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253:, Wingfield turned down the appointment. He cultivated friendships in both political parties, and his businesses survived the 1923 fire which devastated Goldfield. In the 1920s Wingfield worked with legislators to make Nevada a quickie divorce location, which helped his Reno hotel businesses. He also worked to legalize gambling, illegal in many states, especially California and other destinations easily reachable by railroad. Not only his businesses in Reno, but the entire state of Nevada became a tourist destination. In 1928, Wingfield was elected to the University Board of Regents for the
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200,000 in profits. By
October 1902, Wingfield and Nixon formally became business partners, investing in mining and real estate. They soon owned the Boston-Tonopah Mining Company and the Nye County Bank, among other properties. By 1904, having grub-staked many miners after a gold strike the previous year about 27 miles away in
152:. He married, but after he made his first fortune in 1906, as discussed below, his wife, May, filed for divorce; the couple received an annulment. He then married a divorced woman, Maud Azil Murdoch Hamlin of San Francisco, and they had a son, George Wingfield Jr. (1914-1987). Wingfield later married Roxy Thoma.
204:, Wingfield moved to Goldfield, and also bought a saloon, which his millionaire mentor Nixon advised him to sell and concentrate on respectable investments, so over the next years they bought more real estate and all but one of the local mines. In 1904, Nixon became a U.S. Senator, representing the state.
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and a town of about 250 residents, which was booming because Jim Butler had discovered silver ore and established a mine nearby in 1900. At first, Wingfield played poker and dealt cards for faro at the
Tonopah Club, but by 1902, he and fellow gambler John Hennessey took over the club and soon made $
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to Fort Smith in 1853, then moved to
Missouri during the American Civil War, then back to Arkansas, and would move through Nevada, but settle in Oregon, only to resettle in Arizona, where two of his sons had settled and he died in 1880. Meanwhile, Thomas Wingfield's family moved with his extended
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By his 30th birthday in 1906 (also the year his father died in San
Francisco), Wingfield had made a fortune in Nevada, based on mine ownership in Tonopah and Goldfield. After taking their Goldfield Consolidated Mining Company public in 1906 (which he and Nixon had organized with $ 50 million in
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in Reno, was built on land donated by George
Wingfield. Starting in 1995, a new 1,660-acre, 400-home neighborhood was constructed on the site of George Wingfield's former Spanish Springs Ranch. Red Hawk at Wingfield Springs was completed in 2005 and named after Wingfield by its developer,
176:(the transcontinental railroad which acquired the Central Pacific). It was known for a variety of businesses more hidden in respectable towns, including saloons, gambling and brothels. In Winnemucca, Wingfield met former railroad man turned banker and future United States Senator
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John Bonner; George
William Curtis; Henry Mills Alden; Samuel Stillman Conant; Montgomery Schuyler; Carl Schurz; John Foord; Henry Loomis Nelson; Richard Harding Davis; George Brinton McClellan Harvey; John Kendrick Bangs; Norman Hapgood (1907).
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in 1907 (and knowing the IWW had called strikes elsewhere), the mine owners closed the mines. This put between 6,000 and 8000 miners out of work, which led not only to considerable publicity, but civil unrest. Nevada
Governor
264:. In 1931, $ 500,000 in state funds were missing and Wingfield was accused of embezzling them. He put up the money himself, but soon declared bankruptcy. However, by 1935 he was rebuilding his fortune, investing in the
138:
in 1876 to Thomas Yates
Wingfield and his wife, the former Martha Matilda Spradling. His grandfather Edward Wingfield had moved his family (including his 3 sons, William, Thomas and Henry and their families) from
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and became active in politics, banking, ranching, and hotel-keeping. His partnership with Nixon dissolved in 1909, with
Wingfield taking the mining interests and Nixon the banks. He also invested in the
237:, would acquire many Nevada banks, and the mining company acquired international interests. Wingfield also returned to his cattle-ranching roots, operating a ranch and dairy farm in
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cattleman and gambler who became a financier, investor and one of the state's most powerful economic and political figures during the period from 1909 to 1932. With future senator
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as his mentor after he settled in
Winnemucca in 1899, and fellow gambler John Hennessy as his partner in the mining boomtown of Tonopah after 1901, Wingfield rose from
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George Wingfield died in Reno on December 25, 1959. His widow and son were later buried beside him in Reno. In 1992, he was inducted into the
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In November, 1906, the Goldfield Consolidated Mines Company was incorporated by owners George Wingfield and United States Senator George Nixon
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172:(in the state's northwestern corner). Winnemucca was the Humboldt county seat, as well as (approximately since the Civil War) a stop on the
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371:
The Complete Nevada Traveler, Revised Edition: The Affectionate And Intimately Detailed Guidebook To The Most Interesting State In America
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appointed Wingfield to serve out the remainder of Nixon's Senate term, but after consulting with Nixon's financier friends, including
180:, sixteen years his senior, and who became his mentor. In 1899, Wingfield decided to leave the cattle business and opened a saloon in
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capital), Wingfield alone was worth $ 30 million. However, when their Goldfield mines became an organizing target of the
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229:. After Nixon's death, Wingfield bought the Golden Hotel in Reno, and he also bought the city's other major hotel (the
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near Winnemucca. By 1955, he was ready to retire, selling his Reno security company and the Riverside Hotel.
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One of the state's most powerful economic and political figures during the period from 1909 to 1932
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family to Oregon when young George was five years old, and he would become a
451:"San Francisco Call 12 June 1912 — California Digital Newspaper Collection"
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504:(Public domain ed.). Passenger Dept., Southern Pacific Co. pp.
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724:"Indictment caps lobbyist Harvey Whittemore's dramatic fall from grace"
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Share of the Goldfield Consolidated Mines Company, issued 17 April 1907
615:
Uncovering Nevada's past: a primary source history of the Silver State
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110:-dealer to become richest man in Nevada in less than five years.
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320:(Public domain ed.). Harper & brothers. pp.
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464:Foundation, George Edward Durell (March 21, 1995).
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187:He used the proceeds to travel south, arriving in
498:Southern Pacific Company. Passenger Dept (1912).
355:"Goldfield Historical Society - George Wingfield"
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677:. Associated Press. December 26, 1959. p. 1
612:Reid, John Bevis; James, Ronald Michael (2004).
564:Nevada, Our Home: Revision of Discovering Nevada
260:Much of Wingfield's fortune was lost during the
241:. After his mentor Nixon died in 1912, Governor
184:, also in Humboldt County, but sold it by 1901.
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217:called up the national guard to restore order.
530:George Wingfield: owner and operator of Nevada
470:. George Mason University Press. p. 326.
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374:. University of Nevada Press. pp. 173–.
618:. University of Nevada Press. pp. 94–.
98:(August 16, 1876 – December 25, 1959) was a
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533:. University of Nevada Press. pp. 1–.
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527:Raymond, C. Elizabeth (November 1, 1992).
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467:Money and banking: the American experience
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160:By age 20, Wingfield had become a cattle
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413:. University of Nevada Press. pp.
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699:. Urban Land Institute. Archived from
409:Pat McCarran, political boss of Nevada
405:Edwards, Jerome E. (January 1, 1982).
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775:History of Esmeralda County, Nevada
722:Damon, Anjeanette (June 10, 2012).
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233:) and the Spanish Springs hotel in
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561:BeDunnah, Gary (April 26, 2006).
795:Businesspeople from Reno, Nevada
785:People from Fort Smith, Arkansas
697:"ULI - Development Case Studies"
368:Toll, David W. (November 2002).
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210:Industrial Workers of the World
805:People from Winnemucca, Nevada
567:. Gibbs Smith. pp. 160–.
287:Wingfield Park, alongside the
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790:People from Goldfield, Nevada
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134:George Wingfield was born at
278:National Mining Hall of Fame
220:In 1908, Wingfield moved to
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800:People from Tonopah, Nevada
685:– via Newspapers.com.
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649:. Library, State of Nevada
191:, then the county seat of
141:Albemarle County, Virginia
780:People from Burns, Oregon
174:Southern Pacific Railroad
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202:Esmeralda County, Nevada
669:"George Wingfield Dies"
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114:Early and family life
703:on December 20, 2013
674:Reno Gazette-Journal
255:University of Nevada
136:Fort Smith, Arkansas
282:Leadville, Colorado
647:"George Wingfield"
599:"George Wingfield"
227:Coalinga Oil Field
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625:978-0-87417-567-7
574:978-1-58685-821-6
540:978-0-87417-197-6
477:978-0-913969-74-8
424:978-0-87417-071-9
381:978-0-940936-12-6
294:Harvey Whittemore
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62:December 25, 1959
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170:Humboldt County
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86:Known for
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731:. Retrieved
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243:Tasker Oddie
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64:(1959-12-25)
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770:1959 deaths
765:1876 births
653:January 11,
631:January 10,
580:January 10,
546:January 10,
512:January 10,
483:January 10,
430:January 10,
417:, 28, 41–.
387:January 10,
328:January 10,
215:John Sparks
749:Categories
300:References
193:Nye County
166:Winnemucca
51:Fort Smith
43:1876-08-16
198:Goldfield
681:July 25,
182:Golconda
146:buckaroo
733:May 27,
707:May 27,
235:Springs
189:Tonopah
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501:Sunset
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239:Fallon
162:drover
156:Career
100:Nevada
150:Burns
735:2013
709:2013
683:2020
655:2012
633:2012
620:ISBN
582:2012
569:ISBN
548:2012
535:ISBN
514:2012
485:2012
472:ISBN
432:2012
419:ISBN
389:2012
376:ISBN
330:2012
249:and
222:Reno
108:faro
70:Reno
59:Died
37:Born
506:446
322:909
280:in
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
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