John B. Goodman collection

The "California Gold Rush Fleet Encyclopedia of Vessels Sailing from the East Coast of the United States and Canada for San Francisco, December 7, 1848-December 31, 1849" comprises individual histories of 762 ships as well as various subject files, arranged in alphabetical order. Goodman records a broad spectrum of information derived from a variety of sources about the multitude of Gold Rush vessels. The bulk of the manuscripts are photocopies and some are heavily annotated in the author's hand. Some histories include hand-colored illustrations of maps and ships. They were written and edited between 1970 and 1991.

Note: This collection of factual data is also made available in tabular form for "instant recall" in The Key to the Goodman Encyclopedia of the California Gold Rush Fleet as published by the Zamarano Club in 1992.

Boxes 1-12 contain the individual ship histories in alphabetical order. The addenda box includes various illustrations, lists, and statistics regarding the California Gold Rush vessels. The contents are arranged alphabetically by subject.

Boxes 13-18 contain the original typescripts to "Goodman's Encyclopedia of the California Gold Rush Fleet." The contents are arranged alphabetically by ship name.

Boxes 19-23 and boxes 32-35 consist of manuscripts and related matter regarding the California Gold Rush. Box 19 contains another version of Goodman's Gold Rush encyclopedia with very few corrections. Folders 5 and 6 are Goodman's draft of factual data in tabular form entitled "The John B. Goodman III Cellular Computer for the 1849 Gold Rush Fleet." Also included is a manuscript of "For California: Direct in 1849-List of Mining Companies Formed in Various States & Sailed from Various Atlantic Seaports." The last two items are photocopies and miscellaneous notes from the San Jose Pioneer.

Boxes 20-21 consist of manuscripts and notes removed from three binders. The first binder housed miscellaneous materials accumulated by Goodman pertaining to the California Gold Rush vessels. Subjects found in this binder included a tally of Gold Rush vessels built, a list of ship and map illustrations, a list of arrival and departures, bibliography of works consulted, list of mining companies sailing for California, names of captains and their vessels, list of store ships, and other assorted lists. The second binder consisted of "Boats Arriving in San Francisco Bay," which are notes and excerpts extracted from the San Francisco Weekly, Tri-Weekly, and Daily Alta California. Also removed from this binder is an orange folder with a chronological list of vessels sailing from New York for California and Way Ports from December 7, 1848-December 31, 1849. The third binder consisted of "The 1849 'California Fleet' Excerpts from original Diaries and Journals consulted by John B. Goodman 3rd." The last two items in box 21 are two books: "Index to the Argonauts of California" by Charles Warren Haskins and "A Reminiscence of Parker H. French Expedition through Texas & Mexico to California in the Spring of 1850."

Boxes 22-23 consist of clippings, notes, journals, photographs, printed matter, and other materials related to the California Gold Rush. The excerpts and notes are from various publications, which include the Boston Daily Evening Transcript, New York Daily Herald, and New York Tribune. The photographs consist of images of the West from Goodman's personal collection and reproductions of San Francisco photographs from the San Francisco Public Library. The manuscripts and printed matter include personal stories, autobiographies, and journeys of individuals such as Meredith Tarlton Moore, a soldier in the Mexican War and a trader on the California Trail, and Jacob Marhoffer, a prominent citizen of Crescent City, California.

Boxes 32-33 contain copies of pages from the California Gold Rush Fleet Encyclopedia. Box 34 contains a copy of a separate manuscript compiled by John B. Goodman: The Ship Henry Lee. Box 35 contains research materials pertaining to the California Gold Rush Fleet Encyclopedia.

Boxes 24-27 include materials related to Goodman's unpublished manuscript "An Annotated Bibliography of California County Histories." Boxes 24-25 are photocopies of the typescript. Box 26 contains another version of Goodman's California county histories. These were once contained in a binder and appear to be an earlier version of the photocopies in boxes 24 and 25. Box 27 includes additional pages from Goodman's bibliography. The bulk of these pages are fragments and duplicates. Other contents in box 27 include correspondence, maps, notes, negatives and prints related to California counties.

Illustrations are found in boxes 28-29 and two oversize folders. Box 28 includes pen and ink and rough sketches for John W. Wood, an unknown manuscript, in Goodman's hand. The bulk of these illustrations depict life on the Overland Trails and in the mines. The first folder consists of miscellaneous notes and maps regarding these illustrations. The contents are arranged alphabetically by the caption or title of the illustration. Some of these illustrations include preliminary sketches and prints. Box 29 includes 33 folders of miscellaneous illustrations and ephemera. The bulk of these illustrations are in the hand of Goodman while others are prints. They were possibly done in relation to his work as an art director for Paramount and Universal Studios from 1932 to 1946. The first oversize folder contains thirty-three printed illustrations for the Thompson and West publication of "History of Santa Barbara County, California." The second oversize folder consists of four miscellaneous sketches and ephemera. Oversize folder 3 contains photocopies of a ship's newspaper called The Petrel.

Boxes 30-31 include Goodman's research-related correspondence and notebooks he used to keep track of various subjects.

Cataloger's Notes

Goodman's autograph notes and corrections appear throughout the collection.

Some of the ship histories include an empty envelope with notes; in some instances, the envelope does not bear any writing.

Goodman also commonly used the back and front of letters for his notes and manuscripts. This is seen throughout the collection.

There are duplicates and variations of Goodman's manuscripts and notes in parts of the collection. For instance, certain lists found in Box 12: Addenda could also be found in the manuscripts and notes removed from a binder in box 20.