Blackmar family papers

The majority of the collection is made up of correspondence written to Sarah "Sade" Isabella Blackmar from friends and family. The letters contain information about the family, their daily activities, social outings, health, trips taken, etc. The letters of Frank Wilson Blackmar, Ellen Blackmar Maxwell, and John Quincy Blackmar include information about their lives in Contra Costa County, and Santa Clara, California. In one letter, Frank Blackmar talks about Chinese laundrymen in Santa Clara, and in another letter a Chinese man he met who lived in the woods outside of Fresno. There are a few other letters by friends who also lived in California including a friend named "Harriet P." and a woman named Mara L. Ferguson. There are several folders of correspondence by authors that are unidentified. There is a farm diary by an unknown person, 1865 to 1867, and two unidentified cartes-de-visite of a young girl and young woman.