Free Jim Mine

Last updated
Free Jim Mine
Location
USA Georgia location map.svg
Schlaegel und Eisen nach DIN 21800.svg
Free Jim Mine
LocationDahlonega, Lumpkin County
StateGeorgia
CountryUnited States
Coordinates 34°32′05″N83°58′21″W / 34.5347°N 83.9725°W / 34.5347; -83.9725 Coordinates: 34°32′05″N83°58′21″W / 34.5347°N 83.9725°W / 34.5347; -83.9725

The Free Jim Mine was a Georgia Gold Rush gold mine located in the town of Dahlonega in Lumpkin County, Georgia, United States. The mine was started by a free African American named James Boisclair, who arrived in the area in the 1830s from Augusta, Georgia. Apparently, Boisclair discovered gold on a tract of land but, under state law, could not purchase the land since he was black, except through a guardian. A local resident, Joseph J. Singleton became his custodian, consequently allowing Boisclair to purchase the land and start what would become known as the Free Jim Mine. The mine was operated by Bosclair for many years. Today, the Free Jim Mine lies underneath the present-day Pine Tree Mfg. plant and other nearby businesses within the city limits of Dahlonega.

Sources

Related Research Articles

<i>The Gold Rush</i> 1925 film

The Gold Rush is a 1925 American comedy film written, produced, and directed by Charlie Chaplin. The film also stars Chaplin in his Little Tramp persona, Georgia Hale, Mack Swain, Tom Murray, Henry Bergman, and Malcolm Waite.

Dahlonega, Georgia City in Georgia, United States

The city of Dahlonega is the county seat of Lumpkin County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 5,242, and in 2018 the population was estimated to be 6,884.

Gold rush New gold discovery triggering an onrush of miners seeking their fortune

A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Canada, South Africa, and the United States, while smaller gold rushes took place elsewhere.

Dahlonega Mint Former branch of the United States Mint in Dahlonega, Georgia

The Dahlonega Mint was a former branch of the United States Mint built during the Georgia Gold Rush to help the miners get their gold assayed and minted, without having to travel to the Philadelphia Mint. It was located at in Dahlonega, Lumpkin County, Georgia. Coins produced at the Dahlonega Mint bear the "D" mint mark. That mint mark is used today by the Denver Mint, which opened many years after the Dahlonega Mint closed. All coins from the Dahlonega Mint are gold, in the $1, $2.50, $3, and $5 denominations, and bear dates in the range 1838–1861.

Auraria, Georgia Ghost town in Georgia, United States

Auraria is a ghost town in Lumpkin County, Georgia, United States, southwest of Dahlonega. Its name derives from aurum, the Latin word for gold. In its early days, it was also known variously as Dean, Deans, Nuckollsville, and Scuffle Town.

Calhoun Mine United States historic place

The Calhoun Mine is perhaps the oldest and best-known mine in Lumpkin County, Georgia. When gold was discovered in Lumpkin County in 1828, which led to the Georgia Gold Rush in 1829, it was discovered on 239 acres (0.97 km2) owned by Robert Obar. After at least two intermediary sales, the land was purchased by Senator John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, who was also the 7th Vice President of the United States. Calhoun started a mining company to mine the land and later allowed his son-in-law Thomas Green Clemson, the founder of Clemson University, to manage it. The ore deposit was a very rich deposit and, according to an 1856 letter from Clemson to his brother-in-law, was still producing significant quantities of gold nearly 30 years after its initial discovery on the land. This mine - along with the Consolidated Mine and the Loud Mine - were some of the most productive mines in the Georgia Gold Belt.

Consolidated Mine United States historic place

The Consolidated Mine was a gold mine in Lumpkin County, Georgia, United States, just east of Dahlonega. Like most of the area around Dahlonega, the placer mining on the land on which the mine is located probably started during the Georgia Gold Rush. By 1880, the placer deposits were exhausted and the land was down to hard rock. Gold was soon discovered in a huge quartz vein system, and mined. "The richest acre" was mined deep into the ground, and the resulting shaft became known as the "Glory Hole.”

Crisson Mine

Crisson Mine was a gold mine in Lumpkin County, Georgia, USA, located just east of Dahlonega. Like many mines in the area, the property probably started as a placer mine during the Georgia Gold Rush. Once the placer deposits had been exhausted, an open pit gold mine was established in 1847 and commercial operations continued until the early 1980s. A small stamp mill was also established here. Much of the gold used for the gold leaf dome of the Georgia State Capitol was mined at this mine, which was among the most productive mines in the Georgia Gold Belt. The mine is located just north of the site of the Consolidated Mine, which is itself north of the Calhoun Mine.

Georgia Gold Belt

The largest quantities of gold found in the eastern United States were found in the Georgia Gold Belt, extending from eastern Alabama to Rabun County, Georgia. The biggest concentration of gold was found in White, Lumpkin, and northern Cherokee counties in Georgia. The gold in the Georgia Gold Belt was close to 24 karat (100%) purity. Most of the gold was found in eroded rock (saprolite) and mixed in with quartz.

Charlotte Mint

The Charlotte Mint was the first United States branch mint. It was located in Charlotte, North Carolina and specialized in gold coinage.

Dahlonega Mine Train

The Dahlonega Mine Train is a steel roller coaster located at Six Flags Over Georgia in Austell, Georgia, 12 miles (19 km) west of downtown Atlanta, Georgia. The ride has three lift hills with brief elements between each that wind through a wooded, hilly landscape. This is a family coaster that is named after Dahlonega, Georgia, a village in northern Georgia that was a center of the gold rush of 1828, the first gold rush in the United States of America.

Dahlonega Gold Museum Historic Site

The Dahlonega Gold Museum Historic Site is a Georgia state historic site located in Dahlonega that commemorates America's first gold rush and the mining history of Lumpkin County. The museum is housed in the historic Old Lumpkin County Courthouse built in 1836 and located in the center of the town square. It is the oldest surviving county courthouse in the state. The museum houses many artifacts from the gold rush of 1836, including gold nuggets, gold coins, and gold panning equipment, as well as an educational film and gift shop.

Georgia Gold Rush

The Georgia Gold Rush was the second significant gold rush in the United States and the first in Georgia, and overshadowed the previous rush in North Carolina. It started in 1829 in present-day Lumpkin County near the county seat, Dahlonega, and soon spread through the North Georgia mountains, following the Georgia Gold Belt. By the early 1840s, gold became difficult to find. Many Georgia miners moved west when gold was found in the Sierra Nevada in 1848, starting the California Gold Rush. Since the 16th century, American Indians in Georgia told European explorers that the small amounts of gold which they possessed came from mountains of the interior. Some poorly documented accounts exist of Spanish or French mining gold in North Georgia between 1560 and 1690, but they are based on supposition and on rumors passed on by Indians. In summing up known sources, W.S. Yeates observed: "Many of these accounts and traditions seem to be quite plausible. Nevertheless, it is hardly probable that the Spaniards would have abandoned mines which were afterwards found to be quite profitable, as those in North Georgia."

Battle Branch Mine

The Battle Branch Mine, sometimes referred to as the Battle Creek Mine, was located near the town of Auraria in Lumpkin County, Georgia. During the Georgia Gold Rush, before the Gold Lottery of 1832, men from several different states were all working in the same stream when a dispute over the possession of the place ended in a fight in which a number of men were seriously wounded, providing the name for the mine ultimately located there. After the American Civil War, William John Turner Hutcheson, who served with the Blue Ridge Rifles, a Confederate fighting unit from Dahlonega, Georgia, became superintendent of the Battle Branch gold mine. The mine continued producing gold well into the 1900s, producing 661.28 ounces (20.568 kg) of gold in 1935.

Gold Lottery of 1832

The Gold Lottery of 1832 was the seventh lottery in the Georgia Land Lottery, a lottery system used by the State of Georgia between the years 1805 and 1832 to distribute land. It was authorized by the Georgia General Assembly by an act of December 24, 1831 a few years after the start of the Georgia Gold Rush. The act specified that approximately one third of the 160-acre (0.65 km2) land districts to be distributed by lottery under the act of December 21, 1830, be designated as gold districts of 40 acres (160,000 m2) each and to be distributed in a separate lottery. The drawings for the Gold Lottery of 1832 occurred between October 22, 1832 and May 1, 1833 and applied to land that had been owned by the Cherokee Indians.

William Greeneberry "Green" Russell (1818–1877) was an American prospector and miner.

M. F. Stephenson American geologist

Matthew FlemingStephenson (1802–1882) was an American miner, geologist, and mineralogist based in the US state of Georgia. He was one of the first collectors of lazulite, rutile, pyrophyllite, and other minerals. A phrase he said while encouraging people not to leave Georgia for the California Gold Rush, "There's gold in them thar hills", is commonly referenced in American popular culture, though the expression is sometimes misremembered as "There's gold in thems there hills," though the plural demonstrative has not been verified.

Carolina Gold Rush

The Carolina Gold Rush, the first gold rush in the United States, followed the discovery of a large gold nugget in North Carolina in 1799, by a 12-year-old boy named Conrad Reed. He spotted the nugget while playing in Meadow Creek on his family's farm in Cabarrus County, North Carolina. Conrad took the 17 pounds (7.7 kg) gold nugget home to show his father. However, gold was not commonly seen in their community and the value of the nugget was not understood. The nugget was used as a door stop in the family's home for several years. In 1802, Conrad's father, John Reed, showed the rock to a jeweler, who recognized it as gold and offered to buy it. Reed, still unaware of the real value of his "doorstop," sold it to the jeweler for $3.50.

James Boisclair was an African American gold miner who achieved notable fame and success during the Georgia Gold Rush. Boisclair was known as "Free Jim" and was highly regarded at the time for his entrepreneurial work and part-time efforts as a preacher.

Dahlonega may refer to: