Style El Dorado County and Foothills; October 2018

in history
Once
Upon a
Town
Legends of Lotus
by JERRIE BEARD
In 1849, the town of Marshall
sprang up just west of
Coloma and around the
bend on the South Fork of
the American River. Named
in honor of the discoverer of gold,
the little town grew as the 49ers
made their way to California and
the gold fields. When the state
was admitted into the union in
September of 1850, the patriotic
townsfolk renamed it Uniontown.
In 1881, after the United States
Postal Service opened an office
there, the name was changed to
Lotus, since another town had
already laid claim to the name
Uniontown.
By 1857, the town boasted
several stores, a carriage shop,
a library, and Poague’s Bridge, which connected the inhabitants of Uniontown
with Michigan Flat, Magnolia Ranch, and Georgetown Road and was estimated
to cost $8,000. A young man by the name of Stephen Wing helped repair and
build toll gates for it. According to Wing, it had “one long span of 150 feet and
two short ones about 50 feet each. It is well built and a good job of work every
way.” It was one of only two bridges in the area that connected gold seekers with
the rich mining areas along the Georgetown Divide. With tolls from 12.5 cents
for pedestrians to $6 for a wagon with a six-horse team, gatekeeper W.Y. Poague
likely made back his investment in short order.
By the mid 1850s, civilization in the form of women and churches began to
appear in the gold fields. In order to raise money for a Baptist church with a “large
fine toned bell,” the town issued subscription
papers and hosted church benefits. On
February 12, 1858, the church was dedicated
in a ceremony officiated by Reverend J. Lewis
Schuck of Sacramento. According to The
Sacramento Union, the reverend also “preached
to Chinamen in their own language” at 3 p.m.
that afternoon.
By 1871, most of the parishioners had
moved away, services had ceased at the
church, and the building fell into disrepair.
The fine toned bell rang no more, although
it still hung in the belfry. Learning of this,
a former minister of the church came and
took it—without consulting the remaining
trustees—and put it on an express wagon
from Coloma to Sierra County where he lived.
The citizens were outraged and followed
the minister to Coloma where they contacted
the justice of the peace. The justice instructed
them to hire a lawyer to draw up papers
on the affair. The offending minister, who
had apparently thought this through, had
already retained all the lawyers in town to
thwart such an effort. However, one young
lawyer was found who wrote up the required
papers and presented them to the constable.
The bell was arrested and put in jail, the
offending minister quietly disappeared, and
the bell “remained in jail, probably awaiting
its trial.”
sources
History of El Dorado County, California by Paola Sioli
Daily Journal 1852-1860 of Stephen Wing
The Sacramento Union, February 12, 1858
All photos by Scott Ligare.
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