Mistaken Identity Leads to Erroneous Conclusions Concerning Carson City Mint Superintendent James Crawford

Reno, NV, October 24, 2007?For the last thirty years of his life, James Crawford, renowned for his service as superintendent at the Carson City Mint where some of the most famous coins in history were produced, coped with one of life?s mild inconveniences, which at times provided interesting copy in local newspapers. From the time Crawford migrated to California?s Gold Rush region from Illinois in the 1850s, through his twenty-two year residency in Nevada, there seemed to always be at least one other person living where he lived bearing the same name as his. Since all of the towns in which he resided were relatively small?Carson City, peaking out at approximately 4,500 inhabitants, being the most populated?the presence of two men named James Crawford, occasionally caused confusion whenever stories circulated about either of them.

Generally, because the James Crawford that eventually served as superintendent at the Carson Mint was the most prominent man with that name, both in Sierra County, California and in Lyon and Ormsby Counties in Nevada, most people knew to whom the news stories referred. The confusion seemed to arise when newspapers out of the area picked up various stories and automatically attributed them to Crawford the mint superintendent.

One rather amusing example of this mistaken identity occurred in 1883 during James Crawford?s ninth year as superintendent at the Carson City Mint. The following excerpt from James Crawford: Master of the Mint at Carson City, describes it this way:

Another man by the name of James Crawford, from Truckee, California, had purchased a homestead on the State Prison Road in Carson City from George W. Bryant of the mint. This James Crawford soon announced his intention to bring a new bride to live with him on his new property. Whenever someone heard news like this, he immediately thought of Superintendent Crawford, the most well known person with that name in the state. In mid-April the second James Crawford, a new hire at the Bliss Box Factory in Carson set the wedding date ? and ?for several weeks prior to the wedding, Superintendent Crawford had piles of letters, bandboxes, sewing machines, flowers, etc., brought to his office.? ? As the gifts piled up in the superintendent?s office at the mint, [Superintendent] James [Crawford] quipped to the press that he was surprised that the bride was not erroneously consigned to him as well.

Even weeks after the wedding, Superintendent Crawford received telegrams of happy returns from his out-of-state friends who read articles which mistakenly identified him as the proud groom.

In another instance, which occurred in 1884, local papers announced that the James Crawford, married one year earlier, had become the proud father of a baby girl. Although the local press added the disclaimer that the baby girl belonged to the ?box factory Crawford,? California newspapers from regions where Superintendent Crawford had lived before moving to Nevada, hastily skipped over the disclaimer ? and before [Superintendent] James [Crawford] knew it, cigars and letters deluged his desk, which made it all the more hilarious for locals in Carson City.

Lest we think that cases of mistaken identity as related to Superintendent James Crawford are restricted to the era in which he lived, consider the following incident which occurred in 2007.

A gentleman, having heard of the publication of a new biography on Superintendent James Crawford, located the author of this book at the author?s shop, called Southgate Coins, in Reno, Nevada. This man claimed to be the great great grandson of James Crawford, and in fact he was. Only it was not the James Crawford from the Carson City Mint to whom he was related, but rather the James Crawford once employed at the Bliss Box Factory, that was his ancestor. The author, Rusty Goe, showed the man the archives which categorically proved the point, and even went so far as to reveal other facts about man?s ancestor. Later on, this man sent Goe a letter explaining how the false conception concerning his link to Superintendent Crawford had entered his family?s historical record. Apparently, this man?s grandmother had seen a photograph of a receipt from the Carson Mint signed by James Crawford, and assuming that it must have been the James Crawford from her family, passed it down in her oral tradition. The family believed this misinterpretation until Rusty Goe irrefutably exposed the myth. The man expressed gratitude for finally learning the truth of the matter, and as a token of appreciation, sent Goe an old photo of the James Crawford from his family?s ancestry.

For more interesting stories about Superintendent James Crawford and the Carson City Mint, please see James Crawford: Master of the Mint at Carson City by Rusty Goe.

Rusty Goe can be reached at Southgate Coins, 5032 S. Virginia St., Reno, NV 89502; or by phone at 775-322-4455.