Stephen Elliott letter to Robert Gilmor, Jr

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  Stephen Brooks letter to Henry Brooks

  Manuscripts

  In this letter to his brother Henry, Stephen Brooks writes of debts incurred while opening a store in San Francisco. He misses the comforts of life and the life of society, and plans to stay in California for one year. Letterhead is an image of "View of San Francisco, February 1850."

  mssHM 16539

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  Stephen Woodlin letters to family

  Manuscripts

  Set of 14 letters sent by Stephen Woodin to his family in Genoa, New York, from 1849-1853, while he was traveling to or living in California. The majority of the letters were written to his wife and children, and one to his brother George Woodin (HM 19382). In the first letter, Woodin describes his lodgings in Panama City, including the food available with prices and his observation of religious ceremonies. After arriving in California, Woodin mined for gold near the North Fork of the American river, and in the next four letters (HM 19370-19372, and HM 19382) he describes his travels from Sacramento to the gold fields, working at gold mining (he wrote to his brother that he averaging making $5 a day), his provisions and the costs of goods, and his surroundings and impressions of California. The remaining 9 letters (HM 19373-19381) were written from 1852-1853, beginning when Woodin was on his return journey to California. He writes of traveling from Aspinwall (Colon) to Panama City, where an American flag was displayed for the Fourth of July. He also notes that he encountered "Mr. Booth, a theatrical performer [and his] two sons," probably referring to Junius Brutus Booth and his sons Edwin Booth and Junius Brutus Booth, Jr. (HM 19374). From San Francisco he writes of keeping his hotel, which he liked "very well, all but the selling rum" (HM 19476), of his expenditures, of various steamers that arrived in the city, of duels and executions, including that of "three gamblers...what a pity it...won't be three hundred, for they are the greatest pests there is in this country" (HM 19378), of a Dr. E. White, who was lecturing on spiritual rapping and "making a perfect fool of himself in this business while his wife supports the family by working" (HM 19375), of widespread flooding in January 1853 (HM 19378), and of his favorable impressions of the Chinese in the city, noting that "the Chinese all go by the name of John here, they are a harmless, industrious set of people possessing a great deal of ingenuity and many of them are good businessmen and far more advanced in some of the arts and sciences than our own Americans" (HM 19380). He also writes of his wishes that his family could join him in California, and in April 1853 worries that his partner had left the business and Woodin did not know how to get out of it himself (HM 19379). The final letter was written in June 1853, when Woodin was recovering from a bout of typhoid fever (HM 19381).

  mssHM 19369-19382

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  Robert Louis Stevenson letter to Francis Marion Crawford

  Manuscripts

  An autograph, signed, and undated letter written from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; contextual details identify the addressee as F. Marion Crawford and date the letter either 1891, February or 1893, March. The letter is addressed to "Dear Sir" and Robert Louis Stevenson admits he did not think very highly of Crawford's work when he first read it; he has now revised that opinion and praises Crawford's writing and career making this a "fan" letter from one celebrated author to another. On the verso of the letter is an extended signed postscript concerning music.

  mssHM 83785

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  Addressed to all whom it may concern, draft of a letter

  Manuscripts

  An autograph, unsigned letter written in pencil with envelope; it is a draft of a circular letter with corrections and additions. The contents of the letter were adopted by a committee appointed by a mass meeting of the citizens of Bossier Parish, Louisiana, held at Cottage Grove, July 31, 1886. The purpose of the committee is described as a practical movement for the abolition of miscegenation and in the letter directs interracial couples to leave Bossier Parish for a more tolerant community where miscegenation and social equality will be accepted. The pictorial envelope portrays the Montgomery Female College, Christiansburg, Virginia, and is addressed to Dr. James S. Milling of Dickinson Cross Roads, La.; James S. Milling (1831-1895) was a native of South Carolina who moved to Louisiana in 1857, and fought with the Confederate Army during the Civil War. The envelope also contains a list of names written on the verso in pencil.

  mssHM 84056

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  George Willing Clymer letter to Mary Willing Clymer

  Manuscripts

  Letter sent by George Clymer to his mother while he sailed on the Constellation for his first deployment as a US Navy apprentice surgeon. The Constellation set sail from New York on August 14, 1829, and arrived in the West Channel near Cowes, England, on September 11. Clymer begins by briefly recounting the "gloomy epistle of a landsman" that he had sent to his father regarding the difficult ocean crossing, and relating his excitement at finally spotting land off the Isle of Wight. Much of Clymer's detailed and eloquent letter is devoted to describing the scenery and towns he saw in England, along with historical anecdotes. After being allowed to go ashore he explored Cowes, which he noted was "different from the towns I had seen in America, and wears and air and aspect of a city." He was also struck by the "roast-beef and porter corporations, and the ruddy faces of the well-fed Englishmen," and widely praised the island's roads and means of transportation. He visited West Cowes Castle and the Royal Yacht Club and gives an extended description of attending afternoon tea at a hotel. After being denied permission to travel to London, Clymer returned to the Isle of Wight, seeing Carisbrooke Castle, Appuldurcombe Park and Mansion, Parkhurst Forest, the Albany Barracks, Newport, and Norris and East Cowes Castles. On a subsequent shore leave he briefly traveled to Portsmouth Harbor, Portsea, Portsmouth, and Southampton. On returning to his ship for the last time, he wrote that "I can now declare that I have passed [in England] fifty of the happiest hours of my life." He later cooled his opinion somewhat, lamenting the "extravagant beyond expectation" costs in England (which he recorded in some detail) compared to those in the United States, the "knaves" who charged higher prices to Americans, and the necessity of tipping servants. He concluded that he found the English "polite, but grossly ignorant of America." After being refused a gun salute by British naval officers, the Constellation circumnavigated the Isle of Wight and set sail south on September 21. Clymer compares the Spanish and African coasts, writes of being impressed by the town and fortress of Gibraltar, describes the Mediterranean Sea, and notes passing the islands of Formentera and Majorca. The Constellation approached Mahon Harbor in Minorca, where they were to meet the ship Delaware, on October 15, but a major storm blew the ship back out to sea. It finally reached the harbor on October 18, and Clymer concluded that "we had performed a voyage of 1500 miles in 28 days; the time we required in sailing twice that distance from New York to Cowes."

  mssHM 79957

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  William Rattle Plum letters to Robert S. Paul

  Manuscripts

  Letters that Plum wrote to his friend and classmate Robert S. Paul between March 30, 1861 and January 1865. The letters discuss the affairs of the Cuyahoga Falls Literary Club, including the election of the officers, purchase of books, etc.; Plum's work for the Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad; his Civil War service with the Department of Cumberland, especially in Kentucky and Tennessee; the leave in the fall of 1863 spent touring New York, South Connecticut, and Massachusetts; state and national politics; the affairs of the United States Military Telegraph, including a failed attempt to secure military commissions for the operators; his studies at Yale, plans for the future, etc. Plum prided himself on his telegraph skills, in particular his ability to "read my messages by sound." The letter of April 15, 1861 includes the news of the fall of Fort Sumter, Abraham Lincoln's proclamation calling for militia, etc. as they were coming off the wire. Also included is a draft of a report or a petition in favor of granting military commissions to telegraph employees; on the verso, a record of an 1864 telegram in shorthand.

  mssHM 82560-82576