Margarett Solomon letter to Margarett S. Baker

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  H. C. D. Baker letter to his family

  Manuscripts

  In this letter addressed to "Dear brother and sister," H.C.D. Baker writes of his current situation in Sacramento. With lithograph on final page depicting the plights of fictitious miner "John Smith."

  mssHM 16548

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  Solomon Gorgas letters to his family

  Manuscripts

  This is a series of letters written by Solomon Gorgas to his family during his overland travels from Missouri to California during 1850-1851. Nine of the letters are addressed to his wife, Mary Frances Gorgas. HM 2183 is dated 1850, May 1, and was written outside of St. Joseph, Missouri; it is the birthday of Elen, one of the Gorgas children. He is doing well, and assures Frances there is nothing to be worried about. By his next letter (HM 2184; 1850, May 12), Gorgas has reached Fort Keaney in Wyoming after a laborious journey through lonely and beautiful country. He is in good health, and all in his party are getting along. Their next stop is Fort Laramie, 400 miles away. HM 2185 (1850, May 27) sees Gorgas at Fort Laramie in Wyoming, about one third of the way to California. He and his party have seen Indians and their wigwams on several occasions, but have had no trouble with them. Gorgas' next letter (HM 2186, dated 1850, July 31) comes from Sacramento, California, where he has arrived safely and in good health. He describes the city with all its splendor and poverty; provisions are abundant but expensive. The longest letter of this series is HM 2187, written 1850, September 9 from Placerville. In it, Gorgas describes his ventures into the wild country seeking gold. He reports that three-fourths of the miners he has met "hardly made their boarding" while the other fourth make between five and twenty dollars per day, with just a few finding their fortune. In HM 2188, dated 1850, September 11, Gorgas addresses his four children, Elen, Albert, Emma, and Laura, urging them to attend school and listen to their mamma. He sends each a small piece of California gold, and hopes they will write to him. In the final letter (HM 2194, dated 1851, January 27), Gorgas writes that he has had enough of mining, and will be leaving aboard a ship traveling to New York via the Panama Canal.

  mssHM 2183-2194

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  S. S. Haws letter to his family

  Manuscripts

  In this letter addressed "Dear Wife & Children," S.S. Haws describes his five-month journey. He stops at the Bay of All Saints on his way around Cape Horn, breaking up a potentially deadly quarrel between the ship captain and mate along the way. He arrives in California on September 15, 1852, and makes his way to Sacramento, where he began mining, and then on to San Francisco. Of the current condition of mining, he writes, "It is true much gold has been and is still being dug but when you take into consideration the numbers engaged and the vast amount of toil privation and suffering performed and endured to obtain it dwindles down into mere nothingness." He writes of the fire that very nearly consumed Sacramento in its entirety, and the ensuing effect on prices of goods. He also gives news of mutual acquaintences who have also made the journey from New York to California, and reports he has "become quite a practitioner in various diseases," owing in no small part to the continuing growth of the California cities.

  mssHM 17476

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  Frederick Billings letters to Solomon Foot

  Manuscripts

  Billings writes that he would consider the vacant law commissioner office of the Southern District of California (HM 20713, written 1851, December 15 in San Francisco), and asks Foot to impress that he would be for Vermont, though he believes he has lived in California long enough to be called a Californian. He writes further of the open office (HM 20714, 1851, December 31, from San Francisco), saying that he would be gratified by the appointment, but does not want "to exhibit too much anxiety for any political office." In HM 20715, written 1862, March 10 in New York, Billings is leaving for California with his wife, and asks Foot to communicate with several mutual friends, including Hiram Barney and Samuel Ford.

  mssHM 20713-20715

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  Thomas F. Seward letter to Lucy F. Seward

  Manuscripts

  In this letter to his wife, Thomas F. Seward writes that wages have fallen in California, calling twenty-five to fifty dollars a month "extraordinary." His job, however, is safe, as he is good at it. He writes of a recent event where a man killed another for not allowing him to marry his daughter. The murderer has been hanged. A second murder soon followed. Seward also writes of a fire in the city, and reports of similar recent blazes in Marysville and Sacramento. A ship from China brought cholera with it, and many in the city have gotten sick. He has received the daguerrotype sent from home, and writes, "I have got the Home Fever to night - the worse kind." Small booklet, bound in red paper.

  mssHM 20721

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  D. Townsend letter to Elizabeth Owens

  Manuscripts

  In this letter addressed to "Sister Elizabeth", D. Townsend writes of his life in Sonora. There have been so many shootings as of late that the townspeople have taken the law into their own hands and lynched several of those responsible, often without trials. Townsend has recently done very well as part of a gold mining company. He writes that many miners go home to fetch their families and relocate to California permanently. Signed "your well wishing Brother." Includes lithograph titled "A View of the Elephant," depicting the various experiences of a typical California miner.

  mssHM 16902