New Haven, Conn., Sept. 15, 1746,
Hon. Mr. Clingman,—Dear Sir:—To your inquiry of what I think of the
mineral resources of Western North Carolina, it gives me pleasure to
say that no part of the United States has impressed me more
favorably than the region referred to. It is proper, however, to
state, that my acquaintance with it is not the result of personal
observation, but has been formed from a correspondence of several
years standing with yourself and Dr. Hardy, and from the inspection
of numerous illustrative specimens supplied to me at different times
by my colleague, Dr. S. A. Dickson, of Charleston, S. C., and by the
students of a Medical College of South Carolina, who have long been
in the habit of bringing with them to the college samples of the
minerals of their respective neighborhoods. I may add to these
sources of information, the mention of not unfrequent applications
made to me by persons from North Carolina, who have had their
attention called to mines and minerals, with a view to their
profitable exploration. Nor shall I ever forget the pleasure I
experienced a year or two since, on being waited upon in my
laboratory by a farmer from Lincolnton, who had under his arm a
small trunk of ore in lumps, which he observed that he had selected
on account of their size, from the gold washings of his farm during
the space of a single year. The trunk contained not far from twelve
hundred dollars in value, and one of the specimens weighed two
hundred and seventy-five dollars.
I have recognized in the geological formation of the southwestern
counties of North Carolina, the same character which distinguishes
the gold and diamond region of the Minas Geraes of Brazil, and the
gold and platina district (where diamonds also exist) of the Urals,
in Siberia. It is this circumstance, beyond even the actual
discoveries made with us, that satisfies my mind of the richness of
the country in the precious metals and the diamond. The beautiful
crystal of this gem which you sent me last spring, from a gold
washing in Rutherford, however, establishes the perfect identity of
our region with the far-famed auriferous and diamond countries of
the South and the East.
Neither can there remain any doubt concerning the existence of
valuable deposites of manganese, lead, crome and iron, in your
immediate vicinity, to which I think we are authorized to add zinc,
barytes and marble. I have also seen indications of several of the
precious stones, besides the diamond, making it on the whole, a
country of the highest mineralogical promise.
Enough has already been developed, as it appears to me, in the
minerals of the region under consideration, to arouse the attention
of prudent legislators to this fertile source of prosperity in a
State. If a competent surveyor of the work were obtained, under
whose direction a zealous and well-instructed corps of young men,
(now easily to be obtained from those States in which such
enterprises are just drawing to a close,) could take the field, I
have no doubt that numerous important discoveries would immediately
be made, and that the entire outlay required for carrying forward
the work, would in a very short time be many times over returned to
the people from mineral wealth, which now lies unobserved in their
very midst. But the highest advantages of such a survey would no
doubt prove with you as it has done elsewhere, to be _the spirit of
inquiry which it would impart to the population generally_,
producing among their own ranks an efficient band of native
mineralogists and geologists, whose services, in their own behalf,
in that of their neighbors and the State at large, would, in a few
years, greatly outweigh all that had been achieved by the original
explorers. It is thus in the States of New-England, New-York, Ohio,
Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland, that there are scattered
every where through those communities, numbers of citizens, who
having first had their attention called to the subject by the
scientific men appointed by the Legislature, have now become fully
competent to settle most of the questions which arise relating to
the values of the unknown mineral substances, which from time to
time are submitted by their less informed neighbors for
determination. A very observable impulse has in this way been given
to the development of underground wealth; and many valuable mines
are in the course of active exploration, which but for these surveys
and the attendant consequences of them, would now remain not only
unproductive but unknown. Nor is the mere mineral yield of these
mines to be considered in determining the advantages that accrue to
a community from such enterprises. The indirect results to the
neighborhood in which the mines are situated, are often very great;
such for example as those flowing from the increased demand for
farming produce, from the free circulation of capital, the
improvement of roads, and the general stimulus which is always
imparted by successful enterprise to the industry of a country. I
may be permitted to add in conclusion also, that an important
service is always rendered true science, in restraining the
uninformed from unprofitable adventures.
I have a wish to see the public survey of North Carolina undertaken,
not only on account of its economical bearings, but from the
conviction with which I am impressed, that it will equally promote
the progress of science, and elevate the character of our country at
large.