Visual Materials

California: Sierra Nevada towns (excluding Grass Valley and Nevada City)

Description: Many of the portraits were made in Placerville and Sonora. One image of three men sitting at a table, smoking cigars and drinking beer; one tintype of a soldier.
Type: Visual Materials(Opens in new tab)
Production date: approximately 1860-1910.
Call number: photCL 581
Creator: Mautz, Carl(Opens in new tab)
Provenance: Purchased for the Huntington from Carl Mautz by the Library Collectors' Council, January 2016.
Restrictions: Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more information.

California: Grass Valley; Nevada City

Visual Materials

Collector Carl Mautz acquired some photographs from the William S. May family album in Grass Valley, California around 1990. There are portraits of a young white couple, May and his wife Anna (Conaway) May, and four African Americans - a man, Boz Harrison; a woman, Hannah Harrison; and two girls, Minnie and Fannie Harrison. Anna's father, Carville Conaway, arrived in California from Baltimore in 1851, settling in Grass Valley with his family, who arrived later. The 1850 U.S. Federal Census shows that Carville Conaway had three enslaved people in his household in Baltimore. It is unclear if these are the same people. The tintype of Minnie Harrison has an imprint indicating it was taken in Baltimore. Research information regarding these photographs is in the collection information file. Please see Reader Services for more information. This binder also contains a street view of the Nevada City Courthouse; a group portrait of four men and two horses in Nevada City; and two men in military uniforms.

photCL 581

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California: Far north cities and towns; Traveling photographers

Visual Materials

Contains portraits from Colusa, Red Bluff, Chico, Orland, Ukiah, Ferndale, Lakeport, Eureka, Mendocino City, Fort Jones, Weaverville, Hayden Hill, Crescent City, Alturas, Yreka, Downieville. Several portraits from the C.C. Richardson family album, Chico and Richardson Springs, California. This binder also has cartes-de-visite by traveling photographers, who worked in temporary set-up studios or sometimes worked on railroad cars, moving from town to town. One image shows a group portrait of four men at a table, one with an accordion.

photCL 581

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California, Northern: Chico, Eureka, Grass Valley, Ione City, Jackson, La Porte, Marysville

Visual Materials

One portrait of a nun wearing a habit, holding a cross (Grass Valley); one postmortem photograph of a baby (Marysville).

photCL 581

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California: Marysville; Oroville

Visual Materials

One portrait of a Chinese man; one soldier in uniform.

photCL 581

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Nebraska; Nevada

Visual Materials

Portraits in Nebraska include: a postmortem photograph of a young girl; a soldier holding a rifle. A Virginia City, Nevada portrait has writing on the back: "Indian War soldier wearing 1851 sword belt plate and 1850 officer's sword Medal of Honor. Name unknown."

photCL 581

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California: Central Valley and Central Coast

Visual Materials

Includes portraits from Modesto, Sonora, Stockton, San Luis Obispo, Santa Maria, Lompoc, Paso Robles, and various other towns.

photCL 581

California: Sierra Nevada towns (excluding Grass Valley and Nevada City)

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California: Grass Valley; Nevada City

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