There is one thing of which we can be absolutely certain – Hamilton C. McComas did not come to Grant County to carry out legal work for either the Boyles or the Shakespeare Gold and Silver Mining and Milling Company (or, as more vaguely referred to by Simmons, citing Janaloo Hill, “the Shakespeare Company”). The Grant County Civil Docket records show that in December of 1880, some nine months after McComas had arrived in Grant County, that Company was being represented, in a suit initiated by James B. and Thomas B. Price, by Silver City attorneys Ginn & Bell.⁵⁵In fact, McComas did not come to Grant County specifically to to represent any mining company.
The March 31, 1883, Southwest Sentinel referred to in the Introduction to this Chapter states specifically that when McComas first came to the Territory “he paid attention to [his] mining interests exclusively.” The previous day’s Silver City Enterprise also reported that “the first two years of residence here was spent in looking after his mining interests which were extensive.” As we shall see, it was not until in 1882 that McComas resumed the practice of law – and for a very good reason. In that year he settled in Silver City and formed partnerships, first with Andrew Sloan, and later with John M. Wright, who was his partner at the time of his death, and who acted as administrator of the McComas estate.
By the time McComas arrived in Grant County, the Boyles and their associates had already consolidated their many claims in the county – both mining and land claims. The Shakespeare Gold and Silver Mining and Milling Company had been incorporated, as had the New Comstock Gold and Silver Mining and Milling Company, and they were on the verge of incorporating the Ormus Gold and Silver Mining Company.
McComas had his own interests and his own set of associates, though there was some overlap of the latter between McComas and the Boyles.
We first hear of McComas’ presence in Grant County in the Saturday, March 20, 1880, edition of the Grant County Herald, which published a roundup of the week’s news from the Daily Southwest. On Thursday, March 18th, the Southwest had reported that “Col. J. B. Price of the National Mail and Transport [sic] Company” had arrived in Silver City that morning accompanied by Judge McComas and Major Brooks of St. Louis, Mr. McCasland of Missouri, and Mr. Henry, father of the financial and general business manager of the New York Herald. It was believed that all five as a party were en route for Shakespeare and then the San Simon Mining District “where they own large mining interests, which are to be developed without delay.”⁵⁶
Friday’s Southwest (March 19) had listed J. D. Brooks, H. C. McComas, J. B. Price and Samuel McCasland as being registered at the Tremont House hotel in Silver City, but also stated that Price, McComas and Brooks had left “for the west” that morning.
Hamilton C. McComas’ first recorded mining transaction in Grant County took place on April 2, 1880, when he purchased a one-half interest in the “Robert Ement” mine in the San Simon district from A. J. Kyle for $500.⁵⁷ County records show that just four days later, on April 6th, the Leroy Silver Mining Company was incorporated by H. C. McComas and two associates; it was assigned a capital stock of $5 million, divided into shares priced at $20 each.⁵⁸
Marc Simmons states that this Company was formed on October 8, 1880,⁵⁹ seemingly taking this date from a number of share certificates for the Company found in the McComas Probate file. These certificates are indeed dated October 8, 1880, but this is the date on which they were issued; it obviously cannot be the date of the Leroy Silver Mining Company’s incorporation. Although the Probate papers concerning McComas’ estate do yield some small amount of information on his business affairs, this can only be put into perspective by a wider study of other Grant County records.
D. C. Leroy
“… two shadowy men of the border, D.C.Leroy and George Wilson. Back in 1880, McComas had incorporated the Leroy Silver Mining Company, but whether a connection existed between that name and D.C.Leroy is unclear.”
Simmons (1997), p.170
In Massacre on the Lordsburg Road, Marc Simmons ponders the possibility of there being any connection between a man by the name of D. C. Leroy – who played a major role in the search for McComas’ son Charley – and the Leroy Silver Mining Company.⁶⁰ Simmons’ question is answered in full by the Articles of Incorporation for that Company, which are to be found in Grant County records; Articles of Incorporation which name Amos Green and D. C. Leroy as Hamilton C. McComas’ co-incorporators. Interestingly, it is Leroy’s name which appears first on the list of incorporators. In general, the name which appears first is that of the person who formally set into motion the process of organizing the Company; he or she is the one responsible for the official filing of the relevant documents.
Although we do not have a complete picture of Leroy’s life, what information there is indicates that he was present in southwestern New Mexico for quite some time, and that he was well known and well regarded. Born in Virginia around 1843, his name is found in the earliest of the Grant County Deed Books. On July 18, 1868, he and Thomas B. Catron signed as witnesses a document recording a mortgage taken out on part of a mine and a house and lot in Pinos Altos.⁶¹ After this his name is not found in Grant County records until October of 1878, when he and J. J. Bates recorded a claim for the “Manhattan” mine, near Leitendorf’s Well, in the Virginia Mining District; he signed this document “Don Leroy.”⁶² Between February 2, 1879, and March 8, 1880, Leroy recorded 14 mining claims. Most of his claims were made in association with others, very often with Victor Van Hal and Alex Neal, both of whose names appear alongside Leroy’s on the first muster role of the Shakespeare Militia in 1879. In all likelihood it was Leroy’s role as militiaman and business associate of Hamilton C. McComas – rather than the lure of reward money, as Simmons believes – which induced him to take part in the search for Charley McComas in 1883.
Connected with Leroy in the search for Charley is George Wilson who, like Leroy, has been regarded as being of dubious character. The pair went to extensive lengths in their efforts to rescue the child, who was believed at the time to be still alive.
Their search for Charley was widely reported not only in New Mexico Territory newspapers, but also in newspapers throughout the country.
The Sacramento Daily Union of August 20, 1883, for example, reported that D. C. Leroy, who is described as “an American cattleman”, had recently returned to Deming from Casa Grande, Arizona Territory. It was reported that he had made efforts there to persuade a band of “Pueblo Indians” to accompany him into the Sierra Madres to rescue Charley. On October 4, 1883, the Daily Alta California, reprinting a dispatch from Deming, reported on Leroy and Wilson’s efforts. In the dispatch Leroy and Wilson are both described as being “well-known citizens [whose] report is worthy of credence.”
Leroy was one of the first three people to use the name “Shakespeare” in Grant County records when, on April 9, 1879, he, Cornelius Goldsmith, and Robert V. Newsham recorded a claim for the “Grand Central” mine, “1 ¼ miles west of the town of Shakespeare.”⁶³ The claim was witnessed by Alex Neal and Victor Van Hal.
In January of 1880, Leroy and Robert V. Newsham had recorded a claim for the “Leroy Mill Site”; five acres of land on the Gila River “at the mouth of what is known as Coral Cañon.” At the same time Newsham also claimed an adjacent five acres for the “Newsham Mill Site” in conjunction with Leroy.⁶⁴
Unlike many of those who recorded claims in the Virginia Mining District, Leroy ensured that the legally required first year’s labor was carried out on at least some of the properties he co-owned with Neal, Van Hal and Goldsmith, most of the actual labor being done by Neal and Van Hal.⁶⁵
Also in January of 1880, D. C. Leroy was one of the two people appointed by Grant County Probate Court to appraise the estate of C. Ross Woods. Leroy’s signature along with that of Henry C. Harper, his co-appraiser, appears on the official inventory of Woods’ estate. The document was signed at Shakespeare on January 23, 1880.⁶⁶
In March of 1880, Leroy, Neal and Van Hal, “all [residents ] of the town of Shakespeare” drew up a deed whereby they agreed to lease to A. J. Thompson and J. H. Tomlinson a lot in Shakespeare at the rate of $3 a month for 18 years.⁶⁷ Possibly it was from this lot that Thompson and Tomlinson ran their grocery business.⁶⁸
In early February of 1881, Leroy was instrumental in the formation of the new mining district of Tres Hermanas,⁶⁹ of which he was elected President. Located in the area of the Tres Hermanas Peaks,⁷⁰ Leroy had first prospected this area the previous summer, and is reported by O. W. Williams to have discovered rich silver ore there, making a find that “every prospector dreamed of.” In July of 1881, Leroy and several companions made a return trip to the Tres Hermanas District; an account of this trip can be found in O. W. Williams’ work.⁷¹
In April of 1881, the New Southwest and Grant County Herald published a report on the District under the heading “Tres Hermanos Notes.” This was an error, as “Tres Hermanos” is south of Alamogordo, while the information contained in the article plainly refers to activities at the Tres Hermanas District. Amongst other things the report states that “parties from Shakespeare are putting up a small store at Leroy’s well near the mines” and that “the Hancock mine has been bonded for a good round sum.”⁷² The “General Hancock” was one of those claims made by Leroy in July of 1880.
We leave the final words on D. C. Leroy to the first hand account of Oscar Williams who, after commenting on both the physical appearance of “Don Carlos Leroy” and his close friendship with Victor Van Hal, goes on to say that although Leroy’s name “rested under an unspoken suspicion” in Shakespeare, he himself was of the opinion that “there was never anything in his conduct during the time that I knew him to warrant any doubt about his character.” Perhaps Williams was correct in his observation that the air of suspicion which surrounded Leroy was based on nothing other than the fact that his “surname was French, while his given name was Spanish.”⁷³
©2007-2025 Jim & Erica Parson
REFERENCES FOR THIS INSTALLMENT
Note:
Documents located at the Grant County Clerk’s Office (1400 Hwy. 180 E. Silver City, NM 88061) are denoted by (GCCO).
Documents located at the New Mexico State Records Center and Archives (1205 Camino Carlos Rey, Santa Fe, NM 87507) are denoted by (NMSRCA).
⁵⁵Civil Docket, Grant County, December Term 1880 Up To And Including July Term 1882 Term of the 3rd Judicial Court. Case No. 599. J. B. And T. B. Price vs Shakespeare Gold and Silver Mining and Milling Company. (NMSRCA).
⁵⁶The San Simon Mining District is located in southwestern New Mexico in the Peloncillo Mountains, south of Stein’s (Railroad) Pass in Township 25 South, Range 21 West and Township 26 South, Range 21 West.
⁵⁷Deeds. Book 3. (February 1876 – May 1880). Page 773. (GCCO)
⁵⁸Record Of Deeds. Book No. 6. (May 1880-March 1888). Pages 10-11. (GCCO)
⁵⁹Simmons (1997). Page 58.
D.C.LEROY/LEROY SILVER MINING CO.
⁶⁰Simmons (1997). Page 170.
⁶¹Mining Deed Book. (1868-1870). Page 16. (NMSRCA).
⁶²Mining Locations No 1. (1871-1880). Page 486. (GCCO).
⁶³Ibid. Page 534.
⁶⁴Deeds. Book 3. (February 1876-May 1880). Pages 712-714. (GCCO)
⁶⁵Mining Locations No. 1. (1871-1880). Pages 770-771, 785, 788. (GCCO)
⁶⁶Drawer labeled Miscellaneous. Constables, Coroners 1885-1886. (GCCO)
⁶⁷Deeds. Book 3. (1876-May 1880). Pages 758-760. (GCCO).
⁶⁸Records Of General Licenses Granted, 1871-1910. (NMSRCA).
⁶⁹The Herald and Southwest, February 26, 1881, published a report on the formation of the Tres Hermanas Mining District, which had taken place on February 10. The boundaries of the new District were given as: “Commencing at the apex of the most northerly of the foot-hills or Mounds situated about eleven miles north westerly of Niggerhead Spring, and known as the Twin [illegible] Hills; thence running due east to the east line of Grant County; thence running south on the east line of the County to the southeast corner of Grant County; thence running west on the south line of Grant County, (which is the north line of the Republic of Mexico) to a point due south from the point of beginning; thence north to place of beginning.”
⁷⁰Located in present day Luna County, about 6 miles northwest of Columbus, NM.
⁷¹Myres, S. D. Editor and Annotator (2nd Edition, 1968). Pioneer Surveyor – Frontier Lawyer. The Personal Narrative of O. W. Williams, 1877-1902. University of Texas At El Paso: Texas Western Press. Pages 149-153. Hereafter referred to as Myres (1968).
⁷²The New Southwest and Grant County Herald. April 23, 1881.
⁷³Myres (1968). Page 123.
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