I have just finished reading The Letters of a Young Miner: Covering the Adventures of Jasper S. Hill During the California Goldrush, 1849-1852 and thought I'd post it to this board in case anyone can "mine" any info from this interesting set of memoirs.
The letters to his family at home cover Jasper S. Hill's overland trip with the Mount Pleasant Mining Company, from Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, to St. Joseph, Missouri (23 April 1949), to California, and his experiences trying to make a fortune in and around Placerville/Hangtown, Nevada City, Coloma and Sacramento. Last letter dated 11 March 1852. Many detailed descriptions of the economy of the gold rush, and the factors that influenced his decisions to linger.
The appendix contains an additional letter to Hill's family written by John P. Grantham, a census of the Mt. Pleasant Mining Company, and many footnotes, some containing biographical material on the people listed in the letters.
The following is a list of names from the Mt. Pleasant Mining Company census, and random others that I culled from a quick re-scanning of the book.
BAILEY
BLACK, S.
BOWMAN, John b. Dec 25, 1802 Sharon, Mercer County, Pennsylvania
BRATRUFF, John S.
BUCKLEY
BULLARD, Francis b. Feb. 1822, Springfield, Mass. d. Oct 6, 1894, Yolo County, CA
BURGE, Jeremiah J. b. Apr 11, 1831 Licking County, OH
CAMPBELL, Samuel
CLEFFMAN
CONNER
COOPER
CRAWFORD, Samuel
DARLING, Charley
DAVID, John S.
DIBBLE
DOWNING
FISKE, L.C.
FRICK
GILKEYAN, Stephen
GRANTHAM, John Posey b. Oct 25, 1812 Henderson County, KY d. May 15, 1887 Keokuk, IA
HART, James B. b. Mar 29, 1819 Waynesburg, Greene County, Pennsylvania
HENSHAW
HIGGINS, Samuel
HILL, Enoch S. father d. June 12, 1880
HILL, James A. uncle of Jasper d. Sacramento, CA
HILL, Jasper Smith b. 1832 New York, NY d. Sep. 19, 1858 Ewing, NJ
HUESTIS, Aristides J. b. Feb. 22, 1806 West Morland County, NH
HUTTON, Samuel
JONES
KEAN
LEAS, Thomas
LEE, John
LEECH
LOTSPEICH, Alfred b. June 17, 1817 Greenville, Tennessee
LUSK, Jasper & William B.
MCFARLING, James b. Dec 15. 1821, Belmont County, Ohio
MCMILLAN
MILLER, C.H.
MILLER, William
MONROE
MOORE, Joseph
PAUL
PEASLEY, Francis J.C.
PORTER, Frank C., Robert, James
PRISLEY or PRIESTLEY
RANDOLPH, John H.
RICE, George
RUCKER
SAUNDERS, Presley b. 1809 Fleming County, Kentucky
SMITH, Peter b. July 12, 1830 Switzerland County, IN
SPEARMAN, Jackson (possibly Cornelius F.)
STANSBERY, John
STEEL
STILLWELL, Delia A. mother d. Jan 2, 1886
TEMPLE, Lewis F.
TIFFANY, Palmer C. b. April 7, 1809 Sturbridge, Worcester County, Massachusetts
WILSON
WOODWORTH