Abel Comstock

Notes:

Resided Warren and Litchfield, CT; ca 1805 moved to Hinman Hollow, Hartwick, Otsego, NY where he, his son Solomon, and others of the family are buried on the old homestead grounds.

Military: August 1776 private in Capt. Carter's Co; Ensign in 2nd Co of Kent May 1755.

Title, Deacon, Reverend (Congregational minister)

Admitted to church in Kent, CT in 1741 along with Daniel, Mary and Catherine.

1. The History and Genealogy of the Comstock Family in America, 1949, John Adams Comstock

Abel married Judith Payne on 17 Sep 1747 in Kent, Connecticut. Judith was born on 31 Dec 1727; died on 19 Dec 1803 in Litchfield, Connecticut. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Moved from Warren, Litchfield, CT to Westfield (now Fort Ann), Washington, NY where he settled at Hartford, NY, then moving to Adams, Jefferson, NY; he was there in 1802. Left Adams in spring of 1808 to go to Cooperstown, Otsego, NY where his youngest son, Solomon was born. Finally he moved to Ontario, Canada west.

Reported to have fathered 17 children.

A History and Genealogy of the Comstock Family in America, John Adams Comstock # 861

Daniel married Mehitabal Miles Seily about 1789 in Warren, Litchfield, Connecticut. Mehitabal was born about 1763; died after 1820 in Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Moved early in life to Cooperstown, NY; then to Watertown, NY; later to Trenton, Ontario, Canada and from there to Cleveland, OH and finally to Michigan.

Occupation, lumber and hotel business

Last seven children probably all born at Blissfield, Lenawee, MI

A History and Genealogy of the Comstock Family in America, John Adams Comstock # 2185

Noah married Catherine Tompkins about 1810 in Duchess Co, New York or Watertown, New York. Catherine was born about 1790; died after 1830 in Blissfield, Lenawee Co, Michigan. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Noah married Laura White about 1842. Laura was born in 1825 in Ohio; died after 1850. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

One of the discovers of the 'Comstock Lode,' silver mine which was named for him. Has been called 'shiftless,' and charitably a 'character.' He could not read or write.

Early in life he served in the Mexican War and drifted to California as a forty-niner without success. He next was a herder; Piute Indians took most of his sheep and a band of Morman pioneers took him in. Eventually he became a miner washing gold in the stream beds of the area.

In 1855 two young easterners, Allen and Hosea Grosch, competent mineralogists, discovered an outcropping on the slopes of Mt. Davidson testing high in silver. The two continued working the gold diggings while they tried to raise capital for recovery of the silver. Hosea died from tetanus in 1857. Allen, with an associate Richard Burke, took samples and maps of their claim to Califoria; Henry T. P. Comstock was left in charge of the Grosch cabin. Their trek over the Sierras found them trapped by December storms from which both suffered gangrene. Allen Grosch died December 19, 1857 ... the true discovers of the Comstock Lode were both gone.

Comstock, learning of the Allen's death, found ore samples along with charts and documents in the brother's cabin but could not read the information and destroyed everything. He did know that a blue (sliver) ore had been found on Mt. Davidson.

On January 28, 1859 four miners working on a site at Gold Hill found bluish rock with considerable gold. Comstock tried to convince the miners he had rights. The real finders were not convinced. Comstock filed on a portion of the discovery that was unclaimed. The four miners were James Fennimore, John Bishop, Aleck Henderson and Jack Yount. They had uncovered one end of the Lode, but not the main vein that had previously been found by the Grosch brothers.

Comstock later learned two other prospectors, Pete O'riley and Pat McLaughlin, were mining in Spanish Ravine near a spring where he (Comstock) had previously staked his claim. He took himself to the site and found the two Irishmen with a mound of gold. Comstock blustered and threatened and finally talked himself and his partner, 'Manny' Penrod into an interest in the claim. He also wrangled an additional hundred feet for himself on the basis of his water rights.

The claims thus staked and later deveoloped were the famous Ophir and Mexican Mines.

The set of miners were interested only in gold and cursed the 'blue stuff.' Pat McLaughlin sold his interest for $3,500. Emanuel Penrod sold out for $8,500. Pete O'Riley eventually sold out for $40,000 and died an insane pauper. Comstock traded an old blind horse and a bottle of whiskey for a 1/10 share owned by 'Old Virginny,' but later sold all his holdings to Judge james Walsh of Grass Valley for $11,000 and lost it all trying to run a store in Carson City.

All the original locators of the Lode died in poverty.

O'Riley and McLaughlin are generally credited with discovery of the Comstock Lode on June 12, 1859 (rediscovery of the Grosch bros lost claim.) Comstock talked so loud and long of 'his mine' that the people of the district began calling it the 'Comstock.'

He eventually made his way to Bozeman, MT with considerable money on his person. His grave marker at the Bozeman Cemetery states 'He committed suicide by shooting himself through the head,' although he may have been murdered.
His association with Virgina City silver began when he convinced the two Irishmen who owned a claim at the northern end of the strike that he was the real owner of the property. They decided two-thirds of something was better than nothing and cut Henry in. The strike came to be known as the Comstock Lode from Henry's continued talking about his expoloits. Henry sold his interest in the Ophir Mine for $11,000; the eventual take was $25,000,000 (in dollars of the day, three hundred and fort million dollars between 1860-1890 for the entire Lode; peak year of 1877 alone yielded 38 million dollars). Henry died penniless at Bozeman.

A History and Genealogy of the Comstock Family in America, John Adams Comstock # 4383