Highly Respectable Families

The Cornish of Grass Valley, California 1854-1954
(Nevada County Pioneers Series)
by Shirley Ewart and Harold T. George
Paperback, 178 pages
Comstock Bonanza Press, January 1, 1998

Experienced Cornish miners came to the American colonies long before the Revolution. In 1737 Peter Grubb owned an iron mine in Pennsylvania, and in the 1820s the Cornish were the first foreigners in the lead mines of Wisconsin and Illinois. When gold was found at Sutter’s Mill in 1848 they rushed to California to engage in “gold streaming.” A few families settled in Grass Valley as early as 1852, and by 1870 the number of “Cousin Jacks and Cousin Jennies” in that village was large indeed. Before the century ended, Cornish emigrants had attained a presence so visible and forceful they controlled much of the local business, education, and political affairs in Grass Valley. The customs brought from Cornwall eventually influenced the ethical and moral standards of the entire community.

Here is a vivid and highly readable account of what happened during 100 years of nearly constant emigration from Cornwall to California. Shirley Ewart interviewed dozens of persons to write these fascinating and highly personal biographies of 8 representative families. The author says of her experiences:

When I first came to Grass Valley in 1979, I intended to interview people from Cornish mining families in order to understand what motivated them or their forebears to immigrate to California, how that emigration was accomplished, and what forces served to integrate the migrant into the new community. I also wanted to look at Cornish values to see if they supported or impeded acculturation to life in the U.S. Did these values change over time, and if so, how and why. How, if at all, did the process of acculturation differ for men and women?

What I had not counted on was the tremendous kindness with which these folks treated me as I asked them to tell me about their lives and those of their parents and grandparents. They shared diaries, journals, photos and press cuttings. They treated me to Cornish cream teas, pasty dinners, miner’s lunch bucket cookies and “heavy cake.” They introduced me to family members. It is amazing that, of all those I asked for an interview, not one turned me down.

To them I owe my degree, my subsequent career, and finally, this book.

I was born in Wuhan, China, but came to England at an early age and spent much of my childhood in St. Ives, Cornwall, where my grandmother managed a small hotel. I went to school in London, but my military service in World War II brought me back again to Cornwall, and since then I have returned many times. And I, too, am an emigrant. Like every emigrant, I experienced the mixed emotions of excitement and anxiety as I packed my baggage and said goodbye to my friends and family before making the lonely journey to America.