1857,
the mussels were fried with the usual abundance of grease and heat.
After this preparation, one of them was found to contain a large, round
pearl weighing "nearly 400 grains," which possibly might have proven
the finest of modern times, had not its luster and beauty been
destroyed by the heat and grease.1 Had the pearl been
discovered in time, its value might have exceeded $25,000, thus making
poor Howell's fried mussels one of the most expensive of suppers.
Hoping
to duplicate his wonderful find, Howell collected and searched other
mussels, and his example was followed by several of his neighbors.
Within a few days a magnificent pink pearl was found by a Paterson
carpenter named Jacob Quackenbush. This weighed ninety-three grains,
and was bought by the late Charles L. Tiffany for Messrs. Tiffany &
Co., New York City, for $1500. Mr. Tiffany later described with much
interest the feelings he experienced after making the purchase. Said he
: "Here this man finds a pearl within seventeen miles of our place of
business! What if thousands should be found, and many perhaps finer
than this one ! However, we risked buying the pearl, and as no one in
New York seemed interested in it, we sent it to our Paris house for
sale, and a French gem dealer offered for it a very large advance on
the original price, paying 12,500 francs." From this dealer it passed
into the possession of the young and beautiful Empress Eugénie, from
whom and from its great luster it derived the name "Queen Pearl." Its
present market value would doubtless amount to $10,000 or more.
When
news of the very large price received for Quackenbush's find became
public, great excitement developed in the vicinity of Notch Brook.
Persons came from all directions to search in the shallow streams for
valuable pearls. Farmers of the neighborhood tried their luck, and also
mechanics and other residents of the adjacent villages and towns, and
even some from Newark, Jersey City, and New York. An old resident, who
was an eye-witness, describes the scene as one of great animation, the
crowds of people and the horses and wagons along the shore giving "an
appearance of camp-meeting time." At least one schoolmaster in the
vicinity is said to have closed his school to give his pupils an
opportunity to engage in the hunt.
With
trousers rolled up, the people waded into the shallow water and sought
for the mussels in the mud and sand on the bottom. Many pearls were
secured, but none approached in size or value the two above noted.2 During 1857, the New York City market received about $15,000 worth of pearls from these waters, and in addition many were
1 "Frank Leslie's Magazine," New York, 1892, pp. 211-257. "The Fresh-Water Pearls May 23, 1857, Vol. Ill, pp. 384-386. of the United States," Washington, 1898, 50
2 "Gemsand Precious Stonesof North Amer- pages and plates, ica," by George F. Kunz, New York, 1889-
