Nevada
County
Biographies
JOHN AVER
John Aver was born in Cornwall,
England, November 17, 1855, and is a son of James Aver, who also was of English
birth, and was a miner by occupation.
With his family the father came to California in 1875, taking up his
residence in Grass Valley, and in this locality he engaged in mining up to the
time of his death, which occurred on the 23d of December, 1876. He married Susan Grubb, who also was a native
of England and who yet survives her husband, her home being in Grass
Valley. They had seven children, four of
whom are living.
John Aver, the second in order of
birth, spent the first twenty years of his life in the land of his nativity,
and is indebted to its school system for the educational privileges which he
received. With the family he came to
America and entered the mines of California, being actively connected with that
important industry on the Pacific coast until 1883, when he began dealing in
wines and liquors, selling to the retail trade.
He has, however, been interested in mining properties since his arrival
here, and at the present time he is a stockholder in the Unknown, St. John and
other mines. He has resided in Grass
Valley continuously with the exception of a few months in 1893, when he made a
trip to the east, visiting the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, and
also crossed the Atlantic to Europe, spending many pleasant hours among the
scenes and friends of his boyhood.
In March, 1886, Mr. Aver was united
in marriage to Miss Eliza A. Shackelton, a native of
Grass Valley and a daughter of Robert Shackelton, who
was a native of Yorkshire, England, and came to California in 1850. Like many of the pioneers of the state, he
first turned his attention to mining, but afterward devoted his energies to
other pursuits. He is now living
retired. Mr. and Mrs. Aver have three
sons,--James H., Rodger, and Albert C.
The subject of this review belongs to Grass Valley Lodge, No. 12, I. O.
O. F., and has taken the encampment degrees of the order. He also belongs to the Independent Order of
Foresters, and is a Republican in his political affiliations. He was naturalized in 1883, and has since
exercised his right of franchise in support of the men and measures of the
“grand old party.”
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
“A Volume of Memoirs and Genealogy of Representative Citizens of Northern
California”, Page 262. Chicago Standard Genealogical Publishing Co. 1901.
© 2010
Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden Nugget Library's Nevada County Biographies