Amador
County
Biographies
ALFRED J. AMICK
At a time was California was in its
primitive condition, when the Spanish settlements in the south were widely
scattered and the work of improvement in the central and northern sections of
the state had scarcely been begun, Alfred Jefferson Amick came to the Pacific
coast. The year 1849 witnessed his
arrival. Mining camps were established
in various parts of the state, owing to the discovery of gold, but many of the
now leading cities and towns had not sprung into existence. The prosperous ranches of the present day
were then wild tracts of unclaimed land and the whole state awaited the
awakening touch of civilization.
Mr. Amick was born in North Carolina
on the 12th of February, 1829, of German ancestry who were early settlers of the south. His father, Abraham Amick, was also a native
of North Carolina, as was his wife, who bore the maiden name of Jemimah
Low. He lived to be sixty-eight years of
age, while his wife reached the age of seventy-nine. They were members of the Cumberland
Presbyterian church and were people of the highest respectability. In their family were eleven children, of whom
eight are still living, and these are scattered over various sections of the
country. In 1835 the family removed to
Missouri, becoming pioneers of Morgan and Cooper counties, in the development
of which they took an active part. The
political faith of the family was Democratic.
Alfred Jefferson Amick, their second
child, was reared on his father’s farm, his education being obtained in the
common schools. In February, 1850, he
attained his majority and in April of the same year started across the plains
to the newly discovered gold fields of California, with the intention of making
his fortune and then returning to his Missouri home. With five others he fitted up two wagons and
everything necessary for such a trip, each wagon being drawn by six yoke of
oxen. His uncle David Amick and his
brother William Amick were members of the company. At Fort Kearney the other three members of
the party decided to return but he and his uncle and brother continued on their
way across the long and arid plains were many emigrants were dying of cholera. Just before they reached the Platte River the
uncle died of that disease and was buried by his two nephews. He was the tenth man of the train who had
been stricken down and it seemed as though death would wipe out the entire
company. Mr. Amick, of this review, also
became ill. Of the seventeen that had
died by that time all had been attended by a Dr. Ousley,
who was one of the party. Mr. Amick’s brother suggested to him that
there was no use in taking Dr. Ousley’s medicine, so
he took a potion prepared by a little herb doctor who was with them and who
gave him what Mr. Amick believes was lobelia.
The doctor told him to take enough to make his stomach a little
disturbed. The first dose brought on a
severe attack of vomiting, and he took a second dose with the same effect, thus
ridding his system of the offensive disease which had brought death to so many
emigrants on their way across the plains.
On reaching Fort Laramie the wagon
train separated, a small company and Mr. Amick and his brother proceeding with
a party to the valley of the Humboldt and then down the Sacramento River to
Sacramento, where they arrived late in the fall of 1850. In the succeeding winter he went to Hangtown,
now Placerville, where he engaged in mining, and he and his brother taking out
about one thousand dollars each in three months. They then returned to the place where they
had first camped, near where the capitol of the state now stands. Sacramento was then a city of tents and the
most far-sighted could not have dreamed that it was to become the seat of
government of California, a growing and beautiful municipality, now one of the
most important places on the Pacific coast.
Mr. Amick’s brother was taken ill and he went to the camp to see whether
he could get work. He applied to a
German blacksmith, who inquired if he could blow the bellows and strike. On replying in the affirmative the man
employed him, giving him seven dollars a day and his board. After two weeks’ work, when his brother had
recovered, he told his employer that they were going in search of gold. The man replied, “You did not know much when
you began, and you don’t know much now; but if you will stay with me I will
give you ten dollars and board.” But Mr.
Amick had the gold fever and he left for Placerville.
While there the miners, all
inexperienced men from the east, concluded that the gold which they found in
the rivers and creeks must have washed down from some great gold repository in
the mountains and a number of them decided to go in search of this fountain
source of the precious metal, believing that they could get all the gold they
could carry and would soon be rich men.
Mr. Amick joined this party and they tramped many miles to the mountains
but failed to find the source of the gold supply. Each member of the party carried from fifty
to seventy pounds of luggage on their backs and the trip was a very arduous
one, leading them into the mountains where they encountered severe storms, snow
falling to the depth of four feet. Part
of the way they subsisted on meat without salt, and they were glad indeed to
get back to the original camp.
They returned to Georgetown and in
Mosquito Canyon Mr. Amick and his brother secured a large claim, in which they
each took out a thousand dollars in a short time. They returned to Georgetown and a number of
the prospectors decided that there must be a fortune in the bed of the
river. A council was held in which they
reached the conclusion that if they had a diving-bell they could obtain this
fortune. Accordingly a man was sent for
a bell, for which he paid seven hundred dollars, the owner retaining a half
interest in it.
About the same time news came of a
great gold find in Oregon and Mr. Amick and his brother secured a horse and two
mules and with others started on that stampede.
The first night they camped above Cashe Creek and the next morning found
that the horse and mules were missing.
The others left them in their discouragement, and they started on foot
to follow the animals’ trail. This they
did until they were almost completely exhausted, and fearing death at the hands
of the Indians, they returned to the old camp.
There a man offered to get them their mules if they would give him the
gray horse. To this they agreed, and the
man fulfilled his part of the contract.
Mr. Amick and his brother then
returned to Georgetown, where they were making tests with the diving bell. It was fastened to a limb of a tree that
overhung the river, but for some time no man would volunteer to go down in
it. Finally one decided to try it, but
had no sooner got down that he began to suffocate and began to signal to be
drawn up. When he was taken out he was
almost dead, but after considerable effort in resuscitating him he finally
revived. The diving bell was pronounced
an unsafe venture and was left on the bank of the river.
Mr. Amick then came to Amador County
and settled on a farm in Ione valley where for some years he carried on
agricultural pursuits. In 1856 he
returned across the plains to Missouri, where he purchased one hundred head of
cattle, driving them back to California.
On this transaction he realized a profit of five hundred per cent and
thus got his start, for prior to this time his business ventures had proved
rather evanescent as far as success was concerned. Later Mr. Amick was dispossessed of his land
by the claimant of the grant and was obliged to buy property. He continued his farming and stock raising,
working hard, and thus securing a good return for his labor. As the years passed he acquired a handsome
competence and is now known as one of the wealth money lenders of his
county. Through an active business
career he has ever enjoyed the reputation of straightforward dealing and his is
highly spoken of as one of the honored pioneers.
Mr. Amick and his wife reside on the
banks of the creek a short distance from Ione, there surrounded by all of the
comforts and many of the luxuries of life which have come to them through the
success of his earnest and well-directed efforts. In 1859 he was happily married to Miss Nancy
Philips, a native of Missouri, who crossed the plains in 1856. Their union has been blessed with six
children, all born in California: Wesley
M., a prominent drug clerk; W. D., also a successful agriculturist; E. G., a druggist,
of Ione; Addie A., who is now the wife of Robert Bagley, a leading merchant of
Ione; Alfred J., who accidentally shot himself and died from his injuries; and
James M., who lives in Ione. Of the
Presbyterian Church Mrs. Amick is a faithful member and active worker, and the
family is one of prominence, enjoying the high regard of many friends.
Mr. Amick was reared a Democrat, but
when the south attempted to overthrow the Union he became one of the most loyal
adherents, and at that time supported the Republican Party, which sustained the
national government at Washington. When
war issues were things of the past, however, he returned to the Democracy.
He is one of the oldest living
pioneers of Ione, familiar with the history of this section of California, for
it was a wild and unimproved region. He
has often ridden up and down the valley of Sutter Creek when there was not a
house on its banks. The first house
built in Ione was erected by John Wooster and stood near the site of the
present dry goods store of Scott & Amick.
Daniel Stewart was the first to open a store in the town. As the years passed the work of development
was carried forward, Mr. Amick witnessing the entire progress and upbuilding of
this portion of the state. He takes just
pride in its advancement, for it has become the home of a large population of
prosperous people, becoming one of the avenues of business and professional
life. Mr. Amick is numbered among those
who at an early day aided in reclaiming the state for the purposes of
civilization, and bore his part in placing it upon a substantial foundation on
which has been reared a commonwealth that is second to none in the Union.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
“A Volume of Memoirs and Genealogy of Representative Citizens of Northern
California”, Pages 307-310. Chicago Standard Genealogical Publishing Co. 1901.
© 2010
Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden Nugget Library's Amador County Biographies