Gould & Curry Silver Mining Co. Virginia City, N.T. Incorporated in 1860. Cert #1048 issued to Platt K. Dickinson for 4 shares 0n May 30th, 1863. Signed by John A. Earl president and Jas. C. L. Wadsworth secretary. Vignette of Mt. Davidson at center. Adhesive revenue on front. Cancelled. Black border on white paper. 6 x 9." Trimmed tight at left end. Wadsworth came to California in 1847 from New York. He was an alcalde in Stockton in 1849, and a resident of San Francisco after that. (Alcalde is a Spanish term for a Sheriff or Justice of the Peace. It was an office with slightly different duties than today. Alcaldes were one of the important law enforcement officers of the period.) Bancroft said he was a "well known mining man." He is listed in "mining" in later S.F. directories, residing at the Grand Hotel. John O. Earl was handpicked by Hearst and Tevis to run the company, which he did from his San Francisco office. He was responsible for the huge assessments that were levied in 1862 that brought in the money necessary for the exploration that found the bonanza ore body. He was later a director of the San Francisco and Colorado River Railway Co., which had been formed to purchase the Central Pacific RR, but the Stanford gang would have northing of it. Smith lists Earl right behind Hearst as one of the Comstock millionaires who gained his fortune from the G&C. He listed himself as a "capitalist" in 1875, and in "mining" in 1881. Curiously, he is not in each annual S.F. directory. Little else has been written on Earl, who seems to have retired from the presidency of the G&C after the big bonanza was hit and lived a life of relative ease. When this certificate was issued, it was bought at the top of the market, costing Dickinson nearly $6000 for his four shares. This and two other pieces are the only surviving certificates from this famous mine with Earl's signature. [Ref: Smith, Lord, King, Langley's S.F. Directories; Bancroft]. The Gould & Curry is located between the Savage and Best & Belcher mines in the central part of the Comstock lode. It was located in early 1859 as one of the first claims. It is named after Abram Curry, one of the first settlers into Carson City, and Alva Gould. Both men sold out their interest in the claim for an aggregate sum of less than $10,000. They were one of the first major mining companies to build their own mill, two in 1861 and one in 1863. The stock rose to $6300 per foot in June 1863, or about $1600 per share, after Comstock mine production went from $6 million in 1862 to $12 million in 1863. Among the original incorporators were George Hearst, Lloyd Tevis, John Earl, Alpheus Bull, Thos. Bell, A. Head, B.F. Sherwood, and Wm. Blanding. William Chapman Ralston was appointed treasurer, and Charles Strong the mine superintendent. Strong had originally come to Virginia City. A small piece is missing from the vignette in the sky above. Virginia City Nevada 1863