Some time before spring 1852, when Asa sailed to California, family lore and notes claim that Asa went to the area of Dubuque and Dyersville, Iowa, along the current day US Route 20, with his brother Amos Hartshorn and swapped a team of oxen for 160 acres of land. He sold the land after a short while because of both an illness by Amos, and Indian uprising threats.
In an Edna Hartshorn Deane book there is mention of another brother of Asa’s, William H. Hartshorn, born in Lebanon NY and 3 years younger than Asa, who went to Delaware IA, owned a farm and practiced law, and later returned to Hamilton NY. There is no more information available unless some extended family members comment in the Feedback section of this website.
Cousin Jean Hartshorn Pray provided a photocopy of the front and rear of an Amos Hartshorn photo taken by a photographer in Marysville CA, found in family records, and it is unlikely another person had the same name. Amos was definitely not on the ship with Asa to California, and the California State Library has no record of him being in the Gold Rush. Additionally the scrap of a letter written by Asa from Weaverville does not mention any “we” to the recipient, his sister Hannah. Any family lore of Amos seeking gold or joining Asa in California is confused and misleading.
Research was done by the author on the photography studio logo on the front and back of the photo. After searching through dozens of dead ends, there is one document, and it is very revealing. Upon reading the back of the photo cardboard frame, it verifies that yes, Amos was in California for awhile and that it was taken by a professional photographer named Stinson. A search for other records revealed It was not until January 1863 that Stinson opened a partnership studio in Marysville CA. Stinson did not operate by himself until May 1864 when he applied for a tax license. He operated there until 1874. He later went to Reno under a different business name. (Interestingly, he also went to Quincy CA in 1877 and Susanville CA in 1879).
There are US Census records corroborating the above. Amos was in the Yuba/Marysville area for some unknown time, and unknown reason, during some years between 1867 through 1876 but returned to Lebanon NY sometime after. Why he was in that Yuba-Marysville area is unknown, because it is located some distance from gold mining, and gold was played out by the late 1850’s, in any case. Ironically, the author owned property not far south and east of Marysville, from 1974 to 2018. Even more weird is that one of the author’s granddaughters lived in Marysville for a time. Here is a double weird – the author and spouse traveled to Dyersville IA on US Rt 20 in 2002, stopped at the “Field of Dreams” movie site actual farm and baseball diamond, unaware of this history. The towns of Dubuque, Delaware, and Dyersville are close to each other, all along US Rt 20. Continue east to NY State and you will discover that Lebanon NY is only 9 miles south of US Rt. 20. Below is a photo of the author-webmaster at the Field of Dreams movie site. The diamond, the corn field with 7 ft tall corn, the house, the bleachers, the floodlights, were all real at the time of the trip.
