Deaths At The Kennedy Mine

Kennedy Mine, Jackson, California

Last year, I wrote a brief history of both the Argonaut and Kennedy Mines located in the historic gold country town of Jackson, California. I have lived in Amador County at different times in my childhood and teenage years, and even during my adulthood.  I have always been passionate about local history and Amador County is has plenty of history just waiting to be told.

A lot has been written about the Argonaut Mine, especially due to the Argonaut Mine Disaster of 1922.

To learn about each of the miners who are buried at the Jackson City Cemetery please check out the video below: 

Back to the Kennedy Mine

Because the Kennedy Mine did not gain a lot of publicity for any large mining disaster like the Argonaut did, most of the history written about it is brief. No one had ever written about the various deaths that took place there, besides the newspapers mentioning these events at the time they occurred, until I wrote a blog about it last year.

Even though there have been many deaths at the Kennedy, the only mention of some of these fallen miners are scattered between the pages of archived newspapers just waiting to be retold. I wanted to share with you some of the details of the deaths that I have uncovered over time, like I mentioned in my last blog, but this time with copies of those newspaper clippings so you can read the headlines for yourself. As my research allows I will continually update this blog with more names, newspaper clippings and photos of grave sites for these forgotten souls. So far I have uncovered 43 deaths and counting.

 UPDATE: my latest book titled, "Down Below: A History of Deaths at the Kennedy Mine," is now available on Amazon.

(Note: click on each photo to enlarge)

David De Ricci 

On March 15, 1902, miner David De Ricci made a misstep, falling backward down into the east shaft 2,600 feet. “In his descent, his arms, legs, the back portion of his head and every vestige of clothes were torn from his body.”—

Los Angeles Herald, 3/16/1902

Francisco Giovannoni 

May 26, 1902 -- "A miner named Francisco Giovanoni [SIC] lost his life at the Kennedy Mine shortly after midnight on the night of May 26. The fatality was purely accidental. It occurred at the 2300 foot level of the north shaft. There were from fifteen to twenty men around there at the time. A plank 18 inches wide was in position for the men to walk to and from the shaft, and below this was a chasm thirty feet deep, made by the excavation of ore. Deceased was in the act of carrying the lunch bucket to the station when he was seen to make the fatal step off the planking, and fell to the bottom of the chute.”—Amador Ledger, May 30, 1902.

Amador Ledger, 5/30/1902

Walter Williams

June 12, 1902 - 30 year old Walter Williams was instantly killed when about 200 feet from the top of the shaft, his body came in contact with a shaft timber. He was caught on it and dragged out of the skip. His head and body were crushed between the skip and timbers. His companions C. Parker and B. Allison could not explain how the accident happened because the shaft was so dark. Williams had only worked at the mine three weeks and was new to the area. No one knew where he came from and he had no family to contact. All that was known was that he was a member of the Knights of the Pythias and was living with Henry Osborne at Kennedy Flat.

Amador Ledger, 6/13/1902

Edward Hallam

March 6, 1905 – Edward Hallam was killed at the Kennedy Mine today. He was descending a shaft from the 2400 foot level when a skip came down in another compartment. It is believed he got scared and let go his hold. He fell, breaking his neck.” – Los Angeles Herald, March 7, 1905

Los Angeles Herald, 3/7/1905

Luigi Reviera

December 7, 1909, Italian immigrant Luigi Reviera was crushed to death by several tons of rock falling on him while working at the 3,150 level of the mine with Fred Hicks. Engaged in placing a butt cap in the hanging wall above the tunnel timbers, the rocks gave way and a huge slab came down on him, killing him instantly.

Amador Ledger, 12/10/1909

James Baldwin

On February 27, 1911, James Baldwin was crushed to death while working at the 3400 level of the mine.  Baldwin and his co-workers were told to be careful working in the area that had been blasted earlier. While cleaning out the loose dirt a large mass of rock fell from above, crushing him.  Baldwin’s helper claimed he could hear Baldwin hollering that he was stuck, but given the massive amount of rock and dirt that covered him, the coroner felt death was almost instantaneous.

Amador Ledger, 3/3/1911

Janko Acimovich & Maksim Rupar

November 17, 1913 – Miners, Maksim Rupar and Janko Acimovich died from a premature explosion while in the mine shaft.  Janko Acimovich is buried at St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Cemetery in Jackson.  To read more about this story please click on the link to the story here:  Explosion at 3000 ft.- Accidental Deaths at the Kennedy Mine

Sacramento Union, 5/2/1914

Mike Vijovich

Mike Vijovich died in 1916, after falling 300 feet down a shaft. After straightening a mine can that had fallen on its side, he lost his footing and slipped. 

Sac Union, 6/14/1916

William Harvey & A. Targo

On December 20, 1915, the timber boss William Harvey and A Targo both met their death when they fell down the main shaft of the mine, a total of 3,900 feet.  According to the newspaper accounts, Harvey had been working in compartment 37 since 8 o’clock in the morning. As he was descending a ladder at the entrance of the shaft he became dizzy and slipped, falling. As his body was going down the shaft, just below was A. Targo, who was standing on the edge of the shaft. Harvey’s body smacked Targo’s knocking him off the edge and down the shaft with Harvey. Both died and their bodies were “badly mangled.”

Press Democrat, 12/21/1915

Peter Garcia, Liberto Mendez and Sam Martinez

On February 13, 1932, after setting up over 46 holes with dynamite (with too short of fuse) and not allowing themselves ample time to light the fuses and leave the area to safety, four men went on to spit the fuse, and by the time they lit the last fuse, the first one went off setting into motion an horrific explosion and ultimately killing three of them. Two were buried by the explosion, Garcia and Martinez dying immediately. Mendes was rescued along with the fourth miner, Felix Achavan, who were both taken to the hospital at the Preston School of Industry, but Mendez later died of his injuries. Achavan was the lone survivor of that terrible accident. 

Colusa Herald,  2/13/1932

(Copyright 2017 & 2018- J'aime Rubio, www.jaimerubiowriter.com  )

Sources: 
Los Angeles Herald, March 16, 1902

Amador Ledger, May 30, 1902

Amador Ledger, June 13, 1902

Los Angeles Herald, March 7, 1905

Amador Ledger, December 10, 1909

Amador Ledger, March 3, 1911

Sacramento Union, May 2, 1914

Press Democrat, December 21, 1915

Sacramento Union, June 14, 1916

The Forgotten Town Of Contreras- Amador County History

woodcut originally published circa 1860

Long ago, back in the days of the "Gold Rush," there was a small town founded and inhabited by a Mexican family in Amador County.  The name of the town was Contreras. Not many books mention it, as it has been long forgotten and left in the archives for many years. Most people don’t even know where the real Contreras once stood, but I believe I have figured out this mystery.

It is funny how this whole story began, as I stumbled upon this mystery at the Amador County Library months ago. I had come to the Library to view microfilmed newspaper archives but someone was already using the machine. I decided that I would kill some time by reading some of the old archived books.  I came across an old book, tattered and worn down that said “Amador County History.”

I skimmed through the pages and came across the name “Contreras.”  I was surprised at first, as it mentioned that it was once a town in Amador County. I lived up there for a few years growing up, I spent some of my summers there as a teenager and had never heard anything about that town in its history before, so I became very intrigued.  

As I read it spoke about a man named Pablo Contreras who came to Amador County in the 1850’s to mine for gold. He was a well educated and  prominent man who purchased a large claim and mined successfully, adding to his already established fortune. He brought along with him, his family which included some very beautiful daughters.  So beautiful in fact, it mentioned that miners from all around the county would gather to Contreras on Saturday nights to attend a weekly dance at the town's Dance Hall, with the hopes of dancing with one of  Señor Contreras’ lovely daughters.

Contreras  had everything a western town during the “Gold Rush” might be assumed to have,  2 Saloons, a Dance Hall, Mercantile Store, Blacksmith Shop and Butcher Shop. It was said to have served up to 1,500 people at that time. Many times after a night of dancing on Saturdays, the crowd of drunken men became rowdy and fights ensued on the street.  There were rumors of shootouts just as you would see in any good western film. Most always the blame for their own vigilante justice was due to cattle rustling.  One night, during one of those many shootouts, a young boy from Sutter Creek disappeared and was said to have never been heard from again. I tried to look into archives to verify whether or not the boy had ever been found, but without knowing the exact date and his name, I was left at a dead end.

WHERE WAS CONTRERAS LOCATED?

Well my friends, that would be the mystery now wouldn’t  it? According to old archived books and stories it was between the Pioneer School House and the Mokelumne River at West Point. I also found an old mining ledger that stated it was 5 miles northeast of Pine Grove.  I also noticed that the old settlement known as DEFENDER was located in the very same general area, 5 miles northeast of Pine Grove and 5 miles east of Volcano. After going over maps and intricately researching the information I had found, I was dumbfounded when I realized that the general area in which both Defender and Contreras would have been located ,was none other than present day Pioneer, California. According to a recent contact I made with Bobby Keeling @ amadorgold.net , he states that the remains of the town of Contreras was recently located after going through old census maps. They discovered the site closer to the North Fork of the Mokelumne River, which is near Pioneer just off Defender Grade Road going towards West Point.  It amazes me to this day when I think about the fact that there once stood two very different towns right there in Pioneer, California and most people wouldn’t even know it.

BACK TO PABLO CONTRERAS….

Later on after the mines ran dry, Pablo Contreras and his family- including his beautiful daughters, moved back south towards Mexico. It was recorded that a few “enamored” American miners followed Contreras’ daughters when they left Amador County. Whether or not Señor Contreras eventually made it to Mexico is unknown, however I found some interesting information in regards to this history.

According to the 1852 Census it states only three Pablo Contreras’ for the entire state.  One lived in Mariposa, one in Tuolumne and the other in Calaveras County. Now remember, Amador County was not really formed until 1854, thus the same Pablo Contreras from the 1852 Census in Calaveras County could be the same Pablo Contreras from Amador County. Or could it? After looking over the records I see that Pablo, had he been the correct one, was only recorded to be 24 years of age in 1852.  Perhaps he was the son of the elder Pablo Contreras in Tuolumne?   That Pablo Contreras was 40 years old at the time of the census and could very well have been the father of the Pablo who was 24 years, given the time frame and age difference. Remember, Señor Contreras probably had many workers, including family running the mines for him, thus he could have lived in Tuolumne while owning the mine in Amador County.

By the time the 1860 Census came around there was no trace of any of the Pablo Contreras’, which would make one think they traveled out of state or back to Mexico.  I found a very interesting article about families from Sonora, Mexico who came to Amador County to mine for gold. What struck me was the name of one of the men, Antonio Contreras.  The article went on to say that he was from Magdalena, Sonora (Mx.) and that he came with his family to Amador County to mine for gold. It goes on to state that he may have taken a decent amount of fortune from the mine, enough to claim on the 1870 Census in Arizona that he had property valued at $5,500.00.  At that time in history, only five other residents in that area owned that much property.

Perhaps Antonio was related to Pablo in one way or another. Perhaps when the family parted their ways back to Mexico, Antonio decided to follow his own path to Arizona. Of course this last part of my story is speculation, although I am still trying to put the pieces together. I am sure we will never know the exact history of this exciting and mysterious story of a forgotten town from the “gold rush” days. However,  it is history seekers like you, the reader and myself who continue to dig up stories such as these and make them available to other people that keeps history alive, and that is truly a treasure worth searching for.

J’aime Rubio (Copyright 5/11/2012) Republished 3/28/2018
www.jaimerubiowriter.com 

SOURCES:

Amador County Library Archives
Thank you Bobby Keeling @ amadorgold.net for the additional info.

History of Amador County, California – J.D. Mason (1881)

Amador County History (Archived Books)

which sampled work by Margaret Joyce- (Amador County Library)

2/2/03-Frank Love (Yuma Sun Newspaper)