Jewett Family Papers

Oscar and Alonzo Jewett were brothers from Saginaw, Michigan who went to the California gold fields in 1858 and then to the Nevada silver mines by January 1861. Their immediate family in Michigan consisted of father Eleazer, [1799]-1876; mother Azubah L. Miller Jewett, [1805]-1889; sister Mary Jewett Lee (1834- ) and her children Girtie, Edgar and Jessie; brother Wallace, [1840]-1863; and uncle Henry [Jewett].

Like many others, they followed the Gold rush from California to Virginia City, Nevada Territory, arriving by January 1861. They owned and worked several silver mining properties, worked in the mines of others, and found day labor to support themselves.

Upon hearing of the death of brother Wallace (probably in late September or October 1863), Oscar enlisted as a first lieutenant in Company D, Nevada Territory Volunteers. He served at Fort Churchill and in the Honey Lake Valley area of California and subsequently participated in the 1865 Powder River and Sawyers expedition under General Patrick E. Connor. He was wounded in the hand and thigh and spent time recovering in the Salt Lake City area.

Alonzo continued to mine in the Silver City and Virginia City region, holding shares in a number of mines and working as mine superintendent at several others. He managed Oscar's business interests during the latter's absence, but as Alonzo stated in several letters to his parents, times were hard and the value of their shares much less than when purchased. Alonzo indicated several times his desire to return to Michigan, but was always waiting for money from the sale of a mine or for better weather.