Lewis White correspondence | Collections | The Huntington

Lewis White correspondence | Collections | The Huntington

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Daniel C. White diaries
Manuscripts
Three diaries kept by Daniel C. White between 1854 and 1864. The first diary, dated 1854-1858, traces White's overland journey from Indiana to California with his friend William V. Rinehart. It includes descriptions of Pawnee and Sioux Indians, crossing the Platte River, and passing by Chimney Rock, Laramie Peak, Devils Gate, and Salt Lake City. It also records White's time mining in and around Sacramento and Marysville, California, and includes some accounting notes, various poetry or song lyrics, and a description of a "hell of a flogging" that White gave to a "Chinaman" who he caught stealing. The second diary is dated 1858-1859, and records White's travels and mining experiences between Sucker Creek, Oregon, and Crescent City, California, as well as some poems and notes. The final diary, dated August-October, 1864, was kept while White was serving with the Union Army in Georgia during the Civil War. It begins while he was near the Chattahoochee River , and he also spends a great deal of time near Owl Rock Church. The diary describes various military engagements and movements, including those near Atlanta. The diary ends when White had apparently been discharged and was near Louisville.
mssHM 50564-50566
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Lewis Granger letter to "Dear Father,"
Manuscripts
The author of this letter, writing to his father, Ralph Granger, in Ohio, describes his journey overland to southern California from Salt Lake City in the fall of 1849. He then comments at considerable length upon Los Angeles and the surrounding region with reference to climate, agriculture and opportunities for investment
mssHM 58073
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Melcena White Knauer letters to Authee Ann White Spilman
Manuscripts
Set of five letters written by Melcena White Knauer to her sister Authee Ann White Spilman while Melcena was living in Texas and California from the 1850s until 1881. The first letter, sent from Brownsville, Texas, in the late 1850s, describes the Knauers' decision to move to California, where Elias planned to drive cattle. Melcena writes of being reluctant to go, but that she agreed to follow her husband rather than be separated from him. She also believes the climate might improve the health of her sons, as a doctor had advised that "he would [as] soon risk his life on the plains than in Brownsville." Three subsequent letters, one dated 1861 and the other two before 1865, describe Melcena's life in Woodland Township, California, and include her views on the Civil War. In the 1862 letter Melcena recalls hearing news of the First Battle of Bull Run, and while she wishes for peace, she fears that "it seems to be that the longer they fight the worse they are on both sides, still I suppose there is no other way of settling the difficulty but to fight it out." The same letter also describes harvest time and notes that "every thing that can be done with machinery is done with it which shortens the labor." Other letters describe Melcena's happiness that Kentucky was for the Union, how she has often heard "persons say how easy it would be for [foreign] power to take California so far is she from help," and her fears over her family's safety in Kentucky, of which she writes that "I often feel very uneasy about you all...I so much dread the idea of the war trouble getting among you that I am some times as nervous as an old tobacco smoker." She also writes of many local illnesses, noting that "I never lived any place where there was so many deaths among grown people." Many of the letters focus on family news, and Melcena lamented in the mid-1860s that "I have many thoughts about my native home every day I live, I sometimes wish I was there, but oftener wish you all were here." In the final letter, sent from Woodland in 1881, Melcena writes that her son Harvey is "running an Engine" and that he "has his Father's love for Machinery." She also writes that since the death of her husband "I live a great deal of my time in the past."
mssHM 78097-78101
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Stiefel family papers
Manuscripts
This small group consists of three photographs, one letter, and two military records related to the Stiefel family from 1862-1918. HM 83912 (a): Reinhard Stiefel's appointment as 5th Corporal of Company E of the 6th Regiment of Minnesota Volunteer and discharge as Sergeant, 1862-1865. HM 83912 (b): photograph of Reinhard Stiefel in his sergeant's uniform, approximately 1864. HM 83912 (c): photograph of Stiefel family and other passengers on or near the "Rubio" incline car at the Echo Mountain station in Los Angeles County, California, 1913. HM 83912 (d): photograph of Armistice Day celebration on Nicollet Street and 7th Avenue, Minneapolis, Minnesota, November 11, 1918. HM 83912 (e): letter from a World War I Canadian soldier in France with the initials L.A.C. to Florence Fried of Toronto, Ontario. In the letter, they thank Fried for a care package received in a field hospital, December 25, 1918.
mssHM 83912 (a-e)
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Pocket diary of John Lewis
Manuscripts
Pocket diary that Lewis kept from Jan. 1 through Mar. 2, 1862, when the regiment was occupying Loudoun Heights (Va.) On Mar. 2 he went home on furlough, at which point the diary ends. Very short entries hastily scribbled in pencil, recording marching orders received, a skirmish near Staunton, news of officers and soldiers died of wounds and taken prisoner, etc. The diary fills 20 pages of the Pocket Diary for 1862, Containing an Almanac for New York, St. Louis, and San Francisco... (Cambridgeport, Mass.: Published annually by Denton & Wood, 1862).
mssHM 68420
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Lewis H. Chamberlin papers
Manuscripts
A collection of 152 items which contains letters and documents (1862-1920) mostly related to Lewis H. Chamberlain's duties as Regimental Adjutant. Included are papers related to the Regiment's personnel and ordnance, courts martial, furloughs, passes, transfers, detailing, desertions, payments as well as regimental and company orders. Correspondents include Henry A. Morrow, Albert M. Edwards, George H. Thomas, and Lorenzo Thomas. The letter from Henry A. Morrow of May 19, 1865 describes the victory march of the Army of the Potomac.
mssChambe