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Writ of execution on the judgement by John McBride

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    William S. McBride diary

    Manuscripts

    Diary kept by William S. McBride as he traveled overland from Indiana to Utah in 1850. He departed from Goshen, Indiana, on March 31 in company with Eli W. Summey, Fred Summey, Enoch Willett, and Louis Mitchel, who were already calling themselves "Californians." On April 7 they took the steamer Falcon to St. Louis (which McBride called a "second Babel"), and immediately departed on the steamer Globe. Their steamer was delayed several times and it took ten days to reach Jefferson City, and another five to arrive in St. Joseph. While they camped nearby for several days, McBride took the opportunity to observe his fellow emigrants, and although he was impressed by their appearance ("All seemed jovial and full of life...the horses too...pranced along like gay studs on a celebration day," he noted), he was not entirely caught up in the moment. "This is the going out upon the plains," he wrote. "We will see by & bye how it contrasts with the 'coming in from the plains.'"His group departed in a company of 14 wagons on May 2. He writes often of hunting buffalo and antelope (which "made excellent soups"), and that while he himself had cut out a buffalo tongue (which "would be considered a delicate morsel...at St. Louis"), he "felt a deep sympathy" for buffalo approaching the pioneer guns, as they seemed to be "running the gauntlet." He writes extensively of his surroundings, including a mirage, a "very singular but...common occurrence" which made "men...[look] like giants 14 or 15 feet high...horses double their natural size, and...rivers of water when there was no water." McBride also records the initial high morale in camp, as "we often had music and singing." But about a week after their arrival at Fort Kearney on May 16, McBride began to worry about his party's progress, noting that they had fallen behind and were being passed by emigrants who left St. Joseph several days after they did. Blaming the large size of the wagon train for delays, McBride and his companions went on ahead of the rest of the company. They quickly traversed a Sioux village (McBride formed a favorable opinion of the Sioux people), climbed a rock in the area of Chimney Rock (at "no little danger to life & limb"), passed Scott's Bluffs, caught their first glimpse of the Rocky Mountains, crossed the Laramie River, and arrived at Fort Laramie on May 31. He noted the diminished morale of emigrants at Fort Laramie, and noted that many of them were forced to leave their wagons and horses behind, "in some instances sold for little or nothing, or abandoned." By June 1 he reached the Black Hills, and soon crossed the Platte River, observed Independence Rock (which he recognized from a picture he had seen in his "school boy days"), passed Devil's Gate, and reached the Big Sandy on June 16 ("I believe we are in Mexican Territory," McBride guessed on June 17). On June 18 he crossed the Green River with the aid of a "half breed" mountaineer who was "gifted with no ordinary degree of intelligence & energy." He subsequently passed Fort Hall and the Oregon Trail and crossed the Red Fork (on a "very inferior ferry, constructed out of logs pinned together" and attached to "a heavy cable"). On the other side of the river he observed a "very white human skull set up on a stick" which had been "very much used of late as a kind of tablet on which memoranda were written." On June 25 he had his first view of the Utah Valley, and arrived in Salt Lake City on June 26. McBride gives an extensive description of the Salt Lake Valley, and praises the Mormons for having done "a great deal in a short time." But his overall opinion of the Mormons was "very poor," and he described them as "poor silly fanatics, reckless renegades, and blood seekers [with]...no moral honesty." Guided by "artful...dishonest leaders," McBride thought they were prone to excess drinking, "concubinage," lying, cheating, and extortion. The diary ends in Salt Lake City on June 26. The entire diary appears to have been copied over by McBride from his original notes. Also includes a photograph of McBride.

    mssHM 16956

  • Fragment from a Register of writs : [manuscript]

    Fragment from a Register of writs : [manuscript]

    Manuscripts

    ff. 1-8v. [Register of Writs; beginning with a writ of right dated 26 November, 25 Henry [VI], 1447 brought by John Shirland against William Asthill for a messuage in "N.," and ending defectively with a Recordari addressed to the council of Dover castle].

    mssHM 15242

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    John Adams notification of Thomas Jefferson's election as vice president of the United States :

    Manuscripts

    Copy of certification by the House of Representatives and Senate of the election of Thomas Jefferson as vice president of the United States, signed by Adams. Attested "true copy" by the chief clerk of the Department of State, George Taylor.

    mssHM 9466

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    John Simpson Chisum receipts

    Manuscripts

    This small group of items includes receipts to and from John Chisum for the payment of debts including state and county taxes. One of the receipts is for school taxes in Sherman, Grayson County, Texas. Some of the receipts relate to other Chisum family members such as T. J.?, Elijah, and Delilah. There are a few fragments as well as a wallet and a handkerchief, both presumably owned by Chisum.

    mssHM 78280-78287

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    John T. B. McMaster ledger of the medical practice of John T. B. McMaster and John L. Hearn

    Manuscripts

    This bound-volume is a ledger kept by Dr. John T. B. McMaster and his partner Dr. Hearn regarding their medical visits to citizens of New Town, Worcester County, Maryland from 1850 to 1852. The doctors include name of patient (some of the time), reason for visiting, treatment, date of visit, and the fee paid to them for services. The doctors treated both whites and blacks (free blacks, fugitives and slaves). In their ledger, if the patient was black, they would write "Negro" after the patients' name (although it is expected that not every black is identified as such). The patients include a slave at Beverly, a large estate owned by John Upshur Dennis.

    mssHM 71482

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    John Carothers application to operate a ferry

    Manuscripts

    This set of manuscripts documents John Carothers' application to operate a ferry across the Willamette River to Oregon. Included is a petition with signatures of residents of Clackamas County, Oregon, supporting Carothers' application. Dated 1854, June 1 - July 18.

    mssHM 27808