In New York State, pearls have been found in the swift shallow streams in the Adirondack region, and in several of those entering the St. Lawrence, particularly the Grass River in St. Lawrence County. Pearls were first reported from this region in 1894. In 1896 the Grass yielded one pearl weighing fifty-eight grains, worth $600 locally; and in 1897 one weighing sixty-eight grains was found, the fisherman selling it for $800. A resident of Russell township devoted most of his time to pearling in Grass River during 1896 and 1897, from which he is said to have realized $2000. In this region the mussels are found by wading in the shallow water and scanning the bottom through a water-telescope. Most of the pearls are of slight value, but many individuals are reported as worth from $30 to $60 each.
Pearl River in Rockland County, New York, has furnished a number of brown pearls. These are commonly small, weighing from one eighth to one half grain each, although some weigh seven or eight grains each. Most of these are not lustrous, but occasionally a bright brown or a bright copper-brown specimen of from one to four grains is met with. At the Paris Exposition, in 1900, were exhibited one hundred of these pearls, with an aggregate weight of 281 grains; these now form part of the Morgan-Tiffany Collection, in the American Museum of Natural History.
Even in the rich coal regions of Pennsylvania pearls are found. Possibly the most productive section in that State has been the headwaters of the Schuylkill River in the vicinity of Tamaqua, Quakake, and Mahony City. Of the tributaries of the Schuylkill, those contributing largely to the yield have been Lewiston, Nipert, Still, Locust, and Hecla. These rise in the mountains and are rivulets of fair size by the time they reach their common outlet.
PEARL-BEARING UNIOS
From the Mississippi Valley
The upper pictures show the two valves of the same shell, and the pearl is detachable
The original pearl finds in the Schuylkill date from half a century ago, when they were secured by farmers who used the mussel shells in removing hair from the hides of slaughtered pigs. During the Mississippi pearling excitement in 1897, several persons from New York, who were summering in Schuylkill County, searched the small streams for pearl-bearing mussels with such success that within a short while many farmers became enthusiastic hunters during their spare time. Half a dozen or more men did very well, their catch amounting to thousands of dollars’ worth. Mr. Frank M. Ebert, of Quakake, has put most of his spare time in the business in the last ten years, and has secured many good pearls. It is estimated that the total catch in Schuylkill County alone approximates $20,000 at local values. So actively has the search been conducted that at present few adult mussels of the pearl-bearing species remain, and a day’s work may result in finding less than a dozen.
The best price reported as received by a local fisherman was $200 for a twenty-grain pearl in the year 1904. Many individual specimens have been sold at prices ranging from $100 to $175. It is claimed that a pearl sold by a fisherman in Schuylkill for fifty cents was later marketed in Philadelphia for $125, and with slight mounting was ultimately sold for $1600. The most attractive weigh from ten to twenty grains each; larger ones have been found, weighing up to thirty-eight grains, but as a rule the luster is not so good as that possessed by pearls of medium size. The common colors are dark blue, pink, lavender, and white. A few are black and some are brown. The brown pearls are seldom of value, owing to deficiency in luster.
In Maryland pearls have been collected from the brooks near the head of Chesapeake Bay, and especially in Kent and Cecil counties. These are of almost every conceivable color, ranging from a clear white to a dainty pink, and to very dark colors, especially bronze and copper. Most of them are too small for commercial value, and only a few reach sufficient size to command more than $5 or $10 each, but single specimens have sold as high as $50.
Georgia has yielded some pearls, chiefly in the vicinity of Rome, at the junction of the Etowah and Oostanaula rivers. This is believed to be the site of the Indian town Cofaciqui, where, in his memorable expedition of 1540–1541, De Soto found the natives in possession of so many pearls. The general news of finds in the Mississippi Valley stirred up local interest in this region in 1897, and when the streams were low and clear in the autumn many persons engaged in hunting the mussels. An ex-sheriff of Rome is reported as having secured about fifty pearls, lustrous but irregular. A few miles above Rome, a farmer made a trial on Johns Creek, a tributary of the Oostanaula; and from a basketful of Unios he reports finding several marketable pearls for which he received $180 from a Baltimore jeweler. Others followed, and many fine specimens were secured. Unios are especially abundant in the Flint, Ocmulgee, and Oconee rivers, and it seems probable that many pearls might be found in these streams.
Florida has not yet been actively exploited, but it may prove a productive region ere long. The reports of De Soto’s expedition make special reference to the size and beauty of the pearls found at a point where he crossed the Ocklocknee River about thirty miles above its mouth, near the present site of Langston, Wakulla County. And there seems little doubt that pearls may be found in the Ocklocknee and also in its affluent, the Sopchoppy River. The banks of these streams are full of shells, and pearls of choice color have been sent from there.