Moses Logan Rodgers (1835–October 22, 1900) was an

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

pioneer of

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, arriving in 1849—the beginning of the California Gold Rush. California was annexed by the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and was admitted to the Union as the thirty-first state on September 9, 1850.

Biography

Moses Rodgers, who was born into slavery in

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

, came to

in 1849. He became prominent during the Gold Rush as a successful

mining engineer Mining in the engineering discipline is the extraction of minerals from underneath, open pit, above or on the ground. Mining engineering is associated with many other disciplines, such as mineral processing, exploration, excavation, geology, and ...

, making a lucrative career excavating gold in mines he owned in Hornitos in

Mariposa County Mariposa County () is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 17,131. The county seat is Mariposa. It is located in the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, north of Fresno, east of ...

. He was regarded as intelligent, and his professional opinion was important. He quickly became known as an expert in the state, and investors went to him for advice regarding mining claims. He became so expert at it that in post-

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

he was appointed superintendent of several mines (Mount Gaines Mine & Washington Mine). The stockholders of these mines seem to have been both blacks and whites. Rodgers's best known mine, for which he was a stock-holding superintendent, was the Washington Mine, which he established in 1869. It was a successful operation, which also employed Chinese workers. There were years when this mine took out over half a million dollars in gold. The Washington Mine was, in the mid-1880s, one of the area's largest, employing over 30 men. Five main shafts and over 10,000 feet of underground workings brought the gold/silver ore to the surface where it was handsorted and then sent by wagon to the mine's concentration mill. A Merced newspaper said of Rodgers that "there is no better mining man in the State."

Legacy

*The

Moses Rodgers House Moses Rodgers House is a private home in Stockton, California. Built in 1898, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. With History Moses Rodgers was an African American mining engineer who became well-known during ...

which Rodgers built in 1898 at 921 South San Joaquin Street, Stockton, California is a historical landmark which is registered at The National Register of Historic Places. He built it for his wife Sarah and their five daughters, to all of whom he gave the very best education California afforded. One daughter Vivian Rodgers graduated from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, with the class of 1909 majoring in Science and Letters. *Moses Rodgers Virtual Academy, 302 W. Weber Avenue, Stockton, is a home-based public charter school program offered by Stockton Unified School District to students in grades K–12 throughout California's San Joaquin County.Moses Rogers Virtual Academy
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Footnotes

References

*Lapp, Rudolph M. ''Blacks in Gold Rush California'', Yale University Press (1995) - *Savage, W. Sherman. ''The Negro in the Westward Movement'', The Journal of Negro History, Vol. 25, No. 4 (October 1940), pp. 531–539

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodgers, Moses Logan 1835 births 1900 deaths African-American people American mining engineers African-American history of California People of the California Gold Rush