.  At Find A Grave I found some interesting memorials.  I hoped to turn up more probate files for some of the Jaquis clan I have researched.  As you know from reading about the "disappearing Benjamin" I did indeed find more files.

From my work on Find A Grave:  Here is a link to the Hillcrest Cemetery, Parishville, St. Lawrence County, New York, for just the people buried there with the name Jaquis, spelled just that way.

The probate file I have for a Lucy Jaquis is most likely for a Lucy who died in 1878. Note she is the wife of Uz Jaquis, whose memorial is here.  She is also a Jaquis, born to Enoch and Lucy.  I'll admit that Enoch confused me for a while, but, note his birthdate is 1786.  Why was I confused??  Because I have another Enoch in my data base, born about 1823.  Sometimes it takes a while to sink into my thick skull.

When I visited Uz's memorial, I note a link to a mother named Rachel.  Her memorial is here.

So, let's stop here a moment and look at the family as it currently is in my data base:


This is Benjamin the father and Mary, who I have as his wife and the mother of his children.  Note, no Rachel.

Benjamin, first born, born 1810ish, is the man who disappeared from the California Gold Rush.  Uz is there, born about 1826, Enoch is there, born about 1823 and several other children.  

You can see by looking at the date range that I do not have death information for Enoch or Sarah. And, there is Uz  - this screen shot taken before I found Uz at Find A Grave.  I need to enter that information into the data base.  The children continue, Ann, Mary, Emily and John.  I am not even really sure that Emily or John are related. It's been a tough search, one that I have abandoned more than once. And, now, I am back at it once again due to all these probate files.

I spent a good number of hours this last 10 days or so looking for Rachel Jaquis.  So far, I am not finding her.  I really had hoped to find her in the 1860 census since she died in 1861.  At the age of 79 we would hope to find her in a household with some others, possibly children.  I could not find her in the 1855 New York State Census either.  Ditto, 1850 census.  The search will continue by getting creative with spellings.

However, I did find some decent copies of the 1855 new York State census online.  First image is the headings/questions asked.


This image is Benjamin, and Mary, and children of Benjamin.  Note, they do not claim the children to be of Mary, but, of the head of the family.


We have:  Benjamin(e) Jaquis, age 65, born New Hampshire
Mary Jaquis, age 68, wife, born New Hampshire
Ebenzer Jaquis, age 46, child, born Vermont
Enoch Jaquis, age 39, child, born Essex (County in New York)
Mary Jaquis, age 34, child, born Essex (County in New York)
Ann Jaquis, age 27, child, and in the place of birth column:  School teacher
Jame Jaquis, age 25, child, and in the place of birth column:  School teacher
Irving Jaquis, age 10, child, born Essex (County in New York)
Almira Jennings, age 8  , granddaughter, born Essex (County in New York). Granddaughter? Yes, follow up research is indicated as I have none of the daughters married to a Jennings.

What a wonderful thing this 1855 state census is.  I'll be revisiting it for additional family members.

In the meantime, I have not found any other record of Rachel.  At this point, I don't believe she is the mother of any of Benjamin's children, but, in research we must keep an open mind.  I'll be working on any possible connection of Enoch born 1786 and my Benjamin born about 1790.  Other researchers have them as brothers. Then, there is the John Jaquis died about 1832, who is buried at Haselton Cemetery in Essex County, New York, at 54 years of age at his death, he would have been born about 1778.

Onward goes the research - - - 


* Ancestry.com is a pay service for researching.  I use, I pay, I have not been asked to use it, to review it.  Please refer to my Disclaimers page.  Find A Grave is currently a free site to use and contribute to, they are owned by Ancestry.com.  Family Search is a free site for all to use.

**Note:  The 1855 census images for Essex County New York were far superior at FamilySearch.  The same images at Ancestry dot com I could not read, nor manipulate with digital editing enough to read.

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Monday, January 2, 2017

Benjamin H. Jaquis, The Disappearing Benjamin

Copyright 2017, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

Gonna put this out here as a bit of cousin bait, and to help me organize some new, confusing and fun things that are happening in the research of the Jaquis clan.

My initial interest in this clan came from the intermarriage of Benjamin Jaquis (born 1810ish) to one Fannie Lashbrook (1819-1893).  Benjamin, born 1810ish, according to family tradition, went west in 1849, participating in the California Gold Rush.  Again, according to family tradition, he eventually made a nice strike. However, on the way back home (about 1854) to his family who had remained in Illinois, the ship he was traveling on sank and he died.  Juicy material to research, I was hooked!

At some point, I was told a great-great granddaughter of Benjamin's, made a cassette tape of her remembrances of her family and named the ship that Benjamin died on as the Yankee Blade.  Oh, yes!  I had a field day researching this sinking in New York City newspapers. I never heard the tape, but, sometimes you just go hunt up the info anyway.

I eventually found a report on the sinking of the Yankee Blade, which reported, in part,   "A body was seen on the beach, the pockets of the pants taken off and cut open, and another with a money belt around him, which was cut open and the contents abstracted." I found the report of the money belt to be interesting, as the family tradition (written about in the book referenced below) reports that Benjamin wore money belts.

I even found a drawing of the Yankee Blade, in the work,  "Early American Steamers" by Erik Heyl, published 1953.


Of particular interest in the next part of this post is the fact we can place Benjamin in a specific place in California. In the small charming family history, "The Gold Moon", which a family member so graciously shared with me years ago, it is reported that there is a letter from Benjamin.  Said letter came from Benjamin from "Oregon Gulch, Bute Co., California" and was dated December 25, 1853.  The letter was from Benjamin to his brother-in-law, John Lashbrook, who had inquired about coming west to hunt gold.  Benjamin discouraged John.

Years pass, I research other families, other clans.  Then the other evening, while snooping around on Ancestry dot com, looking for Benjamin H. Jaquis, the father of Benjamin (born 1810ish), I found some very interesting references to Benjamin (yes, the one born 1810ish), back in California. Trouble is, the references are well after our poor Benjamin's ship sank??

Benj S Jaques
 in the 1860 United States Federal Census
Name: Benj S Jaques
Age: 49
Birth Year: abt 1811
Gender: Male
Birth Place: Vermont
Home in 1860: Eureka, Butte, California
Post Office: Thompsons Flat
Family Number: 1392
Value of real estate: View image
Household Members:
Name Age
Geo Carper 34
Benj S Jaques 49  occupation:  Miner

The birth year for this Benj S. Jaques is close, birth place of Vermont cannot be discounted, as I have seen his birth place reported as Vermont, New York, and France. Same county as the transcribed letter came from. 

Next I found:

B H Jacques
 in the California, Voter Registers, 1866-1898
Name: B H Jacques
Residence Year: 1867
Residence Place: Butte, California

Again, same county.  And then: 

Ben Jafuas
 in the 1870 United States Federal Census
Name: Ben Jafuas
[Ben Jaquis] 
Age in 1870: 60
Birth Year: abt 1810
Birthplace: Illinois
Home in 1870: Ophir, Butte, California
Race: White
Gender: Male
Post Office: Oroville
Value of real estate: View image
Household Members:
Name Age
Ben Jafuas 60  occupation:  miner

Again, the birth year is within reason, in fact, perfect.  Birthplace of Illinois, I won't even argue, as Benjamin left his family in Illinois when his journey to find gold began in 1849. And, as we all know, spelling just does not count in this sport.  And, as in all of these finds, this Benjamin is residing in Butte County.

However, this set of records is by far the most interesting.

Benjamin H Jaquis
 in the California, Wills and Probate Records, 1850-1953
Name: Benjamin H Jaquis
Probate Date: 18 May 1874
Probate Place: Butte, California, USA
Inferred Death Year: Abt 1874
Inferred Death Place: California, USA
Item Description: Journal, Vol 5, 1879; Orders, 1915-1937; Bonds and Letters, 1862-1881

Benjamin H Jaquis
 in the California, Wills and Probate Records, 1850-1953
Name: Benjamin H Jaquis
Probate Date: 23 May 1874
Probate Place: Butte, California, USA
Inferred Death Year: Abt 1874
Inferred Death Place: California, USA
Case Number: 537
Item Description: Case Files, 526-541, 1874
Table of Contents 16 images
Cover Page 1
Administration Papers 2
Petition Papers 3'965
Account Papers 6'967
Administration Papers 8'9610
Petition Papers 11'9613
Order Papers 14'9616

One thing these documents do reveal is that a man named Benjamin H. Jaquis, died in Butte County, California on July 18,1872, intestate.  (Not having made a will before one dies.) Not one heir is listed in these 18 pages of probate records.  In fact, in this file, I did not see any reference to heirs being searched for.  I have to ask, are these all of the probate papers concerning Benjamin?   

I need to study this more, is this Benjamin who died in 1872 in California the same Benjamin that wrote home in 1853 from the same county in California?

I have yet to find more, nothing on Find A Grave, nothing more on Ancestry dot com or on Family Search.  The search continues - - 

Next I'll tell you a bit of why I was even looking for a Benjamin Jaquis.



* Ancestry.com is a pay service for researching.  I use, I pay, I have not been asked to use it, to review it.  Please refer to my Disclaimers page.  Find A Grave is currently a free site to use and contribute to, they are owned by Ancestry.com.

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Wednesday, July 31, 2013

THE Trip, THE Encore' :: Kennedy Gold Mine, Jackson, California.

Copyright 2013, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

April 27, 2013   As a reminder, Reflections is almost 3 months behind the real time visits.


We were in the heart of Gold Country California!  I could almost hear the crys, "there's gold in them thar hills".

Man has a second great-grand aunt (let's just say great aunt to keep it simple) whose hubby was infected by the Gold Rush fever, so, a visit to Gold Country had appeal to me.  The ability to combine history, our travels and my family research is such a WIN!

I have not written about this family or the Gold Rush or the effects on the family yet here on Reflections, some day, I must, write in detail, but, here is a quick and dirty summary.


From what I know about Benjamin Jaquis, I don't believe he worked for one of the big gold mining companies like Kennedy.  In 1853 he wrote back home to family living in McHenry County Illinois from "Oregon Gulch, Bute Co, California"  Family lore is that he mined a claim that an old and dying man told him about and gave him a map to.  Benjamin worked that claim, fighting dry conditions in the summer months (you need water for panning gold) and eventually sold the mine off to another miner.  The rest of Benjamin's story is tragic, in fact is somewhat a mystery, and is best left for another post.

Nevertheless, the pull of the tour of the Kennedy Gold Mine was strong for Man and for yours truly.  So, off to the Kennedy Mines we went.

The Kennedy Gold Mine is named for Andrew Kennedy, an Irish immigrant, who supposedly discovered an outcropping of quartz sometime in the late 1850's. The Kennedy Mining Company was formed in 1860 when digging of shafts began with Kennedy and 3 partners.

One very interesting out building was this one, the Oil Building. The building was used to store lubricating materials for various machines.  Seems no one is sure about the structure's shape as the architecture is a mystery. As you can see the volunteers that run this museum to Gold Mining are doing maintenance and repairs to this building.


Before work the miners would change from street clothes to work clothes. After work they were required to take a shower.  This shower opportunity and changing of clothes was to prevent “high grading” (stealing gold).  The Change House is now a museum where the well versed docents explain much of the process of getting gold out of rock and many other facets of the world of gold mining.  This was in the Change House museum, and no, I cannot really tell you what it is, other than some sort of furnace.  Big, and looks like it would do a significant job of heating things up.


This is the "Headframe".  It is 125 feet tall, was built in 1928.  It contains the skips (best I can figure that means containers) which  raise and lower everything in and out of the mine including removing about 70,000 gallons of  water  from the mine shaft each day. There are hoppers to store rock and there is a rock crushing machine.


Some more HUGE equipment, I am in awe, even if I don't understand what it all does.


This building is the office building, now a museum as well. Kennedy Mining and Milling Office was built in 1907, it is a three story concrete building, that contained assay offices, general offices, the payroll office, and in the time before the company shut down there were 4 small bedrooms on the third floor for visitors.


This is another oven/furnace, I don't remember if that was part of the assay office or part of the process to turn amalgam into solid gold ingots.


OK, someone who knows all about mining and gold, please tell me what this is??  I think it had something to do with the quality of gold?


These rooms were decorated by The Mother Lode Questors to reflect rooms in homes may have looked during the hey day of the mine.



The docent that gave us our tour was very well versed in the mine, the buildings, the procedures required to bring gold up from the mine shaft and how to get gold out of all that rock.  It gave Man and I a great appreciation of the times and the business.  The mine produced close to 34.3 million dollars (when gold was valued at $20.67 and $35.00 per ounce).  The mine closed in 1942 when the U.S. Government closed gold mines as they were not essential to the war effort.

If you are interested in learning more about the Kennedy Mine (for example, it is one of the deepest gold mines in the world at 5912 feet),  their web site is here.




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