E.H. Plummer letters | Collections | The Huntington

E.H. Plummer letters | Collections | The Huntington

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Charles Plummer letters to his family
Manuscripts
These manuscripts are a series of letters written by Charles Plummer to his family. The first four letters (HM 23343-23346) are addressed to his father, Farnham Plummer, with the final letter (HM 23347) written to his sister Elizabeth. The first letter, HM 23343 dated 1849, February 4 - July 7, also contains a table of daily observations taken by Charles during his trip to California from his home state of Massachusetts, via Cape Horn. The chart is divided by latitude and longitude, and includes barometer and thermometer readings for each date. Also included are incidental details such as landmarks sighted, other ships sighted, and Charles' health (eg. "A little unwell. Took medicine"). The letter is dated 1849, June 30 and July 4, and describes the latter part of Charles' voyage and arrival at San Francisco. He writes that the voyage by sea (as a while has been a pleasant and a lucky one." HM 23344, dated 1851, March 14, sees Charles in San Francisco, and in fine health, but concerned about how he might make some money. He describes local gold mines, each being different from the next, and says he will send home some of the "gold burning quartz" he has found. He writes of meeting Chinese and French immigrants, and asks about family back home in Massachusetts. In HM 23345 (1853, March 10), Charles wishes to hear news of home, in his father's hand in particular, for he has had none for a good while. He has made new friends, and has met a few people he knew from home. He closes his letter as follows: "I would like much to see my native town once more, and trust I may ere another frontier shall pass away." HM 23346, dated 1855, January 1, finds Charles asking once more for a letter from home. He wishes everyone a Happy New Year, and says that the day is marked in California much like it is in New York or Massachusetts, and most of the local stores are closed. He is astonished by how much liquor has been consumed in San Francisco for the occasion. Included in HM 23347 (dated 1856, August 4) is a print of the public execution of Hetherington and Brace, "The Murderers of Baldwin, Randall, West, and Marion, July 29th, 1856" outside Fort Vigilance, upon which Charles has made handwritten notes. In the letter, written to his sister Elizabeth, Charles describes being a witness at this execution, which he went to because "business was suspended all about town and I could accomplish nothing." He writes of the fruit industry in San Francisco, and how it differs in operation compared to back home.
mssHM 23343-23347
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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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Charles Plummer journal
Manuscripts
This journal is an account by Charles Plummer documenting his travels and gold mining experiences California, which took place in 1850-1851. The majority of the volume concerns the trip, which lasted from 1850, May 2 to 1851, October 1. While Plummer was digging outside Stockton, there were several instances of theft and murder in the town and the surrounding mining claims. He describes digging for gold as "very poor business." Bound leather volume. Journal entries begin in 1842; most of the early entries are financial notes, such as bills paid.
mssHM 2017
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Vance, E.H. and S.A. Vance. 1 letter to Bank of California
Manuscripts
The collection was assembled by author and collector Grahame H. Hardy. The documents and manuscripts demonstrate the range of legal, administrative, municipal, and real estate-related transactions initiated by railroad and mining interests, businessmen, and municipalities in the San Francisco Bay area, Northern California, and western Nevada. Included in this series are legal proceedings, title deeds, mining reports and claims. Correspondence includes business and personal letters to and from Northern California lawyers, railroad and mining entrepreneurs in California and Nevada, and parties involved in the construction of the Nicaragua Canal. Included in this series are letters pertaining to the case of Daniel Sill, a San Francisco-based blacksmith and the trial of A.J. Jackson, an African American tried and acquitted in Marysville, California. Lastly, ephemera include four items: a Mission Homestead Association certificate of stock; one check payable to Jack H. Haverly, a promoter of minstrel shows, from theater producers and brothers, Gustave Frohman and Charles Frohman; the baptism certificate of Everett Loftus Saxondale Kenna; and an undated glossary of mining terms. Prominent persons and organizations featured in the collection include: California Academy of Sciences, founded in 1853 as the one of the first scientific academies west of the Atlantic seaboard; Central Pacific Railroad Company, established in 1861 and financed in part by Leland Stanford and Collis P. Huntington, who are also mentioned in the collection; William Heath Davis (1822-1909), San Francisco merchant and author, spouse of Maria de Jesús Estudillo, who played a key role in the founding of the California cities of Oakland and San Diego; John Brooks Felton (1827-1877), San Francisco Bay Area lawyer and judge, as well as one-time mayor of Oakland, California; Joseph Pendleton Hoge (1810-1891), former U.S. Representative of Illinois and later lawyer and judge of the San Francisco Superior Court; and M.G. Upton, former official reporter of the California Assembly and author of the urban planning critique, "The Plan of San Francisco" (1869).
HM 72747
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E.R. Plummer diary
Manuscripts
Eugenio Plummer's 1891-1893 diary, which focuses on accounting notes for dealings in agriculture, livestock, and land. Also includes notes on court cases, some family genealogy, and entries on Plummer's daily activities.
mssHM 74643
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Berenice J. Scoville letters to Anne Kerckhoff
Manuscripts
In these two letters, Berenice J. Scoville describes her experience in the San Francisco earthquake and its aftermath. Shortly after the earthquake, Scoville and her family were forced to evacuate their house on Pacific Avenue; their house was saved and they were later allowed to move back. She describes the destruction around her, including the building in which she worked, which was one of the first buildings to burn down, the conditions in the city, and the continued threat of fire.
mssHM 67916-67917