Foreign and Northern Investors
Outside capital dominated regional mining operations, as foreign and northern investors established companies and camps to make gold extraction more efficient and profitable. As early as the 1830s, agents like New York City’s James F. D. Oldenberg specialized in bringing northern investors and Georgia gold-lot owners together, and a number of companies emerged that were capitalized with half a million dollars or more. By 1840, incorporated businesses like the Augusta Mining Company, the Naucoochee Mining Company, the Pigeon Roost Mining Company, the Cherokee Mining Company, and the Lumpkin County Mining and Manufacturing Company dominated mining efforts in north Georgia.
National magazines and newspapers ran regular stories about gold mining in Georgia and the influx of northerners and foreigners into the region.
Justus Adelberg and Rossiter Worthington Raymond formed a mining and assaying partnership in New York City in 1864. Between 1866 and 1867 they invested in a number of mines throughout north Georgia including the Adelberg Gold Company, Brolley Mine, Dr. B. Hamilton property; Lewis property; and the Judge Strong Mine.
