Manuscripts

Henry Scamman letter to Francesca B. Allen

Image not available

Description: Letter from Henry Scamman to Francesca Allen, providing comments about Scamman's family, his varied activities, and his hopes that Francesca would visit him in the spring. Scamman also writes about going to Sacramento to fight a tax-related bill and hunting quail. With envelope.
Type: Manuscripts(Opens in new tab)
Production date: 1870 February 4.
Call number: mssHM 83979
Creator: Scamman, Henry (1831-1893)(Opens in new tab)
Provenance: Purchased from aGatherin', January 2020
Restrictions: Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more information.

Scamman, Henry. 15 letters (1893) to Francesca B. Scamman. 15 items

Manuscripts

The collection is arranged alphabetically by author, or in the case of ephemera, type. The first six boxes consist entirely of correspondence, the lone exception being a manuscript entitled "Mind your Business," one of Scamman's school papers. Highlights include an extensive series of correspondence between the husband and wife from the early 1890s detailing Scamman's discovery that one of his trusted employees, Henry T. Briggs, had embezzled thousands of dollars from Scamman's bank in Downieville. Though Scamman did not prosecute Briggs criminally, he ordered his disgraced clerk to hand over all of his life insurance, his stock in the gold mine in which both men had invested, and any money in his possession. Also prominent in the correspondence are letters to and from captains of Scamman's ship, the bark "Wildwood." The collection's ephemera component is its largest, and includes business ledgers, checks, legal documents, receipts, bills, mortgages, promissory notes, insurance policies, deeds, and tax forms. There is also an autographed copy of a book given to Scamman's daughter in 1932 in oversize. Subjects in the collection include: agriculture; banks and banking; Butte County and Downieville (Calif.); merchant ships; mining; and Saco (Me.).

mssScamman papers

Image not available