Manuscripts

George Lawson diary, letters, photographs

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Type: Manuscripts(Opens in new tab)
Production date: 1850-1851.
Call number: mssHM 50512-50517
Creator: Lawson, George (active 1851-1889)(Opens in new tab)
Provenance: Gift of Eleanor W. Ernst, June 1984.
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.

George Lawson letters

Manuscripts

The letters, most of which were written by George Lawson to his parents back home in Illinois, are about Lawson's experience mining for gold and living in the mining town of Ophir, California; there are several letters written from Sacramento, as Lawson spent some time in that city as well. His letters include details regarding gold discoveries, prices for supplies, the gold specimens he was sending home, and the machinery he was using for gold mining. There are two letters, probably written in 1864 and 1865, by L. L. Thaxter, that describe his experience with the Sanitary Commission, his visits to Civil War hospitals, and his encounters with wounded soldiers. Thaxter also discusses Ulysses S. Grant and the approaching end of the war. There are also two photographs included with the letters

mssHM 63927-63938

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George Forby diary

Manuscripts

The early part of the diary details Forby's daily activities in mid-19th century New York, during which he visits friends, goes to concerts, sings in the choir of his church, and maintains his shop. He also meets and courts Elizabeth Dowd, whom he eventually marries. There is a considerable gap in the diary. There is an entry for August 24, 1851, with Forby still in New York, and the next entry in the diary is dated February 23, 1852, and Forby is en route to California via steamship. There do not appear to be any missing pages. Forby writes in detail of his journey, especially about his fellow passengers. His voyage takes him to Cuba, Panama, and the coast of Mexico, finally landing in California on April 1, and finds work as a painter in San Francisco. Here there is another gap in time, with no entries between November 30, 1852, and August 2, 1879, at which time Forby has been married to Elizabeth Dowd for twenty-four years, and had children, but she has passed away. He writes that he left California twenty-six years ago for lack of work. The first entry of the diary is dated January 5, 1851, and the final entered date is November 8, 1879. Included is a small scrap of paper with the writing "6/28-1824, Albany, NY, date of birth" on one side and "25 yrs old in '51" on the other side.

mssHM 16992

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George Titcomb diary

Manuscripts

Diary of a soldier kept while serving in the 9th Regiment, Kansas Cavalry during the U.S. Civil War.

mssHM 938

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George A. Manning diary

Manuscripts

With typescript of diary.

mssHM 52727

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Adventures in food with Grace Lawson

Rare Books

479206

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George Stein diary

Manuscripts

George Stein kept this diary while on several fishing and camping trips in Washington State from 1934 to 1936. Besides diary entries about his fishing trips, Stein also includes lists of equipment needed for fishing, fly fishing, and camping, as well as details about fish flies and rods, and auto repairs he performs on his car. Also included is a "Camp Food Check List" by Stein.

mssHM 84020

George Lawson diary, letters, photographs

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George Lawson letters

George Forby diary

George Titcomb diary

George A. Manning diary

Adventures in food with Grace Lawson

George Stein diary