Crawford County Residents Lured to Gold Rush of 1850

Pictured here are members of the Meadville Area California Pioneer Association, who went west to seek gold in the 1850’s. The photo was taken at their annual reunion on June 22, 1887 and needless to report many were missing. Seated (left to right) are Hiram P. Miller, George Pier, John H. Marley, Col. Alexander Power (a guest) and E.R. Pier. Standing (left to right) are W.H. Davenport, John Weller, Joshua Douglass, Theodore D. Power, William C. Herrington and S.J. Affrantranger. (Photo was originally loaned to the Cochranton Scroll for use in the article by T.V. Power)

It was a bright Monday afternoon on January 24, 1848 when James Marshall found some gold nuggets on the American River near John Sutter’s sawmill in what is now Sacramento, California. The consequences were worldwide as the gold lured men (and some women) from Europe and Asia making the San Francisco-Sacramento area the most Cosmopolitan of all even to this day. Of course, the sound of the placer pan swishing back and forth reached all over the United States and into the farm areas of Crawford County. Cochranton area men who heard the call and who are among those pictured were Theodore D. Power, William C. Herrington and John H. Marley. Not in the group is Thomas Shafer who went west later.

Theodore D. Power, a son of Samuel Power who was one of the first settlers of Union Township, left the family farm in 1850 and went to California by the overland route. With many others he traveled by train to St. Joseph, Missouri, the jumping off point and thence via wagon trains pulled by oxen the rest of the way to the California hills. It took six months of unforeseen hardship to make the trip. Mr. Power stayed in California two years and although he panned sufficient gold to make the trip worthwhile, the high cost of food and equipment erased all the profits.

William C. Herrington, a grandson of James Herrington who also was one of the first settlers of Union Township, went to California in 1852 sailing around Cape Horn, He worked in the goldmines for nine years and returned home in 1861 to the family farm. He later was elected Constable and Township Auditor.

John H. Marley, another member of a well known pioneer family of East Fairfield Town-ship, went to California to seek gold in 1850 possibly in the group with Theodore Power. However, no public record shows this was so. Although it is not known in what year Mr. Marley returned he eventually settled in the Custards area.

Thomas Shafer, who is not in the photo, hailed from that part of Greenwood Township which later became Union Twp. and is a member of the family which produced Governor Raymond Shafer. Younger than most of the others, Tom Shafer left for the California gold diggings in 1856 at the age of 21 and after three years of prospecting and panning for gold, he returned and bought a farm in Union Township. Evidently he was successful in seeking his fortune for after engaging in farming for twelve years he moved to Cochranton and in 1871 built and opened the famous 21 room Shafer Hotel at the corner of Walnut and Adams Streets. He later bought a farm in Wayne Township and became known all over Crawford County as a breeder of horses.

The John Weller in the photo may have been one of the sons of Jonathon and Lovina Weller who settled in East Fairfield Township in 1817 having come from Massachusetts. They had nine children and records indicate only the name of one (Aaron) who operated a farm in the Shaw’s Landing area after the demise of the parents. The other male children probably went to Meadville.

Joshua Douglass, shown in the photo, became a famous Meadville lawyer after returning from the “Gold Rush”. His cousin, Stephen A. Douglass, would have become President if Abraham Lincoln and the slave question had not been in the way.

Sophara Josiah Affantranger became a successful merchant in Meadville and maybe this was the result of California gold? Hiram Miller was from the Hartstown-Adamsville area while the Pier brothers hailed from the Corry, Pa. and French Creek, N.Y. area. Alexander Power, the guest, was the brother of the gold seeking Theodore and was an influential politician and banker. He was from the Fairfield-Union Twps. area but went to Meadville and became successfull in all endeavors he undertook.

In retrospect,, you have to admire these men. What motivated them? They were not poor – they had comfortable homes for those times. Would you, in your comparable circumstances, leave all behind and travel 3000 miles, 2300 of which was trackless, desert, mountains, no water for hundreds of miles – and all the while you had to keep a lookout for strangers some of which were hostile – some hopefully not? Not to mention the treachery of some of your fellow travelers. There were thousands who left their homes to seek their fortunes – most made it but many died on the way, others died in various ways after reaching the lawless gold country. Very few really became rich from finding gold. Those who were successful, in some cases didn’t return as they operated supply and food stores or saloons. Those of you who are students of Bret Harte and Jack London know of the hardships of seeking gold, finding it and squandering it. Nevertheless, the Forty-Niners and the Klondikers will never be forgotten because they exemplified the same spirit of their pioneer forefathers and mothers.