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.

 

 

 

 

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