Rare Books
Lives of the artists
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The real world of Manuel Córdova
Rare Books
Based upon actual events in the life of Manuel Córdova-Rios (1887-1978) as told to F. Bruce Lamb and subsequently published under the title, Wizard of the Upper Amazon.
647488
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Lauren Winfield Aldrich papers
Manuscripts
The group includes a handwritten draft and a typed transcript of Aldrich's manuscript entitled "Brief reminiscences of the soldiers life on the plains and in the mountains during the early days of 1867-8-9 to 70." This memoir discusses Aldrich's experiences serving as an army scout in Nebraska and Wyoming at forts along the route of the Union Pacific Railroad construction. Aldrich was assigned to Fort Laramie, Fort Russell, Fort Fetterman, and Fort Kearny. He describes his regiment's skirmishes with the Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Sioux Indians, as well as their dealings with the Pawnee scouts. Aldrich also talks about a treaty with Chief Red Cloud, his relationship with Major Frank J. North and Captain Luther H. North, and an expedition into the Yellowstone River Valley. Also included are several pieces of correspondence, certificates, and discharge papers related to Aldrich's military career and his duties for the National Indian War Veterans
mssHM 65812-65821
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Benjamin Davis Wilson family photograph collection
Visual Materials
A collection of photographs of Benjamin Davis "Don Benito" Wilson (1811-1878) and family members, and a few photographs of his Lake Vineyard residence in the San Gabriel Valley, California. The majority of photographs are studio portraits of individuals and family groups, approximately 1860s-1917, many of which are cabinet cards and cartes-de-visite. The primary subjects are Wilson, his second wife, Margaret S. Hereford (d.1898), and Wilson's children from his two marriages: Maria de Jesus "Sue" Wilson (Shorb), John B. Wilson (1846-1870), Ruth Wilson, and Ann ("Nan" or "Annie") Wilson. Others pictured in the collection are: Medora ("Dora") Hereford; Edward Sublette Hereford; Thomas Hereford; Mary Stone, Victor Yorba, Don Bernardo Yorba (photograph of a drawing), and a young man named [A. S.?] Johnston Jr. (photograph of a drawing). Of particular note in the collection is a post-mortem photograph of Maria de Jesus "Sue" Wilson Shorb, 1917. There are a few portraits of unidentified women, including an [African American?] woman in a photograph by George W. Sittler (Springfield, Missouri). Members of the Wilson and Shorb famillies are seen on the porch of the Lake Vineyard house, approximately 1875, and there are two views of furnished rooms in the house. Photographers represented are the Elite Gallery (Payne, Stanton & Co.), Frank G. Schumacher, James D. Westervelt and Valentin Wolfenstein (Los Angeles); and Bradley & Rulofson, G. D. Morse, and Louis Thors (San Francisco).
photCL 283
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Patton Family Papers
Manuscripts
The collection consists of personal and business correspondence, political papers, account books, legal documents, and land papers related to the Patton family, and is particularly focused on the activities of George Smith Patton (1856-1927). Note: this collection originally formed an addendum to the Benjamin Davis Wilson Collection known as Wilson Addenda II. Topics covered include railroads, Patton's senate campaign, irrigation, land sales, and the development of the San Marino area. Some notable items include a letter from George Smith Patton (1833-1864) to his father John Mercer Patton (1797-1858) announcing the birth of George Smith Patton (1856-1927); typescripts of letters from Susan Glassell Patton and her children to Sally Taylor Patton and Margaret Williams Patton describing their early life in the California; letters from Ruth Wilson to Patton (1856-1927) written shortly before their wedding in 1884; letters from a family friend named Rose Gray regarding the birth of George Smith Patton (1885-1945); letters from Patton (1856-1927) to Annie Wilson regarding their potential financial difficulties and the childhoods of Patton (1885-1945) and Anne Wilson Patton; multiple verbose letters from Patton (1856-1927) regarding topics such as World War I (letter to Kerchoff, June 1, 1915) and the political campaign in California (1916); correspondence and legal records related to, among other things, the Pacific Electric Railroad and Collis Huntington's plans to construct a harbor at Santa Monica (1894); and a telegram from Patton (1885-1945) to his father advising him to prevent General John Pershing's brother James from giving a speech in London "compromising the general politically" (Dec.10, 1917). Notable businesses represented in the collection include the Wilmington Transportation Company, Porter Brothers Co., San Gabriel Wine Company, Alhambra Addition Water Company, the Lindsay Water Development Company, Garvey Water Company, Huntington Land and Improvement Company, Banning Company, Pasadena Electric Light and Water Company, and the Santa Catalina Island Company. Notable individuals represented in the collection include Ruth Wilson, Annie Wilson, Anne Wilson Patton, James DeBarth Shorb, George Hugh Smith, Collis P. Huntington, Henry E. Huntington, Arthur J. Hutchinson, William Banning, William Reeves Banning, James P. Donahue, Maria de Jesus Wilson Shorb, William Howard Taft, Frank Putnam Flint, Ellen Banning Ayer, Robert W. Patton, Arvin Harrington Brown, and Benjamin Davis Wilson.
mssPF 1-350
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Harvey W. Brown journal
Manuscripts
Diary kept by Harvey W. Brown while he traveled from Boston to San Francisco, and back again, in 1868. Brown left Boston on March 9, 1868, traveled to New York, and departed on board the Henry Chauncey on March 11. During the voyage Brown described his seasickness and the death and sea burial of a man from steerage, as well as making regular notes on weather conditions and distances traveled. On March 19 Brown arrived in Aspinwall (now Colón, Panama), traveled across the Isthmus by rail, and boarded the steamer Sacramento. On March 25 he described seeing "a volcano...on the mountain...it look[ed] like a grate of live coals." Writing on his 22nd birthday, April 1, 1868, Brown grew introspective, noting, "Little did I think last year at this time I should be here or that Aunty would be sleeping in the silent grave...How the things will change in a year." But his merriment returned when he got a piece of paper pinned to his jacket as an April Fool's joke. After a stop in Acapulco, the Sacramento arrived in San Francisco on April 2. Brown worked sporadically while in California as a painter (he worked briefly on the Mercantile Library) and applied for a job in cabinet making, but on April 17 he instead "hired a store" with his friend Ned at the cost of $25 a month. They attempted to sell corn, and while Ned did reasonably well Brown failed to sell anything. On May 6 Brown and Ned moved to new rooms when Brown got an unspecified job, but he "could not stand it...It made my arm so lame I could not work" (although he was well enough to go to the theatre that night). Brown seems to have been much more interested in amusement than work, and found the time to frequent the theatre, pay $20 in gold to join the Olympic Club, take multiple day trips, play nine pins and shooting, attend an Independent Order of Odd Fellows picnic, and carouse with his friends at places like the Bella Union, where he describes one of them as being "pretty drunk." By May 21 Brown had grown tired of San Francisco and bought tickets home for himself and a friend named Frank. They departed on the Sacramento on May 22, and had an uneventful voyage back across Panama and home, although Brown did not like their ship, the Rising Star. By June 16 they were back in Boston. Brown apparently worked as a carpenter, although the last entry in the diary, made August 31, 1868, notes that he "bought out A.Polson fish market [ in Fields Corners, Dorchester]." The front pages of the diary contain various sketches, including one of a ship. The back of the diary contains some accounting notes.
mssHM 78060