Eugene yang family secret11/5/2022 ![]() ![]() Hank was a “strong Republican,” and ran for state Assembly in the fall of 1880, beating Democrat Samuel Longabaugh in the election. The family lived in a house near the mill, and Jennie would follow Hank to work, later recalling spending “many hours of my early life watching the mill process.” He was a stable breadwinner, and raised young Jennie as his own. Hank May was a skilled millwright and was the foreman of the Mexican Mill. Nine men worked at the Mill, including foreman Hank May. The steam-powered Mexican Mill was built in 1861 and could process 75 tons of ore a day. Eldorado had young Jennie to think about. Eldorado’s first husband, Michael Dunigan, had died in 1877 after a fluming accident at Lake Tahoe, and women had few work options outside the home. And for a widow with a young daughter it was a practical match. Their age difference would raise eyebrows today, but May/December romances weren’t all that uncommon back then. ![]() (Courtesy of Alpine County Historical Society) Pretty Eldorado, possibly about the time of her marriage to first husband, Michael Dunigan. Eldorado, on the other hand, was only about 24 - roughly half Hank’s age. May was 47 years old at the time of their marriage and solidly middle-aged. Around 1878 he married a young widow named Eldorado, who had a one-year-old daughter named Jennie (Eugenia). Known to his friends as “Hank,” May moved to Nevada about 1863 and was living at Empire at the time of the 1870 Census. Little did we know when first saw his headstone - but May had a secret life! You might say he’s still a resident: his quiet grave is tucked in at the little Empire Cemetery, overlooking the valley. May was a long-time resident of of Empire, the early mining town east of Carson City. ![]()
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