Opening Hours
Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
Rare Books
Report of James W. Provard, Esq., E.M. on the Carmen mines, upon the Sestine estate, Durango, Mexico
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Rare Books
Image not available
Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
Image not available
Rare Books
266816
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Manuscripts
The collection, which contains 10,844 items, consists of correspondence, letter books, manuscripts, speeches, diaries, account books, published articles, legal papers, financial statements and business records. The 10,528 pieces of correspondence are chiefly addressed to James De Barth Shorb, James M. Tiernan and Maria de Jesus Wilson Shorb. The 17 letter books are related to the business and financial affairs of Shorb and Benjamin Davis Wilson. The 75 manuscripts consist of items chiefly written by Shorb and Wilson family members. The 224 items in the Business Papers include material related to Shorb's many companies including the San Gabriel Wine Company. The following subjects are covered in the Shorb collection: the Shorb, Wilson, and Patton families, David Jacks, Mariano Vallejo, Santa Catalina Island, the Mount Wilson Observatory, California government and politics, African Americans and the Chinese in California, agriculture, the citrus fruit industry, Indians of California, irrigation, lend tenure, mining, railroads, ranching, water rights, and the wine industry. The collection also documents the history and development of the following California cities: Alhambra, Elsinore, Los Angeles, Pasadena, Ramona, San Gabriel, San Marino, and Wilmington.
mssShorb papers
![Autobiography of James W. LeSueur [microform]: 1929](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Frail.huntington.org%2FIIIF3%2FImage%2F22APN45SIGKZ%2Ffull%2F%5E360%2C%2F0%2Fdefault.jpg&w=750&q=75)
Manuscripts
Microfilm of James W. LeSueur's autobiography, completed in 1929. LeSueur includes anecdotes about his childhood, including witnessing the shooting death of Nathan Tenney (which he mistakenly dates to 1884 instead of 1882) and a trip to Fort Bridger, Wyoming, with his father. He includes some genealogy before recounting his mission to Leeds from 1898-1900 and his visit to the family's ancestral home on the Isle of Guernsey. Much of the volume relates to his business activities, including his work at the St. Johns Co-op and his work in stonecutting and land dealing in Mesa, with detailed accounts of his business accounts and savings. He also writes of his work on the Salt Lake Temple and of a situation in which he was accused of "dealing unfairly" with a widow in a land case, although he was ultimately cleared of any wrongdoing. Portions of the autobiography are partially illegible.
MSS MFilm 00083