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Guide to the Isaac N. Casner Papers
MS 275
MS 275
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Title: Isaac N. Casner Papers
Identifier/Call Number: MS 275
Contributing Institution:
San Diego History Center Document Collection
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
0.5 Linear feet
(1 box)
Date (inclusive): 1882 December 19-1924 June 19
Abstract: This collection contains the personal diaries and papers of Isaac N. Casner, a ranch hand who worked in Texas, Oregon, and
San Diego County, California in the late 1800s.
creator:
Casner, Isaac N.
Collection processed by Samantha Mills on August 22, 2012.
Collection processed as part of grant project supported by the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) with generous
funding from The Andrew Mellon Foundation.
Isaac N. Casner Papers, MS 275, San Diego History Center Document Collection, San Diego, CA.
The San Diego History Center (SDHC) holds the copyright to any unpublished materials. SDHC Library regulations do apply.
This collection is open for research.
Biographical / Historical Notes
Isaac N. Casner was born in Texas on March 7, 1857. He moved to San Diego County, California by 1888, where some of his family
already lived on the homestead of Martin Van Casner in Ballena. He lived in San Diego County as least through 1902, working
as a ranch hand on various ranches in the Ballena and Ramona areas. He worked for several notable homesteaders, including
Charles Bailey, John Clevenger, William Wallace Littlepage, Madison D. Putman, Joseph Swycaffer, Samuel Warnock, William Warnock,
and various members of the Casner family. He also had frequent dealings with the Verlaque family, one of the first families
in Ramona and owners of the local post office and a general goods store. By 1908 Isaac owned and operated his own ranch outside
Portland, Oregon.
This collection contains the personal diaries and papers of Isaac N. Casner. There are 14 diaries dated 1882 to 1908. In these
diaries, Isaac kept daily records of his work and recreational activities. He moved frequently from ranch to ranch, either
living with his employers, his friends, or his extended family. He recorded a variety of work tasks related to horse, cattle,
and sheep ranching, plowing and sowing grains, fruit farming, beekeeping, and even a brief stint in gold mining. He also recorded
the activities he engaged in during his free time on the range or in town, and in periods of unemployment between work seasons.
These included cooking, mending clothes, reading novels and magazines, composing songs, playing card games with friends, drinking,
and gambling. Personal papers include a letter, grocery receipts, and financial notes.
Collection is arranged into two series:
Series I: Personal Diaries
Series II: Personal Papers
Diaries are arranged chronologically, and papers are arranged by subject.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Diary 1: The pencil writing is faded. Diary 6: The cover has split along the spine and detached from the pages. Diary 9: The
cloth covering the spine has partially peeled off. (August 16, 2012)
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Accession number 990516.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Bailey, Charles W.
Barnett, M.
Casner, Afra
Casner, Fannie A.
Casner, Isaac N.
Casner, Lazarus Peter
Casner, Martin Van
Casner, William D.
Clevenger, Ed
Clevenger, John
Daily, Tom
Dalton, H.
Hatfield, Antonio
Hutchens, John
Hutchens, Mary
Hutchens, O. B.
Hutchens, Tom
Littlepage, Albert E.
Littlepage, Charles P.
Littlepage, Edith
Littlepage, William Wallace
McLeod, Charley
Mulkins, John W.
Parker, A. H.
Poole, James F.
Poole, William
Putman, Jim
Putman, Madison D.
Roberts, Elex
Sargent, Bell
Sargent, William
Sewell, Lonnie
Sheppard, J.
Shipp, William A.
Stevens, Charles
Strahan, Ernest
Swycaffer, Jefferson Davis
Swycaffer, Joseph
Verlaque, J. A.
Warnock, Samuel
Warnock, William J.
Woods, James M.
Woods, Mace
Agriculture
Bee culture
Beef cattle
Borrego Springs (Calif.)
Cattle herding
Cowboys
Crops
Diaries
Escondido (Calif.)
Fruit growers
Gillespie County (Tex.)
Gold panning
Harvesting
Horses -- Training
Lakeside (Calif.)
Livestock
Los Angeles (Calif.)
Newberg (Or.)
Plowing
Portland (Or.)
Ramona (Calif.)
Ranching
Randall County (Tex.)
Receipts (Acknowledgements)
San Diego (Calif.)
San Vicente (Baja California, Mexico)
Sheepherding
Sowing