Dennie, Cynthia E.,

Cynthia E. Dennie, nee Dennis, of Concord Massachusetts, married John Dennie sometime between 1850 and 1853. She preserved letters from her brothers and husband sent as they travelled through the West and served in the Civil War.

John Dennie left Massachusetts for California in 1849. He returned to Massachusetts to marry Cynthia Dennis sometime between 1850 and 1853, but shortly afterward returned to California by himself and lived there through 1856. Through 1853 and again in 1855 he worked in San Francisco for businesses and on ships. In 1854 he prospected for gold near Fort John, Amador County. He moved to Butte County in 1856 where he worked a claim and got a job with High Rock Fluming Company.

During the Civil War he served in the Union Navy on a Mississippi River gunboat.

Cynthia Dennie's brother, John Hancock Dennis (christened John Henry) was born in Concord, Massachusetts, and went to California in 1852. He was elected constable of Volcano, California, in 1855 and served until 1857, when he moved to Fort John to prospect for gold. For the next several years he held a variety of jobs throughout Amador County. In 1861 he was elected to represent El Dorado County in the State Assembly and was nominated for a second term.

Around 1864 he moved to Austin, Nevada. He hoped to make money in quartz mining, but ended up serving in the local Recorder's Office. From the late 1860s through 1904, Dennis was editor of several Nevada newspapers.

From the description of Cynthia E. Dennie papers, 1845-1907. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 702132270