Manuscripts

James Harry Benedict letterbook

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Type: Manuscripts(Opens in new tab)
Production date: 1883-1885.
Call number: mssHM 47939
Creator: Benedict, James Harry(Opens in new tab)
Provenance: Purchased from Argonaut Book Shop, September 1959.
Restrictions: Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more information.
Rights: The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining permission rests with the researcher.

Benedict, James Harry to James De Barth Shorb

Manuscripts

The collection, which contains 10,844 items, consists of correspondence, letter books, manuscripts, speeches, diaries, account books, published articles, legal papers, financial statements and business records. The 10,528 pieces of correspondence are chiefly addressed to James De Barth Shorb, James M. Tiernan and Maria de Jesus Wilson Shorb. The 17 letter books are related to the business and financial affairs of Shorb and Benjamin Davis Wilson. The 75 manuscripts consist of items chiefly written by Shorb and Wilson family members. The 224 items in the Business Papers include material related to Shorb's many companies including the San Gabriel Wine Company. The following subjects are covered in the Shorb collection: the Shorb, Wilson, and Patton families, David Jacks, Mariano Vallejo, Santa Catalina Island, the Mount Wilson Observatory, California government and politics, African Americans and the Chinese in California, agriculture, the citrus fruit industry, Indians of California, irrigation, lend tenure, mining, railroads, ranching, water rights, and the wine industry. The collection also documents the history and development of the following California cities: Alhambra, Elsinore, Los Angeles, Pasadena, Ramona, San Gabriel, San Marino, and Wilmington.

mssShorb papers

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James Doty letterbooks

Manuscripts

HM 312 is an autograph manuscript containing details about the Northwestern Expedition under General Cass in 1820. There is also a report from Doty to Michigan territorial governor Lewis Cass, written on November 5, 1820. The report was published as "Northern Wisconsin in 1820" in the Wisconsin State Historical Society Collections, 7 (1873-76). Extracts of the report, with an introduction contained herein, were published as "Notes on the North-Western Part of the Territory of Michigan, 1820-1822" in an 1822 issue of the Detroit Gazette. Also contains a narrative headed "On the Manners and Customs of the Northern Indians" and a letter to the editor of the Gazette. HM 313 is the Commonplace Book of James Duane Doty. This autograph manuscript contains Indian words, summaries of Indian speeches, topographical details of Wisconsin, lyrics and anecdotes. HM 314 is a letterbook contained in two volumes. HM 315 is an autograph manuscript unofficially titled, "Words and Sentences Used in a Canoe Voyage and Journey by Land." This volume contains vocabulary and grammar of the Sauk, Fox, Winnebago, and other Northern tribes and extracts from various writings on European rights to Indian land. HM 316 contains notes on the history of Wisonsin. There are mostly extracts from Alexander Henry, Travels and Adventures in Canada and the Indian Territories...1760-1776 (New York: I. Riley, 1809). Also extracts from the Pierre F.X. de Charlevoix, Journal of a Voyage to North-America (London, 1761). Collection has a folder with a map of the Southwester borders of Lake Superior, 1820 November 5.

mssHM 312-316

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Kohlsaat, C. W. to James Harry Benedict

Manuscripts

mssShorb papers

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Samuel Benedict Reed letters

Manuscripts

This typescript of letters written by Samuel B. Reed to his wife covers six years of Reed's work for the Union Pacific Railroad Company. In the letters, he details his group's work surveying parts of Utah, Nevada, Colorado, Idaho, and Wyoming while searching for a practical route for the railroad, as well as the construction of the railroad tracks. He discusses the people involved including Frank Case, James A. Evans, Grenville Dodge, Oliver Ames, Thomas Clark Durant, and Sidney Dillon. Reed spent much time in Salt Lake City and became friends with Brigham Young and in his letters, he talks a lot about his many conversations with Young. Reed also discusses his group's interactions and experiences with the Ute and Shoshoni Indians. The typescript also includes copies of reports written by Reed.

mssHM 66497

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L. Benedict diary of a trip to California and the Pacific Northwest

Manuscripts

In the diary, Benedict describes his travels by train through the American West and Canada. He begins in Chicago, travels to San Diego, then heads north along the Pacific Coast to Victoria and Vancouver in British Columbia, and finally travels through Canada back to Ontario. Benedict talks about the different regions he passes through and the various scenic attractions, and the populations found in western cities, including Chinese districts and Mormons in Salt Lake City. He also makes comments on the large numbers of gold seekers in San Francisco, Portland, and Tacoma, waiting to depart for the Klondike gold rush. Loose in the diary are three items including notes, Benedict's business card, and a promotional booklet for Riverside, California entitled "The Greatest Orange Growing City in the World."

mssHM 84028

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Frank Lee Benedict letter to "Messrs. Editors"

Manuscripts

Letter gives the date and place of his birth.

mssHM 13393

James Harry Benedict letterbook

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Benedict, James Harry to James De Barth Shorb

James Doty letterbooks

Kohlsaat, C. W. to James Harry Benedict

Samuel Benedict Reed letters

L. Benedict diary of a trip to California and the Pacific Northwest

Frank Lee Benedict letter to "Messrs. Editors"