Jesse Turner Hanks was the son of Edmund Hanks & Achsah Loomis Turner of Mansfield, CT.
Jesse tried farming, but went to West Troy, New York where he got a position with the Watervleit U.S. Arsenal. In 1851 he went to New York City and worked in the "ordnance" business. After 1 year, Jesse got gold fever and moved to California. He mined for 4 years & amassed between 2-3 thousand dollars. He returned to New York where he worked in the firm of Kendrick, Hanks & Co, a metal business.
He met & married Mary Jane Olmsted King, the widow of Charles Starr King & daughter of Richard Montgomery & Hester Janet (Mix) Olmsted on Apr. 15, 1869.
In the fall of 1869 the superintendent of the "Reiss (Sierra Buttes) Mines", wished to retire and establish himself in business at San Francisco. So Mr. Jesse T. Hanks was offered the position at a salary of $5000.00 a year in Gold. He at once accepted and returned to California in October 1869. His wife came later. Jesse had complete control over the mine which was one of the wealthiest people in California. His salary was considered a fortune at that time, but the mine produced more gold than any other in California.
Jesse and Mary had one child, Edmund "Eddie" Hanks born 18 Jul 1870, named after Jesse's father & mother. However, on Aug 1, 1872, Jesse T. Hanks died at the age of 42 of pneumonia and was buried at the Sierra City Cemetery, Sierra, CA.
The widow became impoverished and her 4 children (3 from the 1st marriage) were put in a children's home in the East. To support herself, she tutored Horace Greely's children and wrote books on phrenology. She later returned to California, remarried and helped secure the right of women to vote.
Eddie was indentured to (later adopted by) the George T. & Mary (Robertson) Evans family of Indianapolis and as a adult received money that the mine owner had set aside for him. His adoptive parents had renamed him Edgar Hanks Evans & in the 1920s he went to California to meet his 3 older siblings, but he never saw his mother again.
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Transcription of a letter in the possession of Mary Harrell-Sesniak:
Sierra Buttes April 15th 1872
Dear Sister Sarah
Your most welcome letter of March 31st is just to hand.
Why have you not written me before. You ask me if we have had snow here. last fall we had about 4 feet at my office but have had very little since. at the lakes about seven miles from here I have seven dams which flood about 7000 acroes. here there has been from 7 to 15 feet of snow.
I am getting along very well here. do not see a man once a year that owns a dollar of the mine and it is held at more thru Millions in London. I take out from ten to fifteen hundred dollars per day and pay out from four to five hundred dollars per day. I am not running three Mills and working 160 men. directly, and about 40 indirectly. I have four Foremen, and a store of my own that pays me over $100, per month. The Co. have raised my salary twice since I have been here and I have just recd a letter from the President in London saying, I can have six weeks to visit my friends and my salary shall go on and they will pay my expenses. my legitamate income is not less than $500, per month, and yet I have offers made all the time to go to other places, and yet I am not satisfied. I had rather have a quiet home with myh Pigs chickens &c&c than all the power I possess here
do not show this to any one as it is written in the utmost haste, some one is waiting for one constantly
affectionately,
Your Brother
J. T. Hanks
P.S. Kind regards to A. C. and Mrs. Summer, old Boy write.
J.T.H.
Note: One of Jesse's ancestors was Edmund Freeman.
Jesse tried farming, but went to West Troy, New York where he got a position with the Watervleit U.S. Arsenal. In 1851 he went to New York City and worked in the "ordnance" business. After 1 year, Jesse got gold fever and moved to California. He mined for 4 years & amassed between 2-3 thousand dollars. He returned to New York where he worked in the firm of Kendrick, Hanks & Co, a metal business.
He met & married Mary Jane Olmsted King, the widow of Charles Starr King & daughter of Richard Montgomery & Hester Janet (Mix) Olmsted on Apr. 15, 1869.
In the fall of 1869 the superintendent of the "Reiss (Sierra Buttes) Mines", wished to retire and establish himself in business at San Francisco. So Mr. Jesse T. Hanks was offered the position at a salary of $5000.00 a year in Gold. He at once accepted and returned to California in October 1869. His wife came later. Jesse had complete control over the mine which was one of the wealthiest people in California. His salary was considered a fortune at that time, but the mine produced more gold than any other in California.
Jesse and Mary had one child, Edmund "Eddie" Hanks born 18 Jul 1870, named after Jesse's father & mother. However, on Aug 1, 1872, Jesse T. Hanks died at the age of 42 of pneumonia and was buried at the Sierra City Cemetery, Sierra, CA.
The widow became impoverished and her 4 children (3 from the 1st marriage) were put in a children's home in the East. To support herself, she tutored Horace Greely's children and wrote books on phrenology. She later returned to California, remarried and helped secure the right of women to vote.
Eddie was indentured to (later adopted by) the George T. & Mary (Robertson) Evans family of Indianapolis and as a adult received money that the mine owner had set aside for him. His adoptive parents had renamed him Edgar Hanks Evans & in the 1920s he went to California to meet his 3 older siblings, but he never saw his mother again.
-----
Transcription of a letter in the possession of Mary Harrell-Sesniak:
Sierra Buttes April 15th 1872
Dear Sister Sarah
Your most welcome letter of March 31st is just to hand.
Why have you not written me before. You ask me if we have had snow here. last fall we had about 4 feet at my office but have had very little since. at the lakes about seven miles from here I have seven dams which flood about 7000 acroes. here there has been from 7 to 15 feet of snow.
I am getting along very well here. do not see a man once a year that owns a dollar of the mine and it is held at more thru Millions in London. I take out from ten to fifteen hundred dollars per day and pay out from four to five hundred dollars per day. I am not running three Mills and working 160 men. directly, and about 40 indirectly. I have four Foremen, and a store of my own that pays me over $100, per month. The Co. have raised my salary twice since I have been here and I have just recd a letter from the President in London saying, I can have six weeks to visit my friends and my salary shall go on and they will pay my expenses. my legitamate income is not less than $500, per month, and yet I have offers made all the time to go to other places, and yet I am not satisfied. I had rather have a quiet home with myh Pigs chickens &c&c than all the power I possess here
do not show this to any one as it is written in the utmost haste, some one is waiting for one constantly
affectionately,
Your Brother
J. T. Hanks
P.S. Kind regards to A. C. and Mrs. Summer, old Boy write.
J.T.H.
Note: One of Jesse's ancestors was Edmund Freeman.
Jesse Turner Hanks was the son of Edmund Hanks & Achsah Loomis Turner of Mansfield, CT.
Jesse tried farming, but went to West Troy, New York where he got a position with the Watervleit U.S. Arsenal. In 1851 he went to New York City and worked in the "ordnance" business. After 1 year, Jesse got gold fever and moved to California. He mined for 4 years & amassed between 2-3 thousand dollars. He returned to New York where he worked in the firm of Kendrick, Hanks & Co, a metal business.
He met & married Mary Jane Olmsted King, the widow of Charles Starr King & daughter of Richard Montgomery & Hester Janet (Mix) Olmsted on Apr. 15, 1869.
In the fall of 1869 the superintendent of the "Reiss (Sierra Buttes) Mines", wished to retire and establish himself in business at San Francisco. So Mr. Jesse T. Hanks was offered the position at a salary of $5000.00 a year in Gold. He at once accepted and returned to California in October 1869. His wife came later. Jesse had complete control over the mine which was one of the wealthiest people in California. His salary was considered a fortune at that time, but the mine produced more gold than any other in California.
Jesse and Mary had one child, Edmund "Eddie" Hanks born 18 Jul 1870, named after Jesse's father & mother. However, on Aug 1, 1872, Jesse T. Hanks died at the age of 42 of pneumonia and was buried at the Sierra City Cemetery, Sierra, CA.
The widow became impoverished and her 4 children (3 from the 1st marriage) were put in a children's home in the East. To support herself, she tutored Horace Greely's children and wrote books on phrenology. She later returned to California, remarried and helped secure the right of women to vote.
Eddie was indentured to (later adopted by) the George T. & Mary (Robertson) Evans family of Indianapolis and as a adult received money that the mine owner had set aside for him. His adoptive parents had renamed him Edgar Hanks Evans & in the 1920s he went to California to meet his 3 older siblings, but he never saw his mother again.
-----
Transcription of a letter in the possession of Mary Harrell-Sesniak:
Sierra Buttes April 15th 1872
Dear Sister Sarah
Your most welcome letter of March 31st is just to hand.
Why have you not written me before. You ask me if we have had snow here. last fall we had about 4 feet at my office but have had very little since. at the lakes about seven miles from here I have seven dams which flood about 7000 acroes. here there has been from 7 to 15 feet of snow.
I am getting along very well here. do not see a man once a year that owns a dollar of the mine and it is held at more thru Millions in London. I take out from ten to fifteen hundred dollars per day and pay out from four to five hundred dollars per day. I am not running three Mills and working 160 men. directly, and about 40 indirectly. I have four Foremen, and a store of my own that pays me over $100, per month. The Co. have raised my salary twice since I have been here and I have just recd a letter from the President in London saying, I can have six weeks to visit my friends and my salary shall go on and they will pay my expenses. my legitamate income is not less than $500, per month, and yet I have offers made all the time to go to other places, and yet I am not satisfied. I had rather have a quiet home with myh Pigs chickens &c&c than all the power I possess here
do not show this to any one as it is written in the utmost haste, some one is waiting for one constantly
affectionately,
Your Brother
J. T. Hanks
P.S. Kind regards to A. C. and Mrs. Summer, old Boy write.
J.T.H.
Note: One of Jesse's ancestors was Edmund Freeman.
Jesse tried farming, but went to West Troy, New York where he got a position with the Watervleit U.S. Arsenal. In 1851 he went to New York City and worked in the "ordnance" business. After 1 year, Jesse got gold fever and moved to California. He mined for 4 years & amassed between 2-3 thousand dollars. He returned to New York where he worked in the firm of Kendrick, Hanks & Co, a metal business.
He met & married Mary Jane Olmsted King, the widow of Charles Starr King & daughter of Richard Montgomery & Hester Janet (Mix) Olmsted on Apr. 15, 1869.
In the fall of 1869 the superintendent of the "Reiss (Sierra Buttes) Mines", wished to retire and establish himself in business at San Francisco. So Mr. Jesse T. Hanks was offered the position at a salary of $5000.00 a year in Gold. He at once accepted and returned to California in October 1869. His wife came later. Jesse had complete control over the mine which was one of the wealthiest people in California. His salary was considered a fortune at that time, but the mine produced more gold than any other in California.
Jesse and Mary had one child, Edmund "Eddie" Hanks born 18 Jul 1870, named after Jesse's father & mother. However, on Aug 1, 1872, Jesse T. Hanks died at the age of 42 of pneumonia and was buried at the Sierra City Cemetery, Sierra, CA.
The widow became impoverished and her 4 children (3 from the 1st marriage) were put in a children's home in the East. To support herself, she tutored Horace Greely's children and wrote books on phrenology. She later returned to California, remarried and helped secure the right of women to vote.
Eddie was indentured to (later adopted by) the George T. & Mary (Robertson) Evans family of Indianapolis and as a adult received money that the mine owner had set aside for him. His adoptive parents had renamed him Edgar Hanks Evans & in the 1920s he went to California to meet his 3 older siblings, but he never saw his mother again.
-----
Transcription of a letter in the possession of Mary Harrell-Sesniak:
Sierra Buttes April 15th 1872
Dear Sister Sarah
Your most welcome letter of March 31st is just to hand.
Why have you not written me before. You ask me if we have had snow here. last fall we had about 4 feet at my office but have had very little since. at the lakes about seven miles from here I have seven dams which flood about 7000 acroes. here there has been from 7 to 15 feet of snow.
I am getting along very well here. do not see a man once a year that owns a dollar of the mine and it is held at more thru Millions in London. I take out from ten to fifteen hundred dollars per day and pay out from four to five hundred dollars per day. I am not running three Mills and working 160 men. directly, and about 40 indirectly. I have four Foremen, and a store of my own that pays me over $100, per month. The Co. have raised my salary twice since I have been here and I have just recd a letter from the President in London saying, I can have six weeks to visit my friends and my salary shall go on and they will pay my expenses. my legitamate income is not less than $500, per month, and yet I have offers made all the time to go to other places, and yet I am not satisfied. I had rather have a quiet home with myh Pigs chickens &c&c than all the power I possess here
do not show this to any one as it is written in the utmost haste, some one is waiting for one constantly
affectionately,
Your Brother
J. T. Hanks
P.S. Kind regards to A. C. and Mrs. Summer, old Boy write.
J.T.H.
Note: One of Jesse's ancestors was Edmund Freeman.
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