Manuscripts
Stephen J. (Stephen Johnson) Field receipts to Charles Covilland
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Joseph Verot letter to Charles Covilland
Manuscripts
Verot requests Covilland to send payment for interest for the month of May, as Verot needs it for his son's expenses. In French. With printed bill of exchange to order, filled in to Joseph Vero by hand, in the total of two thousand four hundred twenty francs. Includes unattributed translation into English.
mssHM 43210
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Bill for supplies from the estate of Charles Covilland
Manuscripts
This manuscript is a listing of the assets of Charles Covilland, signed by L. H. Babb of Babb & Hewley.
mssHM 43201
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Stephen J. Field letter to George Wallace
Manuscripts
Field discusses stock prices of California and Virginia mining companies, and asks Wallace for advice. He also discusses local politics.
mssHM 18960
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Pedro Fages letters to José Joaquín de Arrillaga
Manuscripts
These two letters are from Pedro Fages to de Arrillaga, who served as governor of California after Fages. HM 16580 is dated 1783, November 14, and is a request for payment. HM 16581 is dated 1785, July 1, and concerns punishment for troops that mistreat native women. In Spanish.
mssHM 16580-16581
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Stephen Woodlin letters to family
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).
mssHM 19369-19382
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J.D. Duncan letters to A.H. Campbell
Manuscripts
In these two letters to his brother, J.D. Duncan writes that he has arrived in the town of Stockton, California from Wisconsin and plans to head north to the gold mines. A year later, he writes that he has found work with "a large Ditch Company." He writes of the current state of crops, of the scarcity of gold, and the danger posed by Indians. Nevertheless, J.D. believes there is still "plenty of gold to be had." HM 25788 is dated 1857, February 4, and HM 25789 is dated 1858, September 13, and both were written in Stockton, California.
mssHM 25788-25789