Mica is one of the most useful and versatile minerals. It has beenused since 40,000 B.C.E., and is still used today in everything fromcosmetics to advanced electronics. Two families started the micaindustry in the U.S. in the early 1800s and this is their story. It began with Sam Ruggles, a Boston merchant and grocer who purchasedproperty in New Hampshire and had local folks quarry the mica. Manymyths about Sam Ruggles abound, but historically accurate accounts ofhis family history and mica business are virtually nonexistent. Sam'sbusiness included several members of his immediate family, his nephewand grand-nephew, grandsons and great-grandson. Clearly, there is a needfor a thoroughly documented history of Sam Ruggles. For over 60 years in the 1800s, the Ruggles' only competition was JamesBowers, a self-sufficient farmer in New Hampshire, and his family. Jamesloved collecting rocks and minerals and was a mineral dealer. This ledhim into the mica business that continued across three generations ofhis family with mines in two states. Before about 1870, the entire micaindustry consisted of only the Ruggles and Bowers. The family histories and mining histories for both Ruggles and Bowersare discussed in four separate chapters. The mining history chaptersdescribe mines opened and/or operated by these two families in NewHampshire and North Carolina from 1805 to the early 1900s. The Rugglesworked mines only in New Hampshire, while the Bowers began in NewHampshire in the early 1830s and expanded into Western North Carolina in1873. There is also a chapter describing early mica mining in Western NorthCarolina beginning with Native Americans around 200 B.C.E., their tradewith other tribes in the Mississippi Valley, and their sales of kaolin(for making china) with England in the 1700s. It also discusses some ofthe first commercial mica mines in Western North Carolina. There are descriptions of what mica (once known as isinglass) is and howit's used for anyone not familiar with the mineral. To make this auseful reference, there are separate indexes for persons and subjects. This book portrays the lives, adventures, business challenges andoccasionally intense loss and sorrow of these pioneers across the 19thcentury. The book is filled with maps, photographs and illustrations,many of which have never before been published, and a historical accountthat is thoroughly documented. A lot of forgotten history has beenrediscovered!