Opening Hours
Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
Manuscripts
Frederick Billings letter to John Townsend
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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
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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Manuscripts
Letter written from Charles F. Holder in Pasadena to John Vance Chaney, the head of the San Francisco Public Library. Holder writes that he has been delayed in getting back to San Francisco because of the "Tournament of Roses" given by his Hunt Club. He also asks Chaney if he has heard anything about "the Overland" (probably The Overland Monthly magazine), which he had been trying to acquire, and praises a newspaper man named Field of the San Francisco Chronicle.
mssHM 75639
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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
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Manuscripts
Here are three letters to Dr. John Townsend from Emile Grisar of San Francisco, CA. The letters are all dated 1850; HM 35196 is dated September 26, HM 35197 is dated October 22, and HM 35198 is dated November 2. Grisar writes of the arrival of a ship that he appears to be interested in purchasing in conjunction with Townsend, but it needs repair. He also writes of the repairs being done on his San Francisco house, which he may have to draw drafts against. In HM 35196, he informs Townsend of the grading of San Francisco streets by the City Authority, and suggests he be given power of attorney in order to best take care of Townsend's business in San Francisco. In the final letter, Grisar relates that he may have to pay for a portion of the grading charges, and plans to formally protest along with several local colleagues.
mssHM 35196-35198
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Manuscripts
These three manuscripts deal with affairs of real estate between Cornelius De Boom and John Townsend during the year 1850. HM 35192, dated February 26, is an agreement between the two concerning the construction of buildings upon lots of land located within San Francisco. HM 35193, written August 11, carries further details of the agreement. De Boom requests that the ship bearing his brother may anchor within Townsend's water lots, and more details of this arrangement follow. At the writing of the third letter (HM 35194, dated August 23), De Boom is preparing to depart. His brother has not yet arrived, but he hopes to meet with Townsend to finalize business matters before leaving.
mssHM 35192-35194
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Manuscripts
This collection consists of an autograph album containing handwritten notes, letters, poems, and drawings by approximately 200 friends and acquaintances of American author Charles Warren Stoddard, including leading American literary figures, journalists, poets, critics, politicians, and actors of the late 19th century. Among the many notable contributors are Samuel Clemens, Bret Harte, and Joaquin Miller. The earliest item in the book is an 1863 dedication by Thomas Starr King, and continues with contributions primarily from members of San Francisco literary society beginning in the mid-to-late 1860s through the late 1890s, as well as from friends in other locales where Stoddard lived or traveled including Louisville, Kentucky; Washington, D.C.; Massachusetts; New York; and Hawaii. A letter from L.C. Bayles (page 23) introduces lines of verse with the note "in accordance with your request," reflecting Stoddard's curation of the album as a compendium of verse and personal sentiments tailored towards friendships and literary musings. The volume includes two photographs of groups of men and women, captioned, "Riverdale, N.Y., July 4th 1890" (page 116). There are manuscript poems and lines of verse, often penned specifically for Stoddard, from literary friends including Isaac Hull Adams; Daniel Dulany Addison; Benjamin Parke Avery; William Barry; Fred Buel; James F. Bowman; George Burrows; Carrie Carlton; Bliss Carman; Pierre Cauwet; Robert W. Chambers; Sarah M. Clarke; Ada Clare; Katherine E. Conway; Ina D. Coolbrith; R.M. Daggett; Madeleine Vinton Dahlgren; Malcolm Douglas; Theodore F. Dwight; Eugene Field; Hamlin Garland; Grace Greenwood; Bret Harte; Jerome Hart; John Hay; Charles Hinton; Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.; William Dean Howells; Daniel E. Hudson; Thomas A. Janvier; Tremenheere Johns; Ralph Keeler; George Kennan; Orpheus C. Kerr; Alice Kingsbury (Cooley); Rudyard Kipling; Emilie Lawson; James Linen; Fitz Hugh Ludlow; Adah Isaacs Menken; John Malone; Joaquin Miller; Morton Mitchell and Laddie Mitchell; James Whitcomb Riley; James Jeffrey Roche; Edgar Saltus; Richard Henry Savage; Emma D.E.N. Southworth; Frank Soulé; Bella Z. Spencer; Horatio Stebbins; Maria Longworth Storer (with sketches); J.D. Strong; M.D. Strong; H.A. Stuart; T.R. Sullivan; Bayard Taylor; Charles Wadsworth; Charles Henry Webb; May Wentworth; George Edward Woodberry; and R.C. Wyllie. Prose and letters from L.C. Bayles; Frederick Billings; Ezra S. Carr and his wife, Jeanne C. Smith Carr; Samuel Clemens; Laura Cuppy; G.B. Densmore; Annie Fields; Archibald C. Gunter; Francis King Harte; Louise E. Holden; Jules Luquiens; C.T.H. Palmer; Theodore Roosevelt; Anna Josephin Savage; Rodney L. Tabor; Charles A. Wetmore; Virgil M. Williams; and Thérèse Yelverton. Drawings include ones by Reginald B. Birch; John S. Bugbee; Arthur Lemon; G. Thomas; and Theodore Wores. There are also brief notes and/or signatures of individuals including Charles Francis Adams; Henry Adams; Frances Hodgson Burnett; Ada, Dyas; Louise Imogen Guiney; Iza Duffus Hardy; Clarence King; Francis D. Millet; Thomas Nelson Page; Theodore Roosevelt; Charles Dudley Warner; and Lydia Woodworth. The contents are handwritten on blank pages in an "Album" published by Leavitt & Allen, consisting of 241 pages including an engraved title page and frontispiece and [8] other engraved plates with illustrations by Creswick, W.H. Bartlett, W. Tombleson; J. Smillie and T. Addison Richards; engravings by J. Sartain; J. Bannister; Rawdon, Wright, Hatch & Smillie; J. White; and C.T. Giles. Edges gilt.
mssHM 35075