Manuscripts
Charles Merz diary of trip around the world
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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 Rowe diaries
Manuscripts
Three diaries kept by Charles Rowe when he was living and working in California, Nevada, and Missouri from 1852-1864. The first diary covers 1852-1853 and begins when Rowe had just arrived in San Francisco from New York. It primarily recalls his experiences at Mission San Jose, where he worked as a farmer for $60 a month. He also describes some events at the Mission, such as a "bullfight ...at which two Indians were killed" (May 2, 1852). The second diary, dated 1854-1855, continues with Rowe's work at Mission San Jose, as well as his farm work on Captain Beard's Ranch and the E.M. Knowles Ranch (both apparently near Santa Clara, California), and his mining at Dutch Flat, California, and in Nevada. The final diary, dated 1861-1864, was kept while he was living near Springfield and Sharon, Missouri, during the Civil War. Rowe writes about troops coming to town, but most of the entries focus on his daily activities. The diary was kept from 1861-1862, but also includes account notes from 1864.
mssHM 50575-50577
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Luther Osborn diaries
Manuscripts
depicts Osborn's life in New York, including pursuit of a job at various city newspapers, a failed attempt at running a newsstand at his boarding house and frequenting theaters, reading rooms, lectures, church services, and Republican meetings. He reports "seeing an shaking hands with Abraham Lincoln" during the president-elect's visit to the city; seeing Laura Keen, Charlotte Cushman, and other prominent actors; attending lectures by Horace Greeley and Rev. Chapin, attending Republican meetings at the Cooper Union, "making Union rosettes," etc.
mssHM 71510-71514
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Diary of a trip to California
Manuscripts
The diary chronicles Margaret's travels from June 10 to August 27, 1911, primarily in Northern California. The first week of the journal details her trip alone by train from Niagara Falls to California, with descriptions of Niagara Falls and sites in Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona including Cripple Creek, Albuquerque, and the Grand Canyon; some entries include observations of local Native Americans. The rest of the journal consists of descriptions of travels by train and car in California. Locations visited in Southern California include Los Angeles, Pasadena, Venice Beach, Pomona, and Santa Barbara. After June 23, Margaret was based in the Bay Area town of San Rafael with multiple excursions to San Francisco and around Northern California. Her entries describe people met and interacted with, travel methods, homes and architecture, local landmarks and history, flora and landscape, missions and churches, and weather. There are frequent mentions of Aunt May and Uncle Will, who met her in Pasadena and possibly lived in San Rafael; Aunt May, and occasionally Uncle Will, usually accompanied her on her excursions to San Francisco and around California. Entries regarding San Francisco mention Ethel Barrymore plays, the Cliff House restaurant, Golden Gate Park and its zoo and Japanese Tea Garden, Chinatown, and the effects of the 1906 earthquake. She briefly describes attending a women's suffrage event (an Equality Tea) on August 4 and rally on August 25 and mentions a suffrage amendment on the ballot that year in California. Sites traveled to in Northern California include St. Helena and the Chabot estate vineyards; the Guerneville area and the Russian River; Santa Rosa, including a visit to Luther Burbank and his gardens; a fruit farm in Los Gatos; and Eureka and other areas in Humboldt County. The journal also includes a draft or copy of a letter from Margaret to her mother written in San Rafael and dated August 27. The final nine pages of the diary are additional notes on travels in Humboldt County, many of which are crossed out. There are also several pages of loose notes, two envelopes, and a receipt. The journal is unbound and is handwritten in ink on loose paper.
mssHM 84033
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Walter Ely - itinerary, - Trip around the World
Manuscripts
The Ely Collection consists of the papers of United States Federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Justice Walter R. Ely, Jr., past President of the Los Angeles County Bar Association and prominent Los Angeles attorney. Roughly one-third of the collection consists of over 2000 U.S. Circuit Court case files for the period 1971-1984, including private internal memoranda between Ely and such prominent fellow justices as Anthony Kennedy (now on the Supreme Court) and Shirley Hufstedler. Included are many cases with both local significance and larger regional or national impact, with a random check finding topics such as offshore drilling, censorship ("The Beard"), race relations and education (Los Angeles NAACP vs. California Department of Education), immigration (numerous INS cases), labor relations (Teamsters; NLRB cases), feminism (NOW), and financial fraud (Equity Funding; Bernard Cornfeld), with private comments by the justices not only on the cases but also on Supreme Court behavior, personnel, etc. In addition, there is material on the Committee on Standards of Judicial Administration, the Criminal Justice Act of 1964, and the Bankruptcy Appeals Panel in the early 1980s. Before being appointed to the bench, Walter Ely was a prominent and politically active lawyer in Los Angeles. There is extensive documentation of his involvement with the Los Angeles County Bar Association, of which he was president in 1962, the California Conference of State Bar Delegates, and the House of Delegates of the American Bar Association, not to mention his own personal practice. He was also an active Democrat, and there is material on California politics for 1956-1964, especially the election campaigns of Governor Edmund G. (Pat) Brown, Attorney General Stanley Mosk, Richard Richards, and others in 1962.
mssEly
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Edward King diary of a trip to Japan and China
Manuscripts
In his diary, King writes about his travels across Japan and China beginning with his departure from Shanghai to Nagasaki in March 1859. He writes in detail about his journey including the food on board, Japanese officials, local customs, the difficulty of changing money, and his visits to Nagasaki and Dejima. King's diary also covers his travel to Ningbo, China where he also writes in detail about the people and culture. The diary also includes a 2-page list of English-Japanese vocabulary, a fold-out map of Nagasaki, a Japan treasury certificate, and 25 pages of Japanese colored woodblock prints.
mssHM 84029