The first awakening to a realization of the value of fresh-water pearls in America occurred fifty years ago, when several beautiful gems were marketed from the northern part of New Jersey. The story of this find has been frequently told. A shoemaker named David Howell, who lived on the outskirts of Paterson, occasionally relieved the monotony of his trade by a fishing excursion to some neighboring stream, where he would usually collect a “mess” of mussels. Returning from one of these visits to Notch Brook in the spring of 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.[319] 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.