Yuba
County
Biographies
GEORGE BEATTIE
Before California was admitted to
the Union and when the greater part of the state was divided into extensive
land grants owned by Spanish people or settlers of Spanish descent, George
Beattie came to the Pacific coast, arriving in the year 1849. Unlike many of those who sought a fortune
here immediately after the discovery of gold, he has been very successful, for
he has continued his operations in one locality and has not been drawn hither
and thither by every new mining excitement, many of which proved but a delusive
will-o’-the-wisp. For forty years he has
been constantly engaged in the development of rich mineral resources of the
town of Georgia Slide.
Mr. Beattie is a native of Scotland,
born June 24, 1827. His parents were
John and Ann (Richardson) Beattie, who were married in Scotland and with their
two little sons immigrated to the United States in 1827, our subject being but
six weeks old. They settled in Boston,
where the father followed his trade of stone-cutting. He also was a stone-mason
and worked at both occupations. On
removing with his family to Rhode Island he settled in Newport, where he
resided until his life’s labors were ended in death, when he had reached his
forty-eighth year. They had four sons
and a daughter, of whom but two are living:
William, who resides in Fall River, Massachusetts, and George. The former came to California in 1852, made
some money and returned to his home in the east.
The latter was educated in the
public schools of Rhode Island, being a student in the first public school
organized in that state. He learned the
stone-cutter’s trade of his father, and after the latter’s death was the
support of his widowed mother, providing for her until she was called to the
home beyond. In 1849 he joined a party
of young men who had learned of the discovery of gold in California and started
to make the long voyage to the El Dorado of the west. Seventy of them formed a company, purchased
an old whaling ship, the Audley Clark, prepared her
for the voyage and secured an outfit and provisions. The entire cost of the ship, with two years’
provisions, amounted to twelve thousand dollars. The services of a trusty sea captain were
secured. The plan was that if the
stories of the gold proved to be untrue they would land in South America and
send the ship on a whaling expedition, for she had all the appliances. Later she would return and take the men back
home. After rounding Cape Horn they
spoke an English brig out of Valparaiso and inquired if the tales of the
discovery of gold in California had any foundation. They received the reply that there was “lots”
of gold there; and after a pleasant voyage Captain Dennis, who was a thoroughly
experienced navigator, took his ship safely into the harbor of San
Francisco. A company from the Empire
state had made a landing, which they called New York Landing, and the Audley Clark was invited to enter there. There was a survey schooner not far from their
landing and they sent a lieutenant and five men on shore to investigate. Those men never returned and it was supposed
that the lieutenant was killed by the men, who then proceeded into the woods. This so exasperated the captain of the
schooner that he offered a reward of twenty-five hundred dollars for the
capture of the men, of whom he gave a description After two days spent in the woods, during
which time they could get nothing to eat, those men went to the Audley Clark and asked for food. They were taken on board and fed, and the
captain of the schooner was notified that they were there, so that he and a
number of men came aboard and arrested the party. He said to them, “You thought you had
murdered the lieutenant, but he is living; but you will hang just the
same.” He then took them to the
schooner, went through the form of a trial and hanged two of them to the
yard-arm, imprisoning the others, and the owners of the Audley
Clark obtained the reward for the capture; but Mr. Beattie and his party did
not relish taking the money.
After reaching California they found
that they could not all keep together and so separated into small parties,
dividing the provisions, and left a few of the older men in charge of the ship,
while the younger men went to the mines in Tuolumne County, where Mr. Beattie
engaged in mining for three months, with moderate success. They suffered for lack of water and returned
to the ship, which was the home and headquarters of the party. Subsequently, they started for Oregon Canyon
and the Georgetown district. At that
time the county was full of prospectors.
A Mr. Hudson had discovered the placer, and being from Oregon, named the
place Oregon Canyon. He had six men with
him and he worked there trying to keep his discoveries secret; and when it was
known he decided to leave and packed his mules with the gold he had taken
out. Mr. Beattie learned of this
movement on the part of Mr. Hudson and he therefore determined to go to the
claim, where he has since remained, the period now covering a half
century. In one year he took out eight
thousand dollars. In 1851 he returned to
the east, in accordance with a promise he had made with his partner to return
with him. The latter was going home to
marry a girl he had “left behind,” and thus Mr. Beattie revisited the scenes of
his youth. In the winter of 1852,
however, he returned by way of the Isthmus, and has since owned and operated
his mine at Georgia Slide. Up to 1862
four of his party had taken out twenty thousand dollars each, and our subject
returned home to make ample provision for his mother, placing a deposit in the
bank for her future use.
Again he came to California, and in
1862 he wedded Mrs. Catherine Miller, a native of Hamburg, Germany. She came to this state in 1855 with her
sister, Mrs. August Waldeck, who now resides in
Sacramento Valley. After his marriage
Mr. Beattie built the home in which they have since resided and in which they
are now contentedly spending the evening of life, for he has acquired wealth through
his mining operations and at the same time has gained the regard and friendship
of many by reason of his honorable business methods. His mining property is known as the Beattie
Mine, in which gold is found in seams of quartz and slate. It is two hundred feet deep and the yield is
seemingly inexhaustible.
Mr. Beattie has three sons and two
daughters, namely: Christie, Adolph,
William, Annie and Marry, all born in the house at Georgia Slide. William is a practicing physician and is a
Sir Knight Templar. The other children
are with their parents. Mr. Beattie has
been a life-long Republican and in the Masonic fraternity he is connected with
the lodge, chapter and council. He has
been an active member and office-holder and represented his chapter in the
grand chapter of the state in 1900. He
was reared in the Presbyterian faith, his wife in the Lutheran faith, and high
moral principles have actuated them throughout the journey of life. No history of this section of the state would
be complete without the record of George Beattie, and it is with pleasure we
present his history to our readers.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
“A Volume of Memoirs and Genealogy of Representative Citizens of Northern
California”, Pages 615-617. Chicago Standard Genealogical Publishing Co. 1901.
© 2010
Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden Nugget Library's Yuba County Biographies