History of the Meeks and the Mercantile

Camptonville first started in 1850 when the lure for gold brought people into this section. They first came by trail before there were any roads. They began to settle here, and the place took shape of a town. The town was named after Robert Campton, a sturdy blacksmith who became so popular that they named the town after him. There are a lot of statistical facts already recorded about the place, how many stores, hotels, schools, etc., so I will skip by that and endeavor to get down to things which, or at least most of which, to my knowledge have not been recorded.

My ancestors figured heavily in the life and activity of the town from the beginning. My great-grandfather came here in the early days and had his first store in Indian Valley, Sierra County. My grandfather and grand-uncle, Jason Meek, were kids at that time and played with the Indian kids of the valley. My grandfather could talk their language (in fact, he could talk most any language he became associated with) and made friends with them.

In the fall they would harvest the grasshopper crop, the procedure being to make long trenches across the floor of the valley at several places and then the squaws with the kids would make a drive and run all the grasshoppers into these trenches from which they would gather them up, dry them, and later grind them into flour, which they used in their diet.

There were people living on both sides of the river in the early days, but no bridges, at least none in the winter when the water was high. There was, however, in time of high water, a makeshift ferry fastened to a cable that carried people back and forth across the river.

At this particular time, there was a good-sized school in Indian Valley, and the teacher boarded with my great-grandmother. During a particularly bad storm, with the river very high and ugly, the school teacher along with five or six other passengers sought to cross the river on the ferry. This was going alright until it reached about mid-stream, at which point the cable broke and the raft went scurrying down the rapid river, finally hitting a protruding rock and sending all the passengers into the mad rushing current of the river. On board was a long-legged, hard-boiled miner who proceeded to haul the feminine school teacher from the rushing water. As soon as he reached shore with her, they rushed her to my great-grandmother's house, and the poor dear was immediately covered with warm blankets and had her feet submerged in a tub of hot water. After the excitement of the ordeal and rescue had cooled off, someone ventured to say, "We must thank the Lord for saving the life of Miss Adams." Silence followed for a few minutes until finally the miner remarked, "'Thank the Lord' be damned, it was my long legs that saved her, or she would have drowned!!"

The Meek mercantile business was started in Indian Valley in 1855, and in 1866 they moved to Camptonville and purchased the first brick store, which cost $12,000 to build. The store was on the ground floor, with the Masonic Lodge on the second story. The business at that time was known as the John R. Meek Company, and was operated by my great-grandfather, John R. Meek, and his brother, Alex Meek.

The two boys continued to go to school in Camptonville until they completed all the schooling which could be had locally, which I believe was called the 10th grade, and equivalent to the first two years of high school. From what they were taught in this 10th grade, I would say that it might now compare with the whole four years of high school, considering the amount of actual intelligent learning that is taught.

The old folks decided they would send Jason, the oldest son, to college for a more complete education, and keep my grandfather, Bill, to work in the store and become a merchant. Thus, Jason was sent to Montreal, Canada, to attend McGills College, which he did, graduating as a civil engineer. While there, he lived with some blue-blood cousins who taught the youngster from California all the things which one in good society should know. After he had been there for a while, some still more aristocratic relatives from England were to come visit the Canadian cousins, and with this visit, the very utmost care must be taken as regards to manners, language, etc. Jason was heavily groomed ahead of time as to what his deportment must be, which he fully understood. The visitors finally arrived, and at dinner that evening everything went along fine, with good manners, etc., until about the end of the meal, when Jason, the nice boy from California, horrified all present by picking up the finger bowl and drinking the water out of it!

Of course, both boys were model boys when smaller and living in Camptonville. To prove this, I will cite an instance. They went to church on Sundays, along with the other good people of the community, including one Iradell Donaldson Bray, the town Constable who was immaculate in attire and habits, always wearing starched green-checkered blouses, with polished cowboy boots, usually with one pants' leg in the boot of one leg and on the outside of the boot of the other. On one particular Sunday, all went to church, and Jason and Bill sat in the pew directly in front of the Constable. Everything was going nicely; along with the saying, as quiet as a church mouse, the sermon progressing, when one of the boys had gas on his stomach, and with a sharp sound that echoed throughout the quiet building, expelled a quantity thereof, and immediately both boys turned abruptly and sharply around and stared at the Constable. The Constable quietly arose and left the church.