The Carolina Gold Rush
Little Meadow Creek (Carolina Corner.com)
It all began at a small Cabarrus County farmhouse. A farmer’s son was left to babysit his two siblings. While playing in the Little Meadow Creek, they found a rock, “the size of a shoe” (Roberts, 1982, p. 5).
Conrad Reed
photo from: http://www.ncmarkers.com/Markers
When little Conrad Reed picked up the rock, he found it was very heavy. As any little boy would do, he was proud to show it to his father. His father, John Reed, took the rock to a Concord silversmith to see if it had any value. The silversmith quickly dismissed the idea of the rock being valuable.
Farmer John Reed took the rock home and used it as a doorstop for three years. Little did Farmer Reed know this was the world’s “most expensive doorstop” (Roberts, 1982, p. 5). This “rock” was “17 pounds of pure gold” (Roberts, 1982, p. 5).
John Reed was born in Germany, forced into the army, then used by the king of England to fight “rebellious colonists” (Roberts, 1982, p. 6). All Reed wanted was to be with people that spoke his language and who, “opposed the oppression of the king, be he German or English” (Roberts, 1982, p. 6). Reed set out into a less populated part of North Carolina, what is now Cabarrus County. He found other German-speaking settlers there. Once settled, he married a local girl and started a family. He knew he was, “just another back country settler, another immigrant born to live and die plowing the red clay country of Piedmont Carolina” (Roberts, 1982, p. 7).
On a trip to Fayetteville, Reed took the rock to a jeweler who purchased it from Reed for $3.50. Reed came home and heard the jeweler sold the “doorstop” for at least several thousand dollars. A very upset Reed went back to Fayetteville, this time leaving with much more money than $3.50. He went back to Little Meadow Creek to look for other gold rocks and was stunned! “The rocks shone yellow in the morning sun beneath the surface of the swiftly running stream. Most of them were small but he could have filled a quart jar with them in half an
hour. He saw in the sunlight on his own farm what Hernando DeSoto had seen only in his dreams” (Roberts, 1982, p. 7). The gold was in the stream, but also in the rocks and sand next to the stream (Roberts, 1982).
Up until this time, any gold found by explorers belonged to the king. Putting aside his German heritage, his British military belongings, he was American. That meant the gold Reed found belonged not to any king, but to him…a mere man! Thus, America’s first gold rush began (Roberts, 1982).
Farmer John Reed took the rock home and used it as a doorstop for three years. Little did Farmer Reed know this was the world’s “most expensive doorstop” (Roberts, 1982, p. 5). This “rock” was “17 pounds of pure gold” (Roberts, 1982, p. 5).
John Reed was born in Germany, forced into the army, then used by the king of England to fight “rebellious colonists” (Roberts, 1982, p. 6). All Reed wanted was to be with people that spoke his language and who, “opposed the oppression of the king, be he German or English” (Roberts, 1982, p. 6). Reed set out into a less populated part of North Carolina, what is now Cabarrus County. He found other German-speaking settlers there. Once settled, he married a local girl and started a family. He knew he was, “just another back country settler, another immigrant born to live and die plowing the red clay country of Piedmont Carolina” (Roberts, 1982, p. 7).
On a trip to Fayetteville, Reed took the rock to a jeweler who purchased it from Reed for $3.50. Reed came home and heard the jeweler sold the “doorstop” for at least several thousand dollars. A very upset Reed went back to Fayetteville, this time leaving with much more money than $3.50. He went back to Little Meadow Creek to look for other gold rocks and was stunned! “The rocks shone yellow in the morning sun beneath the surface of the swiftly running stream. Most of them were small but he could have filled a quart jar with them in half an
hour. He saw in the sunlight on his own farm what Hernando DeSoto had seen only in his dreams” (Roberts, 1982, p. 7). The gold was in the stream, but also in the rocks and sand next to the stream (Roberts, 1982).
Up until this time, any gold found by explorers belonged to the king. Putting aside his German heritage, his British military belongings, he was American. That meant the gold Reed found belonged not to any king, but to him…a mere man! Thus, America’s first gold rush began (Roberts, 1982).
John Reed
photo from: http://www.ohs.org
Reed gained partners and, with the help of slaves, began panning the stream and gravel beside the stream. A 28-pound nugget was found by an old slave, Peter. This was the largest gold nugget ever found in America (Roberts, 1982).
“Although gold made the Reed family rich, Reed never relied on mining for money. He continued to farm at the family plantation, Mansion Hill, until he died in 1845 at age 88. Three years before his death, the United States granted him citizenship. He left
behind nine children, 54 grandchildren, 18 slaves, and an estate worth more than $1 million by today’s standards. Reed’s obituary honored him for being a “faithful Christian, a good citizen, a kind parent and neighbor, and a helper of the poor’” (Myers, 2012).
“Although gold made the Reed family rich, Reed never relied on mining for money. He continued to farm at the family plantation, Mansion Hill, until he died in 1845 at age 88. Three years before his death, the United States granted him citizenship. He left
behind nine children, 54 grandchildren, 18 slaves, and an estate worth more than $1 million by today’s standards. Reed’s obituary honored him for being a “faithful Christian, a good citizen, a kind parent and neighbor, and a helper of the poor’” (Myers, 2012).
Golden State
photo: http://www.nchistoricsites.org
At the height of the rush, there were over 600 mines in North Carolina. Mining for gold ranked second only to farming from 1800 to the Civil War. It became a family affair, as entire families would dig for gold. North Carolina was named the “Golden State” because from 1804 to 1828, all gold coined by the United States mint came from this state. North Carolina was the leader of gold
production until the California Gold Rush in 1848 (Myers, 2012).
“John Reed’s great grandson, Jake Shinn, found the last large nugget on the Reed property. It weighed 23 pounds — only a few pounds heavier than the one Conrad Reed found all those years ago when he went fishing in that dry creek full of rocks” (Myers, 2012).
production until the California Gold Rush in 1848 (Myers, 2012).
“John Reed’s great grandson, Jake Shinn, found the last large nugget on the Reed property. It weighed 23 pounds — only a few pounds heavier than the one Conrad Reed found all those years ago when he went fishing in that dry creek full of rocks” (Myers, 2012).