The forgotten paternity of Carson

Editor's note: This is the first of a five-part series on the history of Carson City written by State Archivist Guy Rocha. Profiles of people, events and places instrumental in Carson City's history will be featured throughout 2008 on this page in celebration of Carson City's Sesquicentennial.

"Carson City will miss 'Uncle Abe,'" eulogized Alfred Doten in the Gold Hill News following Abraham Curry's death in 1873. "To him more than to any man is that beautiful village indebted for its existence and success."

No doubt Curry ultimately did more than anyone else to promote Carson City from its settlement in 1858 until his death fifteen years later. His vision of Carson City as a dynamic commercial and political center required that he influence politicians and business interests to share in his lofty aspirations. However, he did not act alone. There were other principal players in the drama and intrigue surrounding the founding of Carson City and the establishing of Nevada Territory that for much too long have been overshadowed by the much-deserved tributes to Abe Curry.

In its first 15 years, Carson City became the county seat of Carson County, Utah Territory, and then Nevada Territory after its creation in 1861. Following the organization of Nevada Territory, the town was designated the territorial capital and county seat of the newly created Ormsby County. It was chosen as the state capital during the constitutional convention in 1864.

After Congress passed legislation to establish a mint in Nevada Territory in 1863, Curry actively promoted Carson City as the appropriate site. A branch of the U.S. Mint finally opened in the capital city in January 1870 and Curry was appointed its first superintendent. When the Legislature granted a franchise for construction of the Virginia & Truckee Railroad, Curry influenced railroad officials to make Carson City the headquarters of the operation and he was responsible for the construction of the massive engine house in 1873. He seemed to have his hand in practically everything. Looking back after his death, it is not surprising that Curry has come to be known as the father of Carson City. A statue on the legislative grounds, dedicated in 1979, solely honors him.

In fact, there were four founders present at the birth of Carson City. The other three, Benjamin Franklin Green, John Jacob Musser and Francis Marion Proctor, have been all but forgotten today despite their contributions to the development of Carson City and Nevada in its earliest years.

Frank Proctor, as reported in the minutes of the second constitutional convention, actually took credit for naming the new community in Eagle Valley.

"I named the city myself," he declared on July 27, 1864, "'Carson City' is what we used to call it."

Now, all that remains to remind us of Curry's partners are downtown streets named for Proctor, his wife, Caroline, and Musser; the Proctor and Green, and Musser subdivisions; and historic site markers.

All four of these pioneering men had come to western Utah Territory in 1858 from Downieville, Sierra County, Calif. Ironically, Abraham Curry was the least prominent among them.

John J. Musser, born in Chambersburg, Penn., on Dec. 21, 1829, had been elected district attorney for Sierra County in 1855 and served "with marked ability" for two years. In one prominent criminal case that Musser prosecuted at Downieville and Nevada City, the three defense lawyers later became United States senators: Edward D. Baker of Oregon, Aaron Sargent of California and William Morris Stewart of Nevada. Musser ran for the California State Senate in 1858 but lost a close race.

If he had won, Musser surely would not have been among the founders of Carson City. He resigned his position as district attorney in May 1858 shortly before coming to western Utah Territory and Eagle Valley.

Frank Proctor was also an attorney in Sierra County. The Mexican War veteran served on the first grand jury for the court of sessions in Downieville in October 1852 with Benjamin F. Green. A Kentucky native, born on Feb. 6, 1828, Proctor was quite active in Democratic politics and came to California in 1849 in the heyday of the gold rush.

Proctor was appointed county assessor in October 1854 and served until 1856. He also had considerable mining interests in Sierra County. On Dec. 31, 1857, he married Benjamin Green's daughter.

Benjamin Franklin Green was the oldest of the four men, being 49 years old in 1858, and, like his son-in-law, a Kentuckian. He had extensive business interests in and around Downieville, including a partnership in a jewelry and watchmaking enterprise. Just prior to his move to Eagle Valley, he served as the Sierra County treasurer in 1856 and 1857.

As opposed to his three business partners, Abe Curry, a New Yorker who had moved to Downieville in 1857 from Nevada County, held no elected position in Sierra County. While he purchased real estate in the county and was involved in the construction trade, Curry had not established himself in the northern Mother Lode country as had Musser, Proctor and Green.

- NEXT SUNDAY: The first buildings spring up in the new city.