Manuscripts
Houghton family papers
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Sherman Otis Houghton papers
Manuscripts
The collection consists primarily of correspondence regarding the publication of History of the Donner Party by Charles Fayette McGlashan, 1879. Persons represented in the collection by three or more pieces include: Tamsen Donner, Richard C. Kerens, and Charles Fayette McGlashan. There are also two letters from Jessie Benton Frémont to Eliza Poor Donner Houghton, a petition written to President Benjamin Harrison recommending Sherman Houghton for the office of Judge of the U.S. Circuit Court, Ninth District, and a copy of "The California Regiment of 1847" by Albert Gallatin Brackett. There are also nine certificates belonging to Sherman Houghton for various military and political achievements.
mssHOU
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Stoneman Family Papers
Manuscripts
This small collection contains papers of the family of American Civil War Major General George Stoneman (1822-1894), dating from 1891 to 1920, including legal agreements; estate and and financial records; correspondence, chiefly penned after Stoneman's death and directed to his estate administrator; and some ephemera. Notable participants include William B. Allison, Thomas Updegraff, and the United States Army. The papers consist of the following series: The chronologically-arranged documents reveal the range of legal, financial, and estate-related transactions initiated by or concerning the Stoneman Family and their associates. Included in this series are legal agreements, banking statements, inventories of the Stoneman's estate, and general financial records. The chronologically-arranged correspondence includes personal and business letters to and by the Stoneman Family members and their associates. Two letters dated January 1889 were written by General George Stoneman while he was still living in Los Angeles. Most of the letters were penned after the generals' death in September 1894, and directed to John T. Stoneman, administrator of his brother's estate. Finally, ephemera are subdivided into two sections: newspaper clippings and miscellaneous. The first subdivision includes 15 obituaries and accounts of the funeral of George Stoneman, all of which were reported in Buffalo, NY newspapers. The second subdivision contains one invoice to A. Chapin to pay E. Stow, signed by James Crawford and dated Jan. 19, 1891; one postcard dated Dec. 13, 1919 and addressed to Asahel Chapin; a typewritten postcard addressed to A. Chapin from L. Ernest Thornton, Deputy Secretary of State of Maine, and dated Jan. 5, 1920; the stamped face of a mutilated envelope addressed to A. Chapin from the District Court of Elkader, Iowa, and postmarked Apr. 13, 1894; one letter-sized envelope addressed to Florence S. Chapin of Cedar Rapids, Iowa; and three oversized, fragile envelopes that originally housed the papers of this collection.
mssHM 71383-71454
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Muir family papers
Manuscripts
This collection contains correspondence and ephemera from John Muir and his family. The family members represented in the collection are John Muir, his parents, his seven siblings, two of his sisters-in-law and two of his nieces. The letters largely deal with family affairs, and give a detailed account of the family's daily life. Many of the letters mention John and his activities at different points in his life. They often discuss Muir's location, his publications and the family's trips to California to see him, his wife Louie, and their two daughters, Wanda and Helen. Several of John Muir's letters are written from Yosemite Valley; these letters give detailed accounts of Muir's activities at Yosemite as well as physical descriptions of the valley. Correspondence: All but one letter (John Muir to Anne Gilrye Muir, HM 57467) are addressed to Daniel H. Muir Jr., or his wife Emma Kinaston Muir (eleven letters are addressed to Daniel H. Muir, Jr. and Emma Kinaston Muir). One-third of the letters are written by John Muir's mother Anne Gilrye Muir. One letter is written by E. C. Love, a friend of the Muir family. The correspondence includes the following members of the Muir family (list shows relation to John Muir and number of items written by each family member): Joanna Muir Brown, sister (6); Anna G. Galloway, niece (1); Sarah Muir Galloway, sister (16); Mary Muir Hand, sister (7); Anna Muir, sister (4); Anne Gilrye Muir, mother (68); Daniel Muir, father (6); Daniel H. Muir, Jr., brother (1); David G. Muir, brother (9); John Muir (28); Katie Muir, sister-in-law (1); Margaret Muir Reid, sister (1); and Anna Reid Waterman, niece (1). Ephemera: The ephemera consists of six folders and contains calling cards, a Christmas card, envelopes, wedding invitations, mementos from John Muir, and miscellaneous printed ephemera, including newspaper clippings.
mssHM 57349-57497
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Eliza Poor Donner Houghton Papers
Manuscripts
The collection contains correspondence, notebooks, manuscripts, land tracts, scrapbooks, cartes-de-visites and ephemera. Although the majority of the material in the collection deals with the Donner Party, several items written by Eliza Poor Donner Houghton deal with California history. These items are chiefly about the discovery of gold in California in 1849 and its effect on American history and the development of California as a state. In addition to Eliza, nine other Donner Party members are represented in this collection, both in correspondence and photographs. The collection contains 89 cataloged items, including 49 pieces of correspondence and three oversize items. The collection spans the period 1820-1978, but the bulk of the material is from 1900-1920. About half of the 49 pieces of correspondence (1910-1918) deal with the planning, building and dedication of the Pioneer (Donner) Monument; most of this correspondence consists of letters between Eliza Poor Donner Houghton and C. W. Chapman, the Chairman of the Donner Monument Committee. There are also seven letters (1820-1842) by Tamsen Donner to her sister Elizabeth Eustis Poor, of which six were written before Tamsen's marriage to George Donner. The letter from Eliza to "My Children" was written immediately after her visit in 1884 with John Baptiste Trudeau, during which he gave his account of events at the mountain camps, his relationship with the Donners, his last words with George and Tamsen Donner, and his rescue by the third relief party. This letter contains material that Eliza did not publish in her book. The notebooks and manuscripts, all written by Eliza, deal either with the Donner Party or the history of California. There is an incomplete handwritten draft of The Expedition of the Donner Party and Its Tragic Fate. Although this draft is missing sections of the published book, it contains material that does not appear in the published version. The scrapbooks (1860-1920) contain mostly news clippings concerning Sherman Houghton's political career in California, although there are some clippings concerning the Donner Party.
mssHoughton
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Stutterd, John. 1 letter to [Thomas Stutterd], A.L.S. (4 p.), (Southfield, Lancs., Eng.)
Manuscripts
Note: addressed to Thomas Stutterd but written to "Sister Molly." Note: letter preceded by Memorandums, Apr. 16, 1787-July 2, 1787.
SFP 163
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Dunning family papers
Manuscripts
A collection of 51 items which consists of correspondence between members of the Dunning family from 1853 to 1872, with the bulk of the collection falling between 1853-1860. Benjamin P. Dunning is the central figure in this collection; he wrote thirty-three of the letters and received six. There are eleven other authors in the collection, most significantly, his older brother Hiram A. Dunning. The letters describe the conditions of various mining camps in northern California, mainly those in Calaveras and Yuba counties; the letters also comment on the conditions and hardships of mining as well as furnish details on prices for mining supplies and food. They also illustrate several aspects of the California Gold Rush experience including prices of mining claims; the vicissitudes of the postal service; the legend of Joaq̕un Murieta; the struggle with Chinese miners; and descriptions of sea voyages from New York to California via South America and the Isthmus of Panama. Some of Benjamin Dunning's letters discuss the severe illness and death of his beloved sister, Abby, in Maine, while some of Hiram Dunning's letters discuss the death of his wife and baby in childbirth in California. The collection includes a pictorial letter sheet titled "The What Cheer House, San Francisco, Cal," with related autograph letter. Importantly, the pictorial letter sheet is not listed in either Joseph Baird Jr.'s California Pictorial Letter Sheets 1849-1869 (1967), or the Catalogue of the Collection of Henry H. Clifford California Pictorial Letter Sheets (1994). The collection includes six folders of ephemera, including two trade cards (one from The What Cheer House, and the other for The Broadway Wood and Coal Yard in San Francisco), two letter fragments, and various handwritten receipts. The collection also contains a promissory note, a judicial record, and a receipt book of personal accounts. There is a handwritten obituary for Hiram Dunning's wife, Mary Frances, which includes a pressed flower petal.
mssHM 70310-70360