James George Divoll

  General Notes:

James G. Divoll b. 8 Jan 1831 in Topsham,Orange County, Vermont. He was named for his maternal grandfather. He went at an early age to Port Kent, NY on the shores of Lake Champlain. He attended and graduated from Burlington Academy [Vermont] with a degree in engineering...at about age 18 he went to Fond du Lac, WI. Cholera broke out and he returned East, stopping at Chatauqua, NY. He then returned to Vermont where on 17 Mar 1850 he married in Northfield, Washington County, VT to Eliz Jane Mellen [b. c1833], the d/o Robert Mellen [b. 15 June 1799 in Newbury] and Martha George [the d/o John George of Topsham, VT.]The following spring James and Eliza headed west and settled in Black River Falls, WI. For the next 10yrs James entered into the mfg of flour.
By 1860 James and Eliza were living in Hixton [PO Black River Falls], WI with their one yr old son Alberto Mellen Divoll born 1 Sept 1859 in Black River Falls, WI. James is called a "carpenter" and also in HH is Martha Mellen, sister of Eliza who is a "school teacher."
Booking passage on a steamship out of NY, James and 3 friends arrived in California in June 1862. He then built a flour mill for David Tullock and a bridge at Knight's Ferry that spans the Stanislaus river. He then settled in Sonora and bought land and developed a gold mine on his land which produced thousands of dollars.
A complete biography is found in A HJISTORY OF TUOLUMNE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA by B F Alley; pub 1882 San Francisco
By 1866 James is a registered voter in Tuolumne County.
1870 James, a millwright, and Eliza live in Township 1,Tuolumne Co, CA, along with a George Divoll born c1800 VT, a miner who was the father of James. also in HH is Joseph Bray a 38 yr old miner born Maine.

SAN FRANCISCO BULLETIN - 27 Sept 1879
Rich mines at Sonora
Saturday morning James G. Divoll shipped through Wells Fargo and Co to San Francisco about 900 pounds of gold or $180,000 taken from a pocket mine within the city limits the result of a few weeks work. The company consists of three men, two of them doing the work within the past 2 yrs. They have taken out about $250,000 about 4 miles from Sonora.

In 1880 James and Eliza are in Sonora, CA. also in HH is Martha Newbury, married sister of Eliza and Martha's dau Lil age 5. also Joseph and Jacob Bray, 2 miners from Maine and a 17 yr old female listed as a servant and b. CA
In 1900 James is listed as a capitalist and living in Oakland, Alameda Co, CA with a new wife Lydia Ann [McCrea] born 27 June 1848 in Jefferson Co, NY, the d/o Horace and Susan Mc Crea. the couple has been married 13 yrs [c1887] and have no children.One other member of household ia a 30 yr old female servant born in England. James' son Alberto [by his 1st wife Eliza] who had m. in 1880 in WI to Minnie Eliza (Rice) now living in Sonora, CA with Minnie and their ch. and he is listed as a "mechanic"

WATERTOWN DAILY TIMES - 4 Aug 1904
Mr and Mrs James G Divoll of Oakland, CA are visiting Mr ad Mrs J[ohn] A Rees(e) [Lydia's sister]

By 1910 Lydia is age 60, living alone, widowed and head of household with her 25 yr old neice who is single and unemployed and a female 22 yr old born Finland as a house servant.
I do not know what happened to Eliza Jane Mellen...still researching. James is descended off the Asa Divoll lines as they were all in Topsham, VT from 1800 on where all of Asa's children were born between 1800 and 1820. Asa who died in 1830 is his grandfather.Asa's son George is his father.

Land Record:
Name: JAMES G DIVOLL
Date: 10 Jul 1872
Location: CA, Sanislaus
Document #: 320
Serial #: CACAAA 096950
Sale Type: Military Scrip Warrant Patent
Meridian or Watershed: MD
Parcel: Township 007S, Range 008E, Section 8

Genealogy of the descendants of John White of Wenham and Lancaster, Massachusetts by Almira Larkin White
JAMES G. Divoll* (23537), b. in Woodbury, Vt., m. in Newbury, Vt., Eliza Millen ; they went to California in 1849 or 50, now living in Oakland, Cal. Child : . Alberto Divoll.^

Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland, CA
plot 33
James George Divoll (1831-1904) owned the Big Bonanza Mine in Sonora along with Charles Clark and Joseph Bray. They bought the mine from a group of Chilean miners in 1851 and soon struck a massive pocket of gold. The day after the find they sent $160,000 of gold to the mint in San Francisco. Within a week, they had shipped $500,000 worth of gold.
Old mining legends in Sonora claim that Divoll stored his gold in the Star Flour Mill, which he built. The mill burned to the ground and it was believed that the fire was started to cover up a robbery.
According to Douglas Keister's "Stories in Stone," a crown with a cross "...is a Christian symbol of sovereignty with the Lord. When the crown is combined with a cross, the crown means victory and the cross means Christianity." [It does not list who is buried with him]

James married someone Eliza Jane Mellen, daughter of Robert Mellen Jr. and Martha Frances George, on 17 Mar 1850 in Northfield, Washington County, Vermont. (Eliza Jane Mellen was born circa 1830 in Vermont and died after 1880.)

  Marriage Notes:

HX of Tuolumne County, California; biographies; pub by B F Alley; San Francisco 1882

James next married Lydia Ann McCrea, daughter of Horace McCrea and Susan Skinner, circa 1887 in California. (Lydia Ann McCrea was born in Jun 1849 in Jefferson County, New York, died in 1932 and was buried in Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland, California.)

  Marriage Notes:

census