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Note: N74 The Story of Mineral Point: 1827-1941
Compiled by the Workers of the Writers' Progam
Of the Works Progress Administration
In the State of Wisconsin
1941
Published by the Mineral Point Historical Society, 1979
Probably the first Cornishman to come to Mineral Point directly from Cornwall was Edward James, who arrived in 1830. James mined at Mineral Point between 1830 and 1832, fought in the Black Hawk War and then after the war, moved to Dodgeville, where he worked for a time with Henry Dodge. When Dodge became governor of the Territory of Wisconsin in 1836, he appointed James his private secretary, and in 1837 commissioned him marshal of the territory.
Although James had reached Wisconsin during the dark depression days of 1830, he had, nevertheless, been so impressed with the country that he had written enthusiastic letters home, urging his brother Joseph, to join him. In 1832, Joseph and his wife emigrated from Cornwall, traveling directly to Mineral Point by way of Quebec. The James brothers and their families are the only Cornish definitely known to have been at Mineral Point during that year. Then in 1832, there began a slow but steady emigration from impoverished Cornwall to the rich mining country in Wisconsin, sometimes singly, sometimes in groups of twos and threes, Cornish miners continued to come in; by 1835 between seventy-five and a hundred of them were living in the Wisconsin mining country.
To these early immigrants, fresh from Cornwall, Wisconsin was a land of hope. Back home the tin mines were almost exhausted, unable to compete in the world market with the newly opened, more productive Spanish mines, and wages were miserably low. In Wisconsin all was different. There was ore enough for everyone, and any man could earn a decent livelihood - indeed, with no capital but a strong body and a willingness to work he could even own his own diggings. In their letters home the Cornish told the story of Wisconsin's lead and told it well. Soon hundreds of their fellow-countrymen were pouring into the Upper Mississippi lead fields. They came in large numbers for fifteen years; when immigration finally stopped in 1850, there were 6,000 Cornishmen in southwestern Wisconsin, and Cornish people constituted half of Mineral Point's population.
HOW DO WE KNOW OF OUR FAMILY CONNECTION TO THESE SERIOUS MINERS FROM CORNWALL?
Partly from oral tradition: I first heard about it from Grandma Ellery who I imagine heard the stories that were handed down to our grandfather, Elias Kenton Ellery, and his sisters, Minnie, Carrie, and Gladys, by their father Elias.
There is also documentary evidence: I have a copy of Levi James Ellery's death certificate (Elias Kenton Ellery's uncle) that states that he was born in Mineral Pt., Wisconsin, in 1858, and that his parents were James Ellery and Myra (sic) Jacka.
Vital records found at the Iowa County Courthouse, in Dodgeville, WI, document that James Ellery and Maria Jacka were married June 10, 1855. James who was born in Cornwall was the son of Nicholas and Elizabeth Ellery. Maria who was also born in Cornwall was the daughter of Elias and Eliza Jacka.
An 1851 census record for the village of Mawgan, near the port of Falmouth in Cornwall, indicates that James Ellery resides with his parents in that year. He was 17. His father was 46 and his mother was 50.
By 1851, the Jacka family members were already residents of Mineral Point. The earliest record is the marriage of Catherine Jacca to Edward James on May 20, 1843.
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