Manuscripts
The collection consists of business papers and correspondence related to the the Banning Company and its subsidiaries, particularly the Santa Catalina Island Company, as well as personal papers and correspondence created by members of the Banning, Patton, Glassell, Shorb, Thornton, and Thompson families. The business correspondence primarily focuses on the Bannings, and includes references to professional conflicts among the Banning brothers, the Santa Catalina Island Company, the Wilmington Transportation Company, the San Gabriel Wine Company, Mormon Island and surrounding areas, financial issues, and land sales. There are also 20 letters written between Henry E. Huntington and George S. Patton (1856-1927) from 1903-1905, and which relate to land in the San Marino area. The personal correspondence consists of letters between members of the Banning, Patton, Glassell, Shorb, Thornton, and Thompson families written in Alabama, California, Georgia, Virginia, and West Virginia. Family correspondents include Ellen Banning Ayer, Frederick Ayer, Anne Ophelia Smith Banning, Hancock Banning (1865-1925), Joseph Brent Banning, Katharine Stewart Banning, Lucy Tichenor Banning, May Alice Banning, Mary Hollister Banning, Phineas Banning, William Banning, Ynez Shorb Buck, Eliza Thompson Fry, Cornelia Fry, Charle Gibbs, E. Thornton Gibbs, Eliza Williams Patton Gilmer, Andrew Glassell (1793-1873), Andrew Glassell 1827-1901), Hugh Glassell, Susan Thornton Glassell, Maria Hamilton, Frances Hawes, Ramona Yorba Shorb Murtaugh, Mary Banning Norris, Ruth Wilson Patton, Maria de Jesus Wilson Shorb, Daniel Shorb, Donald Shorb, Joseph Campbell Shorb, Norbert N. Shorb, Ettinge Hugh Smith, George Hugh Smith, Susan Glassell Patton Smith, Edith Shorb Steele, Burkett D. Thompson, Caroline Thompson, Philip Rootes Thompson Jr., Rootes Thompson, William Thornton Thompson, Eleanor Brown Thompson Thornton, and George A. Thornton.The financial records include personal accounts, budgets, tax returns, business statements (including those for the Wilmington Transportation Co.), and receipts belonging to members of the Banning family. Personal papers include school essays and poems by the Banning children; copies of George S. Patton's accounts of his experiences in World War II; correspondence, essays, and photographs of the restoration of "The Old Mill" (El Molino Viejo), c.1965-1969; maps showing Banning harbor properties near Wilmington, San Pedro, and Los Angeles Harbors; sketches made on board the "Hermosa" in 1889; and photographs of steamships. Santa Catalina Island Co. business records include annual statements, notes on a potential sheep farming business, records of the steamers "Cabrillo" and "Hermosa," memorandum on management and policies, land papers, and receipt books. Some materials also relate to the Catalina Yacht Club. Items related to Catalina Island in general include advertising ephemera, a scrapbook, copies of magazine articles, and miscellaneous printed materials. Also included in the collection are various newspaper clippings, printed items, and ephemera.
