Opening Hours
Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
Manuscripts
Henry Zane Jenkins correspondence
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Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
Image not available
Manuscripts
In this diary, Hurlbut describes his journey from Vermont to California via steamboat. He landed at Sacramento in April, 1852, and set to work making a land claim and searching for gold. The bulk of the volume contains notations concerning financial accounts and related details. Volume has pre-printed pages, dated January 1 through December 31, 1852.
mssHM 2273
![Diaries of William Farrer [microform] : 1849-1854](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Frail.huntington.org%2FIIIF3%2FImage%2F22APN45INF41%2Ffull%2F%5E360%2C%2F0%2Fdefault.jpg&w=750&q=75)
Manuscripts
Microfilm of six diaries kept by William Farrer from 1849-1854. The first volume, dated 1849, recalls Farrer's travels from Utah to California with Charles Coulson Rich. The 1850-1851 diary begins when Farrer was preparing to depart California for Hawaii, and recounts his sea voyage and missionary work through 1851. The remaining four diaries were kept while Farrer was serving on his Hawaiian mission, and are dated 1851-1852, 1852-1853, 1853, and 1854. Also included on the reel is "A Short Account of My Mission to the Sandwich Islands," sent by Farrer to "Pres. Clawson and Tibbetts" in 1855, and a brief excerpt on Farrer from the Deseret News, dated 1897 and written by Ramona Farrer Cottam.
MSS MFilm 00250
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Manuscripts
Collection consists of material relating to William Henry Pratt's activities in California. Items include a certificate for Pratt's appointment as Surveyor General of California signed by Benjamin Harrison, 1890 March 4 (HM 73028); a certificate for his appointment as Collector of Customs for Humboldt County signed by Chester A. Arthur, 1883 December 26 (HM 73026); a typescript letter signed congratulating Pratt from then-Governor of Ohio William McKinley, 1893 November 13 (HM 73029); a letter addressed to "Lyman" in which Pratt writes of the ships Corona and Pomona, and a postcard of a ship at Fort Ross sent to Pratt by "Walter." Also included is a certificate appointing Jared Turner Deputy Postmaster of Georgetown, California, signed by President James Buchanan, dated 1857 August 14 (HM 73027).
mssHM 73026-73031
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Manuscripts
Collection consists of material relating to William Henry Pratt's activities in California. Items include a certificate for Pratt's appointment as Surveyor General of California signed by Benjamin Harrison, 1890 March 4 (HM 73028); a certificate for his appointment as Collector of Customs for Humboldt County signed by Chester A. Arthur, 1883 December 26 (HM 73026); a typescript letter signed congratulating Pratt from then-Governor of Ohio William McKinley, 1893 November 13 (HM 73029); a letter addressed to "Lyman" in which Pratt writes of the ships Corona and Pomona, and a postcard of a ship at Fort Ross sent to Pratt by "Walter." Also included is a certificate appointing Jared Turner Deputy Postmaster of Georgetown, California, signed by President James Buchanan, dated 1857 August 14 (HM 73027).
mssHM 73026-73031
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Manuscripts
Set of 14 letters sent by Stephen Woodin to his family in Genoa, New York, from 1849-1853, while he was traveling to or living in California. The majority of the letters were written to his wife and children, and one to his brother George Woodin (HM 19382). In the first letter, Woodin describes his lodgings in Panama City, including the food available with prices and his observation of religious ceremonies. After arriving in California, Woodin mined for gold near the North Fork of the American river, and in the next four letters (HM 19370-19372, and HM 19382) he describes his travels from Sacramento to the gold fields, working at gold mining (he wrote to his brother that he averaging making $5 a day), his provisions and the costs of goods, and his surroundings and impressions of California. The remaining 9 letters (HM 19373-19381) were written from 1852-1853, beginning when Woodin was on his return journey to California. He writes of traveling from Aspinwall (Colon) to Panama City, where an American flag was displayed for the Fourth of July. He also notes that he encountered "Mr. Booth, a theatrical performer [and his] two sons," probably referring to Junius Brutus Booth and his sons Edwin Booth and Junius Brutus Booth, Jr. (HM 19374). From San Francisco he writes of keeping his hotel, which he liked "very well, all but the selling rum" (HM 19476), of his expenditures, of various steamers that arrived in the city, of duels and executions, including that of "three gamblers...what a pity it...won't be three hundred, for they are the greatest pests there is in this country" (HM 19378), of a Dr. E. White, who was lecturing on spiritual rapping and "making a perfect fool of himself in this business while his wife supports the family by working" (HM 19375), of widespread flooding in January 1853 (HM 19378), and of his favorable impressions of the Chinese in the city, noting that "the Chinese all go by the name of John here, they are a harmless, industrious set of people possessing a great deal of ingenuity and many of them are good businessmen and far more advanced in some of the arts and sciences than our own Americans" (HM 19380). He also writes of his wishes that his family could join him in California, and in April 1853 worries that his partner had left the business and Woodin did not know how to get out of it himself (HM 19379). The final letter was written in June 1853, when Woodin was recovering from a bout of typhoid fever (HM 19381).
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Manuscripts
Typescript of Henry Standage's diary, kept while he was serving in the Mormon Battalion from 1846-1847. The diary opens with his departure from Council Bluffs, Iowa, with the Mormon Battalion in July 1846. It traces their travels across the plains, including stopping at Fort Leavenworth, arriving in Santa Fe (where he recalls General Kearney's bloodless encounter with Mexican troops, and concludes "the Lord is...opening the way before us"), trading with Alpacha Indians, the taking of "Spanish prisoners," and the difficulties of marching and moving supplies. Once the Battalion had arrived in California, Standage records stopping in San Diego only to be ordered to march to San Luis Rey ("It does seem as though we should never have rest in the service of the United States," Standage complained), drilling in San Luis Rey before preparing to march to Los Angeles, derogatory remarks about the "Spaniards" in Los Angeles, a description of the city, and his interest in Roman Catholic ceremonies. The diary ends on July 19, 1847, while Standage was still in Los Angeles.
mssHM 16998
mssHM 19369-19382