Diaries and correspondence of Everett Bodine Latham | Collections | The Huntington

Diaries and correspondence of Everett Bodine Latham | Collections | The Huntington

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Report of the geology and oil possibilities of the Kettleman Hills, Fresno and King Counties, California
Manuscripts
Report on oil in California's central valley, by the geologist R. D. Reed. Includes maps. The large map is titled "Geologic Map of the Kettleman Hills Fresno, Kings and Kern Counties, California accompanying the report of R.D. Reed. Scale 1/31680." It measures 147x74 cm. The report was apparently produced at the behest of the Maryland Oil Company, a major American oil company founded in 1917, and in 1920 was estimated to control 10% of the world's oil production. In 1929 it merged with Continental Oil by purchasing it, retaining the name Continental Oil.
mssHM 83419
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Elias S. Ketcham diary
Manuscripts
Elias S. Ketcham of Rondout (Kingston), New York, kept this diary while living and working in the gold fields of California in 1853-54. He prospects for gold in Murphy's Camp, CA, but is not particularly successful in the mines. Ketcham often discusses his desire to return home to NY, his experiences as a miner, and his religious beliefs. The diary provides a colorful description of life in the mining camps: he describes his impressions of Indians, Mexicans, and Chinese and also discusses violent incidents in the mining communities
mssHM 58269
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D. P. McHarg correspondence
Manuscripts
The majority of the letters are written by D. P. McHarg to his mother. McHarg's first letter was written while he was on his voyage to California aboard the ship Grecian. In his letters from California, he discusses the conditions in the gold camps, the gold miners with whom he does business, the financial crisis of 1855 and the failing of the Adams Express Company, as well as his opinions about slavery and the Civil War. There are five letters written by McHarg to his wife Fannie while he was in New York City in 1873; in these letters he discusses the stock market crash of 1873. There is one letter by New York Senator Elihu Root to McHarg's wife Fannie.
mssHM 66623-66656
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Journal of a voyage from New London to San Francisco, Upper California, keeped by Latham A. Brown
Manuscripts
Sea journal kept by Latham A. Brown aboard the schooner Odd Fellow during the ship's 1849 voyage to San Francisco. Some notable entries include an encounter with the the bark Flora, which reported "joyful news from the gold diggings, which revived our company very much" (March 22), and going ashore in "Patigonia [sic] called the Peninsula of St. Joseph...this day being the most pleasant of any day since I left home we ar[e] surrounded by Penguins and varios [sic] other Birds" (April 12). Also included is a journal entitled "Latham A. Brown's Book, 1847," which is a seaman's exercise book assembled by Brown and which includes rules of traverse sailing, mercator sailing, how to find longitude and latitude, predicting tides, star declination, and finding latitudes by the moon, each with tables, problems, examples, and sketches of ships. Other items include an American Ship Masters' Association certificate naming Brown an approved shipmaster (1865) and several abstract logs for the schooner Restless from travels in the South Pacific, including Honolulu, Tahiti, and Sydney, from the mid-1850s.
mssHM 74816-74819
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Reports on California oil resources
Manuscripts
5 typewritten reports and one land agreement relating to oil resources in La Jolla, Placerita Canyon, the San Fernando Valley, and Kern County, California. Includes the following reports: 1) Report on oil conditions of land near La Jolla belonging to the San Miguel Oil and Development Company, December 21, 1900; 2) Report on oil conditions of land near La Jolla and Pacific Beach belonging to the San Miguel Oil and Development Company, April 3, 1901; 3) Report on oil conditions of land near Placerita Canyon belonging to the San Miguel Oil and Development Company, April 26, 1901; 4) Report on oil conditions of land belonging to the Harmonia White Oil Company, May 28, 1901; and 5) Report on oil conditions of land in the San Fernando Valley (near the Lankershim Rancho) belonging to Mrs. Helen Woodward, May 27, 1901. Also includes agreement regarding land ownership in Kern County between John Cutburth, J.F. Maier, and A.F. Plumstead.
mssHM 72848
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Letters (correspondence), diary, and other manuscript materials
Manuscripts
Letters, diaries, essays, and other papers of Samuel Frank Dexter. The large portion of the collection consists of the letters that Dexter wrote to his children during the 1901 trip to California. The almost daily letters describe in minute detail their experiences and observations of various parts of California such as Alameda County, Bakersfield, Kern County, La Jolla, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Mount Lowe, Pasadena, Redlands, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Francisco, San Gabriel, San Pedro, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz County, and Santa Monica. The letters also contain descriptions of the Mark Hopkins Institute of Art, the California coast, and North Mexico. He also wrote frequently along their railroad trip to California, describing such places as Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, and Iowa.
mssHM 65822-65938