Comstock Inc (LODE)

[geodan]

Close but name not same: George Wingfield (August 16, 1876 - December 24, 1959) was a Nevada banker and miner. He was considered to be one of the state's most powerful economic and political figures during the period from 1909 to 1932. Wingfield rose from faro-dealer to the position of richest man in Nevada in less than five years.[1]
Biography[edit]

Wingfield was born at Fort Smith, Arkansas in 1876. His family removed to Oregon when he was five years old, and he became a buckaroo on a ranch in Burns.[2] At age 20, he became a cattle drover in Nevada. He arrived in Tonopah in 1902 and dealt cards at the Tonopah Club.[3] He moved to Winnemucca, where he became friends with United States Senator George S. Nixon.[4] By the age of 30, he made a fortune in Nevada, having mined in Tonopah and Goldfield. With Nixon as his partner, Wingfield was worth $30 million after taking their Goldfield Consolidated Mining Company public in 1906, which had been organized with $50 million in capital. In 1906, his wife, May, filed for divorce; the case ended in an annulment.[5]

In 1908, he moved to Reno and became active in politics, banking, ranching, and hotel-keeping. He owned many of the banks in Nevada, as well as several hotels in Reno, including the Riverside Hotel, and an international mining company.[6] He also ran a ranch and dairy farm in Fallon.[7] In 1928, Wingfield was elected to the University Board of Regents for the University of Nevada,[5] but rejected an offer to become a US Senator.[8] Much of Wingfield's fortune was lost during the Great Depression.[9]