Biography of George Noyes

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George M. Noyes was the son of Henry A. Noyes and Lucy Jones and the grandson of Elizabeth Jones. Henry and Lucy were married in Nevada County in 1876. Henry Noyes came from Maine and was a miner at Quaker Hill. He was likely related to other Noyes families from Maine who settled at Quaker Hill. One of them—John A. Noyes--was murdered. Some of them are mentioned in Thompson & West: The History of Nevada County, 1881.

George’s father, Henry A. Noyes, died 3 Jan 1910.

George’s widowed mother, Lucy Jones Noyes, married Lewis Frank Mayo in 1911. Lucy died 30 Aug 1929.

Lucy Noyes is shown on the left in the photocopy of the Searls photo below.

George married Leone____. They are shown together in the photo above

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George graduated from Nevada High in 1894 and went on to be an engineer. He is most known for promoting a tunnel extending from Nevada City to Grass Valley to drain the mines. Bob Paine, local history writer, described George’s plans for the tunnel:

“In 1908 he proposed boring a long tunnel from a point near Jones Bar, on the South Yuba River, at an elevation of 1,050 feet, in a southeasterly direction along the contact between the schistose diabase rocks on one side, and the massive granites on the other through a formation which will be comparatively easy to bore; first to the principal mines of Nevada City, which lie adjacent to the contact; thence bearing south to intersect the mines of Grass Valley. This tunnel it is estimated will have an ultimate length of ten miles….” The project never won the support of the big mining companies."

George M. Noyes died 14 Jul 1962 . His wife, Leone, died 30 Jul 1966.

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Footnotes:

• Lucy Jones Noyes executor of will of Elizabeth Jones, Nevada County Wills, Bk. 3, p. 418; Elizabeth Jones died 22 Dec 1900. The will of Elizabeth Jones, can be seen at the Searls Historical Library in Nevada City.
• Marriage of H.A. Noyes and Lucy Jones, 10 Sep 1876, Certificate at Searls Historical Library, Nevada City, CA
• Death of Henry A. Noyes,Nevada County Death Record, Bk. 3, p. 6, 3 Jan 1910
• Marriage of Lucy Noyes to Lewis Frank Mayo, Nevada County Marriage Records, Bk. 9, p. 52, 15 April 1911
• Bob Paine, “Noyes Tunnel Idea Never Got Underground,” undated historical clipping, Searls Historical Library, Nevada City. Obituary of George Noyes: Grass Valley Union, 15 July 1962.

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