Jesse Smart correspondence

The collection contains two documents and 38 pieces of correspondence, 23 of which are letters by Jesse Smart to his sons. These letters mostly discuss Smart's experience in California mining for gold and running his nursery. He often asks his sons to send him seeds of plants that are not available in California. He also comments on the prices of produce in California and the effects of the weather and insects on his crops. The remaining correspondence is written by other Smart family members and often discusses life in California, and more specifically, Sacramento. One letter, which is written by Jesse's daughter Charlotte, discusses her voyage to California from Maine.