A Virginia Goldminer – The Sad End

A Virginia Goldminer – The Sad End

David Shrum left Virginia in 1855 to mine gold in Grass Valley, California. In September 1858 he wrote back home to his brother, Orlando, who is my second great-grandfather. Sadly, David was crushed in a mining accident in 1861 and died several days later.  I’ve been sharing David’s letter to Orlando here in several posts. Start…

A Virginia Goldminer Part 3

A Virginia Goldminer Part 3

While my second great-grandfather, Orlando Shrum, was a young man living in Shenandoah County, Virginia with his parents and siblings in September of 1858, he received a letter from his older brother David, who lived in Grass Valley, California. David had set out a few years earlier to find his fortune in gold mining. I’ve…

A Virginia Goldminer Part 2

A Virginia Goldminer Part 2

I’m sharing more of the letter my 16-year-old second great-grandfather, Orlando Shrum, received from his 27-year-old brother David in 1858. David left Indiana in 1855 and traveled to California to mine for gold. You can read the first part of the letter HERE. I don’t know what “great difficulties” David is referring to that Orlando has…