Manuscripts
John Fox Damon papers
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John Fox Damon papers
Manuscripts
The collection consists of letters, documents, a journal, and ephemera related to the life and activities of John Fox Damon. Subject matter includes: San Francisco and California during the Gold Rush period (from 1849 to 1856); the gold rush period in British Columbia, Canada, including five letters from Victoria and a journal of a trip up the Fraser River to the Cariboo district in 1859; Oregon (from 1856 to 1866); Washington (from 1876 to 1883). Many letters in the collection describe the activities of the Scottish Rite Masons.
mssHM 4300-4362
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Mary Beatrice Fox papers
Manuscripts
The Mary Beatrice Fox papers consist of maps, land papers, diaries, correspondence, and documents related to the Fox family and the greater Pasadena, California area from 1789 to 1961. Of note in the collection are the diaries of Mary Beatrice Fox, from 1889 to 1909, and those of her mother, Sarah Mary Baker Fox, from 1889 to 1899. These diaries illustrate life in the Los Angeles and Pasadena areas during this period. The collection also contains two letters from Julia Morgan, which were written from Paris, 1896 and 1898, and one 1862 letter from C. Meinerth to Charles James Fox regarding photography.
mssFox
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John L. Morse papers, (bulk 1850-1853)
Manuscripts
The papers contain 18 letters Morse wrote home while he was in California mining for gold (the first few letters discuss his trip to California via Havana, Cuba, and Chagres, Panama). The majority of the letters are to his wife, Susan, but Morse also wrote letters to his son Allen Benton Morse, his daughter Cadelia, and his friend Rufus R. Cook. There is also one letter by his brother-in-law, D. W. Davis, who accompanied him to California. In the letters, which are photostats, Morse details his continuous search for gold and money, and the harsh conditions of living and working in California. He eventually settles in Gold Hill and does find gold. The majority of his letters are about how much he misses his family and his home as well as his plans for going back to Michigan; he also talks about San Francisco and Sacramento. Also included is a 1938 brochure entitled "Historical Detroit: A Guide to Points of Interest," and several newspaper clippings from 1950 entitled "100 Years Ago," that talk about the California Gold Rush.
mssHM 66774-66793
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Edward Brinley, Jr. Papers
Manuscripts
The collection contains 69 letters (primarily between members of the Brinley family and Edward Brinley, Jr.), 18 documents (largely relating the career of Edward Brinley, Jr.), a journal kept by Brinley on board the USS North Carolina, Oct. 1840-May. 1841, and the U.S.S. Delaware from Dec. 1843-Mar. 1844, and a portable wooden writing desk owned by Brinley. The early correspondence deals with Edward's childhood and education, his first naval appointment aboard the U.S.S. North Carolina including details about the various ports-of-call. His letters of the 1844-1845 period deal with his service on the U.S.S. Falmouth in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean during the prelude to the U.S.-Mexican War. Edward's letters of the 1846-1850 period deal with his service aboard the U.S.S. Preble during its cruise of the Pacific. Brinley's comments on the economic, ecological, and political phenomenon of the Pacific throughout these letters. The California gold rush, U.S. economic colonialism in present-day Hawaii, U.S. whaling in the Pacific, and the Chinese Opium trade are among the issues extensively discussed. His letters of 1856 were written during his service on the USS Potomac in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. They include discussions of the "filibusterer" William Walker's short-lived takeover of Nicaragua. The letters of Francis W. Brinley, Edward, Jr.'s most frequent correspondent, are dominated by family news and fatherly advice regarding the merits of hard work and respect for authority. Francis's letters do contain some interesting portraits of quotidian life as a businessman in Perth Amboy, NJ, however. The two letters of Thomas Brinley paint a dismal picture of his failed attempt at making a fortune in 1850s California. The remainder of the correspondence relates primarily to the everyday affairs of the Brinley family.
mssHM 74000-74090
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John Winthrop journal :
Manuscripts
Excerpts from the portion of the second volume of Winthrop's journal covering the period from August 1637 to January 1639.
mssHM 39724
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George Lundy Hunt papers
Manuscripts
The collection consists chiefly of letters to George Lundy Hunt from family and friends, with a few business letters, dating from 1864-1877. Subject matter includes life in Ontario, Canada, and in Victoria, British Columbia; history of the Cariboo Mining District of British Columbia; gold and copper mining in Calaveras County, California; and the Fenian Invasions of Canada from 1866-1870. Also included is Hunt's diary for the year 1867, when he was in the mining town of Campo Seco, California, and a few pieces of manuscript fragments, legal documents, and ephemera.
mssHuntg