GEORGE W. ROOT 
 

Of three generations of the Root family conspicuous in the mining industry of the far West, George W. Root of San Francisco represents the second. His father, John F. Root, was a ‘49er, and a splendid example of the courage, persistence and will to success that made such characters memorable in history. The representative of the third generation is the present state mineralogist of California, Lord L. Root, officially a resident of Sacramento, but also with offices in the Ferry Building at San Francisco. 

John F. Root was a native of Ohio. He was only a boy when he arrived in California with the fearless argonauts of 1849, after brazing the perils of the plains in the frontier of the Great West to get the opportunity of confronting the hazards and dangers of work in the California hills. Both success and disaster attended his efforts. However, unlike many of the gold seekers of that day, his attention was never diverted from the occupation of miner, which he consistently followed until the time of his death. He instilled into his son, George, the love of the vast open places, and the latter in turn taught his son what the freedom of the hills meant. 

John F. Root during his early days in California worked in the mines of Eldorado County, and he is also connected with mining in the State of Nevada. He operated both placer and ledge properties. He lost all that he had made while in Nevada when silver was demonetized. But like Mark Twain’s character, Colonel Sellers, this disaster was not to be taken seriously, and he went blithely about accumulating another fortune. He was a man of substantial wealth long before he died. 

John F. Root married Miss Anna M. Culp, a native of Pennsylvania, who came to California with her parents in 1852. Of the five children born to her, Franklin, John B. and Maude Root are deceased, and the two living are Mabel, wife of William E. Boody of San Francisco, and George W. Root, the only surviving son. 

George W. Root takes pride in the fact that he is one of the older native sons of California. He was born at Santa Rosa, September 9, 1862. After a public school education he became associated with his father in mining, and no other interests or pursuits have ever diverted him long from this occupation. He has been a student and a scholar, and his knowledge of the technical processes involved in mining in all branches is such as any technical college graduate would envy. He has collected a very large library in technical books on mining and mining management, and in the course of his work has visited every state in the Union, being familiar with every mining district in the country, including those of Mexico and British Columbia. George W. Root is principal owner of the Alcade Gold Mines of Grass Valley in Nevada County, California. These are rated among the four great mines in that region, the others in their order being the Empire, the North Star and the Idaho and Maryland. The Alcade mines have produced $750,000 in free milling gold. The mines are down at a level of only 460 feet. George W. Root with his son, L.L. Root, as associate in this property, plan increasing the plant to a twenty stamp mill and have installed pumping machinery so as to permit them to drop to a thousand-foot level. There are about twenty-six men employed in these mines.

Mr. Root and son also own a valuable gravel mine in one of the old ancient river channels near Rough and Ready. In this they are mining by the drifting process, and considerable gold has already been taken out, while the drift is now headed for a particularly rich deposit that was uncovered by a prospecting shaft. 

At times some appointive public positions have required the attention and time of Mr. George Root, though he has had no ambition to be known otherwise than as a practical mining man. For four years he held the position of chief wharfinger of the harbor of San Francisco. He resigned in 1898 when elected chief clerk of the Supreme Court of California. He ran for office on the same ticket as Henry T. Gage, and served four years. In 1905 against his own wishes he was elected a member of the State Legislature, serving one term. Fraternally he was affiliated with Grass Valley Lodge No. 538, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and Occidental Lodge No. 22, Free and Accepted Masons. Three children were born to the marriage of G.W. Root: Gertrude, who died at the age of three and one-half years; Hazel, deceased wife of C.A. Baun, and her surviving daughter, Adrienne, is now a student in the high school at Oakland, and Lloyd L. 

Lloyd L. Root, the state mineralogist of California, was born at Hollister in San Benito County, April 4, 1891. When he was a year old his parents moved to San Francisco, where he attended public schools. In 1906 as a boy of fifteen he went to work in the mines with his father, but at the same time kept up his studies and attended the high school of Grass Valley. He graduated from the Berkeley High school in 1910, following which he had an experience on Kodiac Island on the Seward Peninsula in Alaska. In July 1911, he returned home to resume his studies, continuing his education in the University of California for a year and a half and then entered the school of mines at Reno, Nevada. He was graduated in 1916 with the degree of mining engineer. 

As a mining engineer his first experience was in Old Mexico representing Col. D. M. Burns in charge of the Mexican Candeleria in Sinaloa and Durango. He then returned to Grass Valley to take charge of his father’s properties, and gave his personal attention in the mining work in his vicinity until called to state office. 

On February 15, 1923, Lloyd L. Root was appointed state mineralogist to succeed Fletcher Hamilton. While a young man he has had a very wide experience in mining and is therefore amply qualified from the technical standpoint for all the duties devolving upon the state mineralogist. During his studies in the school of mines in Nevada, he paid his expenses by serving as state assayer of Nevada. In the brief time that he has been state mineralogist of California he has made many changes in the administration of his office. He is now organized completely on a technical rather than a political basis. Outside of his stenographer, all of his employees are mining engineers. This has, of course, promoted the technical efficiency and service of the office and there is also a graphic indication of the change in the class of running the bureau. Prior to his appointment the appropriation was $148,000 per year for the two proceeding years, while $267,000 had been asked for. His estimated budget after taking over the office was $101,000, and during the first ten months in office in addition to the routine service he got out four publications. However, Mr. L.L. Root plans after the expiration of his term to resume his practical work as a mining engineer. 

He married, March 11, 1919, Elvira Yparraguirre, a native of San Francisco. They have two children, Lloyd L. Jr., and Virginia Marie. Mr. L.L. Root is a member of the Alpha Tau Omega College fraternity. 

Louise E. Shoemaker, Transcriber March 26^th, 2004