Manuscripts

William Flinn's trip across the plains [microform]: 1849

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Description: Microfilm of a typescript of William Flinn's account of crossing the plains to California in 1849. His family started from Pine, Indiana, and sailed to the Ohio River. They then took a steamer up the Mississippi River to Kansas City. Shortly after being their journey, Flinn's brother and mother died from cholera. Flinn also describes camping near Sioux Indians, crossing the South Platte River, crossing the Rocky Mountains along the Green River, passing through Salt Lake City, seeing Chimney Rock and Court House Rock, traveling near the Sweet Water River, his grandmother's attempt at finding a cut off (she was later brought back to camp by a local Indian), and finally arriving in Yuba County and camping for the winter on the Feather River. Flinn notes that he then took a boat to Sacramento, where he remained until 1850.
Type: Manuscripts(Opens in new tab)
Date: 1849
Call number: MSS MFilm 00223 item 04
Creator: Flinn, William(Opens in new tab)
Provenance: Microfilm of original loaned by Augusta Flake, November 23, 1950.
Find out more: View in the Huntington Digital Library(Opens in new tab); View in the Library catalog(Opens in new tab)

Life sketch of Mons Larson [microform]: 1935

Manuscripts

Microfilm of a typescript biography of Mons Larson, written by his granddaughter Violet Elaine Alt in 1935. The biography traces Larson's early life his Sweden, his conversion to Mormonism, his decision to immigrate to the United States, his sailing to New York and traveling by train to Florence, Nebraska, his overland trip to Utah, his settlement in Tooele, his decision to enter into polygamy, his colonization of Snowflake, his moves to Pima and Mexico, and his death in Arizona in 1890. It also includes a long account of a return journey from Utah to Snowflake with the Silas S. Smith company, which took a difficult route near the Green River and got stuck near Hole-in-the-Rock. It also describes Larson's wife Olivia giving birth in a blizzard during the ordeal.

MSS MFilm 00223 item 02

Diaries of William Farrer [microform] : 1849-1854

Manuscripts

Microfilm of six diaries kept by William Farrer from 1849-1854. The first volume, dated 1849, recalls Farrer's travels from Utah to California with Charles Coulson Rich. The 1850-1851 diary begins when Farrer was preparing to depart California for Hawaii, and recounts his sea voyage and missionary work through 1851. The remaining four diaries were kept while Farrer was serving on his Hawaiian mission, and are dated 1851-1852, 1852-1853, 1853, and 1854. Also included on the reel is "A Short Account of My Mission to the Sandwich Islands," sent by Farrer to "Pres. Clawson and Tibbetts" in 1855, and a brief excerpt on Farrer from the Deseret News, dated 1897 and written by Ramona Farrer Cottam.

MSS MFilm 00250

Autobiography of John Powell [microform]: c.1849-1901

Manuscripts

Microfilm of the autobiography of John Powell. Powell begins by recalling his early life in England, including his conversion to Mormonism and his mission to Stratford in 1849. He then describes his family's immigration to the United States, sailing from Liverpool to New Orleans on the ship Ellen. The family rented a room in St. Louis, and Powell describes the sickness and poverty that prevented them from starting for Salt Lake City until 1856 (in the interim he mentions his mission to Calhoun County in 1855). He describes the family's overland journey to Utah, including meeting with Indians near the Platte River. Once in Utah Powell joined the Utah Territorial Mormon Militia, and he briefly describes his experiences in Echo Canyon in 1857. The rest of the autobiography focuses on Powell's life in Fillmore, Utah, and includes references to his work on the settlement at Deseret, his furniture store in Fillmore, his trips to St. George in 1877 and 1884, and his time in the Utah Penitentiary after pleading guilty to unlawful cohabitation in 1889. Also included in the volume are descriptions of Powell's visions and dreams; copies of letters; transcriptions of blessings and articles from the Deseret News; and transcribed texts of the Constitution of the State of Utah, The Edmunds Bill (also known as the Edmunds Anti-Polygamy Act of 1882), the Declaration of Principles from the People's Convention (1882), and the Origin and Destiny of Women by John Taylor (1897). The volume ends with lists of local births, deaths, and blessings given; some Powell family genealogy; and a list of the residents of Fillmore in 1858.

MSS MFilm 00066 item 02

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Pinckerey?, William H. Letter to Samuel Flinn. Lansing, Mich

Manuscripts

The collection consists of letters written between various members of the Flinn family between 1847 and 1873. The majority of the letters are addressed to Samuel Flinn from his brothers, nieces, and nephews. Major topics covered in the correspondence include western expansion and travel, farming and agriculture, Michigan and Ohio state politics, national politics, land tenure and the settlement of estates, Ohio state banking laws, the practice of ophthalmology, religious revivals in Ohio, the Spiritual Knockers movement in New York state, emigration to California, and family relationships, including courtship and marriage, in New York, Michigan, and Ohio.

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Pinckerey?, William H. Letter to Chester Flinn. Lansing, Mich

Manuscripts

HM 79106.

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Diggs, William S. Letter to Samuel Flinn. Detroit, Mich

Manuscripts

HM 79105.

William Flinn's trip across the plains [microform]: 1849

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Life sketch of Mons Larson [microform]: 1935

Diaries of William Farrer [microform] : 1849-1854

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Pinckerey?, William H. Letter to Samuel Flinn. Lansing, Mich

Pinckerey?, William H. Letter to Chester Flinn. Lansing, Mich

Diggs, William S. Letter to Samuel Flinn. Detroit, Mich