John E. Penman

Photographed By Duane and Tracy Marsteller, November 11, 2023

1. John E. Penman Marker

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Another important person during the heyday of Mecklenburg gold mining was John E. Penman. Penman, an Englishman, was in Mecklenburg County by 1833. It was “generally believed” that [Count Chevalier De] Rivafinoli brought him to Charlotte to assist in overseeing some of the gold mines the London Mining Company had leased. Unlike the Count, Penman stayed in Charlotte, and by the 1850s he had earned the reputation of having “experience as a miner …more extensive than that of any other person who has ever operated in this section of the gold country.” Among the mines he managed was the Rudisill Hill Mine. …

John Penman was a flamboyant, daring, wheeler-dealer, and a bit of a rascal.

Photographed By Duane and Tracy Marsteller, November 11, 2023

2. John E. Penman Marker

Despite his background as a Methodist minister, Penman brought two unmarried women with him to Mecklenburg County. Dressed in their finery, these ladies would ride into Charlotte behind horses hitched to a buggy in tandem and devote most of the day to spending Penman’s money in the local shops. “Most men have faults and Penman had his,” declared one acquaintance many years later. “He was a Methodist preacher before he came to America, and after he arrived here, but suppose he had fallen from grace in some particulars.” Penman liked fine wine and enjoyed luxurious living. He was repeatedly summoned to court over land disputes. Penman could be generous with his money. When workers at the Rudisill Hill Mine deepened the shafts and unearthed a rich vein of gold, Penman put $1500 in the collection plate at the Methodist Church the next Sunday. On another occasion, he honored 60 of his workers at another mine by having them adorn red shirts and march into Charlotte to the accompaniment of a drum and fife corps. Penman also treated the men to a fine restaurant meal. (Charlotte Observer, July 29, 1894; Fayetteville Observer, May 5, 1835) Penman, like other antebellum mine managers, rented slaves to work in the gold mines he controlled. Penman placed the following advertisement in the Charlotte Journal of October 9, 1835: I wish to hire from 15 to 25 Negroes, to

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be employed in the Gold Mines in Charlotte. Gentlemen having slaves whom they wish to hire advantageously, Please call on me … or address me through the PostOffice (sic.). (Charlotte Journal, October 9, 1835). Mrs. Sam Presson, who wrote a series of articles on Charlotte’s historical personalities, wrote this about Penman: Penman was a large, red-faced typical Englishman, and was accustomed to being waited upon. He brought his body servant, named Goodluck, here with him. Every morning the servant would groom his master with as much care as our former slaves would our race horses. (Charlotte Observer, November 23, 1930).