Manuscripts

Rawley E. Dent diary

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Description: Rawley E. Dent kept this diary the entire year of 1871. For the first few months of the year, the Dents were living in Santa Barbara. In April, the Dents traveled by railroad to San Francisco and then to Wenona, Illinois to visit family; they stay there for several months. In August, Dent traveled to Portland, Maine to visit more family and while in the east he traveled through Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Washington, D.C. In November, the Dents returned to California and settled in Redwood City. Throughout his diary, Dent describes the places he visits in detail, and makes observations about his traveling companions, his social activities, his health, and the weather conditions. Also included are three newspaper clippings and a cabinet card photograph of Rawley E. Dent.
Type: Manuscripts(Opens in new tab)
Production date: 1871.
Call number: mssHM 66346
Creator

Mrs. N. H. Dayton diary

Manuscripts

Mrs. H. H. Dayton kept this diary while traveling with her husband, Nate, and Mr. and Mrs. Ben H. Van Levy in 1909. The diary begins in September 1909 with the couples leaving and traveling to Minneapolis, St. Paul, Banff, Winnipeg, Vancouver, Victoria, Seattle, Portland, and then south to California. Mrs. Dayton spends 12 pages describing her experiences in San Francisco: the aftermath of the 1906 earthquake; Golden Gate Park; Cliff House; Chinatown; as well as a visit to an opium den. The diary ends after the couples traveled back to the east coast, arriving home in October 1909. The diary also contains several lists: hotels; cities visited; railroads traveled; theaters attended; miles traveled; and states crossed. The names of the travelers are inside the front cover.

mssHM 81272

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E. C. Dunn diary

Manuscripts

The diary only contains one month of entries. In the diary Dunn talks about his experience of living in a mining camp near Weaverville. He talks in detail about snow storms that caused the roofs of buildings to cave in and rain that caused floods; his fellow miners, including one man who got drunk and was later found dead in the snow; prices of provisions such as beef, pork, flour, barley, and potatoes; a New Year's ball held at the Independence Hotel in Weaverville; and problems with competing miners in Stewart's Flat.

mssHM 67919

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Edward W. Syle diary

Manuscripts

Edward W. Syle began writing this diary in April 1851 after six years of missionary work in China, though he still expressed shock at cultural differences. When he moved to San Francisco, he seemed distressed to find the Chinese so ragged and impoverished, and disappointed by the widespread discrimination they faced. He also commented on the circumstances of various Gold Rush mining camps. After he left San Francisco, the closing months of this diary were written back in Shanghai in October 1856.

mssHM 83407

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Charles Plummer diaries

Manuscripts

Two diaries kept by Charles Plummer, one while he was traveling from Boston to San Francisco in 1849 and one while he was sailing from Boston to Brazil in 1863-1864. The 1849 diary begins with Plummer's preparations to leave Boston and his joining of the New England and California Trading and Mining Association. He departed from Boston on the ship Lenore in February 1849 and while on board recorded notes on brigs he has seen (including his tracking of the brig Charlotte), a minstrel's concert on board, his stop at the Port of Talcahuana (Chile), and notes on the flying fish and birds he has seen, including the capture of an albatross. He also writes of difficulties with the Association, noting that various members had been tried on board for "deception, falsehood, neglect of duty, intemperance &c." In July the Lenore put down anchor near Benicia and Plummer was chosen to join a "pioneer party to the mines" which traveled up the Sacramento River to the Feather River and set up a "gold washer." The trip was ultimately disappointing, and things did not improve upon the party's return to the Lenore, where on September 10 "a mutiny...result[ed] in the dissolution of our company." In November the Lenore was sold and Plummer stayed for a few months in San Francisco, which was "truly a dark time," as his companion Morris had dysentery and Plummer suffered from a "bad cough [and] two very sore fingers." He wrote that their only opportunity for the winter might be to "go to the mines," which he hoped to avoid at all costs. In December Plummer came down with dysentery and began taking opium pills, and made few further entries in the diary until he gave it up completely on December 18.

mssHM 75054-75055

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William Hammond Hale diary

Manuscripts

The first five months of this diary were written in Minneapolis (except a week long trip to Washington D.C. for President Roosevelt's inauguration in March). Hale left for the mines on May 24, first stopping at Seattle. He arrived at his father's mine on June 7. Hale spent June through October at the Atlin and Willow Creek Mining Company in Discovery, British Columbia. Hale writes in detail about the mines, his work there, his fellow miners, and his social life. On his way home, Hale stopped at the Coppermount Mine run by the Alaska Copper Company on Prince of Wales Island (another mine in which his family was invested). He spent a month there observing the copper smelting operations. He was back home in Minneapolis for Christmas.

mssHM 81275

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Washington F. Davidson diary

Manuscripts

Diary that Davidson kept from June 1840 to the end February 1840, most of which Davidson spent serving onboard the Dale on her maiden voyage to South America. As he sailed from Norfolk to Brazil and around Cape Horn, Davidson meticulously recorded every detail of his duties -- setting sails; logging distance, coordinates, and winds; supervising the crew, etc. The richly detailed diary reveals a young, enthusiastic sailor, endowed with a keen eye, natural curiosity, and a certain literary talent. (His younger sister Virginia Emeline Davidson later became a well known writer.) The diary provides an intimate look at the life of midshipmen ("Middies") and their often complicated relationship with the officers and crew. Davidson described in great detail numerous encounters with British, Danish, French, Peruvian, and American whalers and naval vessels. The latter included the famed frigates Constellation and Constitution. Throughout the voyage, Davidson used every opportunity to go ashore, recording his impressions, paying particular attention to local population, especially the ladies. While in Guayaquil, the Dale was paid a visit by Andres de Santa Cruz y Calahumana, the exiled Marshall of Peru-Bolivian Confederacy. Davidson reported the visit in great detail.

mssHM 69950

Rawley E. Dent diary

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Mrs. N. H. Dayton diary

E. C. Dunn diary

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William Hammond Hale diary

Washington F. Davidson diary