Opening Hours
Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
Manuscripts
North Western Stage, Express and Transportation Company letter to W.H. Wilson
Image not available
Manuscripts
Image not available
Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
Image not available
Manuscripts
In this letter to his brother, W.P. Reynolds writes of his experiences driving cattle between San Francisco and Los Angeles. He says "the cattle market has never in my experience been so depressed in California as this year." He also comments on an "instrument" that Edward has apparently invented, and advises him to apply for a patent. He also writes of relatives and mutual acquaintances.
mssHM 4221
Image not available
Manuscripts
Letter from John Bordeaux Wilson to his mother Emma Moore Wilson, written shortly after Wilson had joined the engineering corps of the Union Pacific Railroad in 1868. In the letter, written at Fort Sanders, Dakota Territory, Wilson writes of his dissatisfaction with being removed from Colonel Joseph Opdyke Hudnutt's company and placed instead with a Mr. Lawrence's party, which he writes will "operate much further west" than the other and work east for 250 or 300 miles from the Green River until they meet the other parties. He notes that Colonel Hudnutt's party was headed for the North Platte while John O'Neill's party would work at Medicine Bow, and gives a description of the various supplies carried by each party. The remainder of the letter describes Wilson's attempts to stay warm in his tent and the meals that he has been given. With envelope, marked "Union Pacific Railway Company, Engineer's Office, Fort Sanders - Dakota."
mssHM 74318
Image not available
Manuscripts
HM 80954: Letter from Oliver Frank Wilson to Ursula L. Wilson from Willapa, Washington Territory on March 16, 1887. Wilson begins the letter with common pleasantries concerning the family's health and news. Concerning the weather he writes, "This is Wednesday and it has rained since Sunday morning that is the only falt with this country, when it is bad it is to bad and when it is good it is good all over" (p. 2). Ursula reports that their mother is currently in debt and owes approximately $400. Wilson offers suggestions and states that the cow "should be the last thing to part with..." (p. 3). He closes the letter "Give my respects to all the young folks that I used to know and excuse bad writing & so" (p. 4).
mssHM 80954-80958
Image not available
Manuscripts
This letter was written by John Groom to "My dier Wife and Children," on September 22, 1850 from Georgetown, California. In this letter to his family, Groom describes his difficult journey from the Missouri River to California. He opens the letter about the hardships of his journey, which includes contracting the flu and mountain fever. He passes numerous graves while crossing the plains, which disheartens him. In California, he states that the prospects of mining for gold "looks very Gloomy." According to Groom, the chances are very slim. "I am speaking now of the late emegrtion per haps 1 in 20 makes theire half ounce a day and 1 in 50 is doing what we all expect to do that is to do well by hard work and aconemy while 1 in a 1000 is makeing there fortunes..." He reveals the harsh reality of the California Gold Rush, "...I tell you now that the dark side of callafornia has been kept hid while the good side has been mutch Exagerated there is not 1 man in 100 but wishes himself at home of this years emegration and every man almost without exepttion that can Raise the money is a going and has gone already for my part I am here without the means to get home..." He also includes details about the costly supplies in California. He concludes the letter, "...be content to stay where you are doing well or not for God forbid that I ever should be the cause of any man coming to Calafornia to get Gold..."
mssHM 68184
Image not available
Manuscripts
In this letter, Franc Newcomb begins by telling her friend that she sent a copy of the New Mexico quarterly dedicated to Alice Corbin and comments that she was glad it was published before she died. She relates that she's been a hermit for the month of August so she can work on her paintings of Navajo sandpaintings, namely the Mountain Chant (Fire dance) collection. She says there are no copies or records of the male variety so she must complete them. Newcombs says that she did not send her friend a copy of her book "Navajo omens and tabboos" as the friend already has a copy, but says she did send an issue of The New Mexico folklore record with an article about "The lore" and a New Mexico place names. She praises the two year old New Mexico Folklore Society and closes by saying that it was a nice visit.
mssHM 30950
Image not available
Manuscripts
This collection consists of 91 items which are related to the establishment of the Intermountain Title Guaranty & Trust Company. There are two types of sources: correspondence and ephemera. The correspondence is in chronological order. The majority (77 items) of the collection is correspondence regarding the assignments of the posts in the new organization and the feasibility of the new business in Utah. Major posts are held by those who had been already connected to real estate business and were from a higher stratum of the society, such as successful proprietors, bankers, accountants, and lawyers. As noted above, the Presidency was taken by Stephen L. Chipman; Vice-Presidency, L. W. Smeltzer, a member of the executive committee of the Utah League of Building and Loan Association; Treasurer, R. L. Conely, Secretary and Treasurer of Intermountain Lloyds, and so on. Almost all letters mention that the new title guaranty company would contribute to the people in the state as well as be profitable to the investors. For example, I. E. Brockbank contends in his letter to Chipman that title insurance is more reliable than the abstract title system which Utah had at that time. Ephemera are composed of reprints of transaction records, articles, and pamphlets of the title guaranty companies in other states. These materials are supposed to be used when the Intermountain Title Guaranty & Trust Company called for the investment.
mssIntermountain title papers