Manuscripts

Danforth H. Medbery memoir

Image not available

Description: Medbery wrote this memoir of his time in California in 1919 at the age of 80. It begins with his voyage to California on the "Northern Star." He arrives in San Francisco 24 days later. He talks about his work in a mill, the machinery he uses there, looking for gold and the equipment he builds; he also talks about his other jobs selling fruit and vegetables and copper mining in Copperopolis, California. He also talks about politics, violence, attending church and teaching Sunday school, and social life in general. While in California, his wife, Mary, was often in California too, but she would eventually move back East before him.
Type: Manuscripts(Opens in new tab)
Production date: 1919.
Call number: mssHM 82465
Creator: Medbery, Danforth H (1839-1927)

William H. Carlisle letters

Manuscripts

Two letters written by William H. Carlisle in January and April 1863 to his sister S. R. Carlisle in Marion County, Iowa. In the letters, Carlisle talks about his personal experiences in the war including his behavior, he assured them he was not drinking whiskey or playing cards, and his financial situation. In his second letter, which is very light and difficult to read, he talks about hearing canons at Vicksburg. Both letters are on patriotic stationery and include matching envelopes.

mssHM 83790-83791

Image not available

Lyman H. Howland letters to his son

Manuscripts

Lyman H. Howland wrote seven of these letters to his son, Garrald, after he left New Bedford to become an itinerant miner in California, Idaho, Nevada, and Montana. The first letter is a 16-page description of his 1892 railroad journey to Sacramento. In 1894, Howland is living in Spokane, Washington and talks of mining prospects. In 1896, Howland is mining in Troy, Idaho, and in 1897, he is mining in Sylvanite, Montana. Besides mining and his life as a miner, Howland also lectures his son on the evil of alcohol, talks of sending for his son to join him, and asks about family and friends back in New Bedford. Two of these letters are incomplete.

mssHM 83122-83129

Image not available

H. B. Lansing diaries

Manuscripts

Lansing's diaries give a detailed account of his life in California as a gold miner. He talks about his life in the mining camp, his friends and business partners, his home sickness, his desire to "sell out" and go home, as well as the specifics of mining for gold (buying and selling of claims, equipment problems, bad weather, boils on his hands, etc.). Lansing also describes in detail how he and his friends spend their leisure time: gambling, bowling, drinking and going to dances. Lansing mentions the Chinese he works with in the mines, Joaquin Murieta and the hanging of several Mexicans for murder. Lansing works in and travels to several different places in California including San Andreas, Sonora, Chinese Camp, Murphy's Camp and Yackee (Yaqui) Camp. Lansing also gives a daily tally of the gold he finds in his diggings by dollar amount. The first volume covers all of 1853 and second volume only covers January to May 1855.

mssHM 70409-70410

Image not available

Louis Zindel memoir

Manuscripts

This short memoir, which was written by Zindel's granddaughter Charlotte R. Brackelsberg, talks about Zindel's youth in Prussia, his meeting with John Charles Frémont in St. Louis in 1842, and their expedition to California. Brackelsberg also talks about Kit Carson and the group's howitzer cannon.

mssHM 68058

Image not available

J.H. (James Hervey) Simpson letters to Richard H. Kern

Manuscripts

In HM 20644, written 1851, December 1, Simpson wishes to be informed of Kern's reconnaissance, and is in need of a good draughtsman. He asks about the current status of George Houghton, and says that Kern will adore Minnesota and St. Paul once he arrives. In HM 20643, dated 1852, May 11, Simpson requests to hear more of the Indians Kern has met with, and is glad Kern has reconciled with Frémont. Both letters contain many inquiries and details concerning Kern's fellow soldiers and colleagues.

mssHM 20643-20644

Image not available

Mining experiences, 1932-1985: the memoirs of Allan H. James

Manuscripts

Autobiographical account of Allan H. James' fifty years in the mining industry, transcribed from audio recordings made shortly before his death in 1985. The memoir begins with his going to work in the mines at Grass Valley following his graduation from Stanford, and follows his experiences mining in California and Nevada, including humorous and tragic anecdotes about his fellow miners. The memoir largely focuses on his time at various mines in South America and on the friends and co-workers he had while there, as well as his marriage in Costa Rica. James also describes the atomic bomb explosion at Alamogordo, New Mexico, in 1945; his various mining jobs with M.I.T., at the Mt. Hope Mine, and with the Kennecott Copper Corporation; and his impressions of Canada and rural Alaska. Includes 29 pages of photographs of James, his family, and various mining enterprises.

mssHM 73672

Danforth H. Medbery memoir

Opening Hours

Admission Info and Tickets

You might also be interested in

William H. Carlisle letters

Lyman H. Howland letters to his son

H. B. Lansing diaries

Louis Zindel memoir

J.H. (James Hervey) Simpson letters to Richard H. Kern

Mining experiences, 1932-1985: the memoirs of Allan H. James