Opening Hours
Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
Manuscripts
Manuscripts
Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
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Manuscripts
The collection contains 39 pieces of correspondence, 4 diaries, a letterbook from the U.S. Revenue-Cutter Service ship, "Bear," two large scrapbooks, and an illuminated manuscript testimonial to Capt. Healy in a leather pouch. Three of the diaries (1884, 1890, & 1891) are by Healy's wife, Mary Jane Roach Healy, and the fourth is by his son, Fred A. Healy (written aboard the "Corwin"). The scrapbooks contain clippings related to Capt. Healy's adventures in Alaska as well as general articles about Alaska, its population, whaling, the missionary Sheldon Jackson, and reindeer.
mssHM 47618
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Manuscripts
Containing copies of letters by Charles Stebbins Fairchild, A. B. Davis, and others.
mssHM 47615
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Manuscripts
Logbook kept by an unidentified person onboard the whaling ship Three Brothers of New Bedford, Massachusetts, captained by James M. Witherell (listed as James L. Witherell in logbook). The generally brief entries date from October 12, 1869 to August 18, 1873 and mention the ship's position, weather, prevailing winds, ships sighted, whales encountered, and some shipboard activity. A few entries mention anchoring and shoreleave but most do not give the location. Some entries appear to be in different hands, with one dated June 18, 1873 including a note regarding an officer's conduct signed by captain J.M. Witherell. Volume is bound and covered in cloth; the inside front cover has an advertising insert for C.R. Sherman & Co. Navigation Store, New Bedford.
mssHM 263
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Manuscripts
The journal begins with Calkin leaving Auburn, New York on September 24, 1833, for Nantucket, Massachusetts, where he signs on to the crew of the whaling ship Independence, captained by Isaac Brayton. Calkin provides descriptions of whaling, icebergs, other ships encountered, a burial at sea, storms, and weather. The journal chronicles the ship's journey around Cape Horn to Chile and Peru, including a visit ashore to Lima and its Bellavista and Callao areas with descriptions of a Catholic Church and damage from the 1746 earthquake; the Galapagos Islands; the Marquesas Islands and Nuku Hiva, where he describes the Indigenous people and details a fatal encounter of two shipmates with locals; and to the Sandwich Islands (now Hawaii). Following the shipwreck of the Independence on Starbuck Island on December 13, 1835, Calkin describes taking shelter on the deserted island and then going to sea in smaller boats with crewmates, eventually landing in the Cook Islands--first on Manuae Atoll, also known as the Hervey Islands, then Aitutaki and Rarotonga. The journal contains descriptions of the islands, local inhabitants, flora, and Christian missionaries encountered. Calkin then travels to the Sandwich Islands in November 1836, where he lives until January 1842; there is little description of his life there. The journal also contains 13 watercolor sketches of whales and whaling, icebergs, birds, flora, an iguana on the Galapagos Islands, and buildings in the Sandwich Islands. Some of the journal appears to have been written retrospectively. Also present is a loose letter from U.D. Kellogg, Harpersfield, Ohio, to Kezia Calkin, Sandusky, Ohio, approximately 1835 (1 page).
mssHM 26539
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Rare Books
142599