Description
This collection contains an 1849 sea voyage diary of A.M. Ebbets (1830-1903) chronicling
his trip to San Francisco, California,
and supplementary material about Ebbets. Nineteen pages of pencil drawings
by Arthur Ebbets, depicting scenes from his 1849 voyage, accompany the diary.
Background
Rosario Andrea Curletti (1913-1986) was a
Southern California anthropologist, genealogist, historian and book collector. Her
main specialties were Santa Barbara history and the Chumash Indians. Curletti
began assembling this collection in the 1950s and made (unsuccessful) efforts to
have Arthur Ebbets’ diary published. She died in 1986. Arthur Mercein Ebbets (1830-1903) was born in New York on 18 January 1830 and came to San
Francisco at the age of 19, in 1849, on the ship Pacific
(built in 1843). While on board the Pacific,
Ebbets published a newspaper that was highly critical of the ship's first captain,
Hall J. Tibbits, whom many of the ship’s passengers considered nearly insane. Upon
the ship's arrival at Rio de Janeiro, the passengers appealed to the American consul
to have Tibbits removed. The consul complied, placing George T. Estabrook (or
Easterbrook) in command for the remainder of the voyage. Captain Tibbits contested
his dismissal and met the ship in San Francisco to resume command.
Extent
70 items in 2 boxes
Restrictions
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to
quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such
activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is
one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
Availability
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services
Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.