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Finding aid to the Jacob P. Leese papers, 1837-1862,
MS OV 10
MS OV 10
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Title: Jacob P. Leese papers
Date: 1837-1862
Collection Identifier: MS OV 10
Creator:
Leese, Jacob P. (Jacob Primer), 1809-1892.
Contributing Institution:
California Historical Society
678 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA, 94105-4014
(415) 357-1848
reference@calhist.org
URL: http://californiahistoricalsociety.org/
Language of Materials: Most collection materials are in English, with some correspondence in Spanish.
Abstract: Consists of personal and business correspondence, indentures, legal documents, ship's papers, accounts, inventories, and maps,
documenting the activities, business interests, and land holdings of early California merchant Jacob P. Leese, his wife Rosalia
Vallejo de Leese, and his partner Thomas O. Larkin, between the years 1837 to 1862. Items of note include indentures for three
Chinese servants transported to California from Hong Kong in 1849; accounts for the brig
Eveline, on which Leese traveled to China to engage in trade (1849); a signed account statement of John C. Fremont for the United
States Army (1847); accounts with Hudson's Bay Company (1841); and deeds and other legal documents for land holdings in San
Francisco, Monterey, and Sonoma, including Rancho Sausal. The collection also contains three manuscript maps depicting Rancho
Sotoyome (surveyed by Jasper O'Farrell, 1844); lots 327 and 328 at Broad Way and Battery in San Francisco (surveyed by William
M. Eddy, 1850); and lots in Monterey belonging to Thomas Larkin and others prior to 1848 (1849).
CHS is not taking appointments for research at this time. Please check the Library's website updates:
https://californiahistoricalsociety.org/collections/north-baker-research-library/
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Director
of Library and Archives, North Baker Research Library, California Historical Society, 678 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA
94105. Consent is given on behalf of the California Historical Society as the owner of the physical items and is not intended
to include or imply permission from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner. Restrictions
also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to research and educational
purposes.
[Identification of item], Jacob P. Leese papers, MS OV 10, California Historical Society.
Daguerreotype portraits of Jacob P. Leese and Rosalia Vallejo de Leese can be found in the California Historical Society's
Daguerreotype Collection under the identifying numbers 8G and 8H.
Collection items are on indefinite loan from the M. H. De Young Memorial Museum.
Early California merchant Jacob Primer Leese was born in St. Clairsville, Ohio, in 1809, and came to California in 1833 and
again in 1834, engaging in trade in Los Angeles and later in Monterey. In 1836, Leese entered into a mercantile partnership
with Monterey businessmen Nathan Spear and William Sturgis Hinckley, relocated to Yerba Buena (now San Francisco), and there
opened a store. The partners ran a profitable business, trading merchandise for rancho products. Naturalized in 1837, Leese
married Rosalia Vallejo, sister of General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo. In 1841, Leese sold his business interests to Hudson's
Bay Company, and moved to his Sonoma ranch, still retaining extensive land holdings in Yerba Buena. Leese served as alcalde
in Sonoma (1844-1845), and was one of the prisoners taken in the 1846 Bear Flag Revolt. Around 1849, he entered into a business
partnership with Thomas Oliver Larkin in Monterey, traveling to China on the brig
Eveline. Leese and his wife were also major land holders in Monterey County; among their claims was Rancho Sausal, deeded to Rosalia
by her brother Mariano G. Vallejo. Leese left California in 1865, returning to the state in 1885. He died in San Francisco
in 1892.
The collection consists of personal and business correspondence, indentures, legal documents, ship's papers, accounts, inventories,
and maps, documenting the activities, business interests, and land holdings of early California merchant Jacob P. Leese, his
wife Rosalia Vallejo de Leese, and his partner Thomas O. Larkin, between the years 1837 to 1862. Items of note include indentures
for three Chinese servants transported to California from Hong Kong on the
Mary in 1849; accounts for the brig
Eveline, on which Leese traveled to China to engage in trade (1849); a signed account statement of John C. Fremont for the United
States Army (1847); accounts with Hudson's Bay Company (1841); and deeds and other legal documents for land holdings in San
Francisco, Monterey, and Sonoma, including Rancho Sausal. The collection also contains three manuscript maps depicting Rancho
Sotoyome (surveyed by Jasper O'Farrell, 1844); lots 327 and 328 at Broad Way and Battery in San Francisco (surveyed by William
M. Eddy, 1850); and lots in Monterey belonging to Thomas Larkin and others prior to 1848 (1849).
Many prominent early Californians, businessmen, and firms are represented in Leese's correspondence, accounts, and legal papers,
including: Thomas O. Larkin; Philip A. Roach; Antonio M. Osio; Fr. Rafael de Jesus Moreno; Rafael Garcia; Faxon Dean Atherton;
G. F. Grant (?); Henry Mellus; Joseph B. Eaton; John C. Fremont; Graciano Manjarrez; Mariano G. Vallejo; William E. P. Hartnell;
Juan B. Alvarado; Alexander S. Taylor; Parrott & Co.; the Society of California Pioneers; Hudson's Bay Company; Lovering &
Gay; Mellus, Howard & Co.; Alizal Silver Mining Co.; and the Monterey Wharf Company.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog:
Leese, Jacob P. (Jacob Primer), 1809-1892--Archives.
Merchants--California.
Chinese--California.
Chinese--United States--Legal status, laws, etc.
Land titles--California--Monterey County.
Real property--California--Monterey County.
Real property--California--San Francisco.
Real property--California--Sonoma County.
California--Commerce.
San Francisco (Calif.)--Commerce.
China--Commerce--United States.
United States--Commerce--China.
Rancho Sausal (Monterey County)
Rancho Sotoyome (Sonoma County)--Maps.
Monterey (Calif.)--Maps.
San Francisco (Calif.)--Maps.
Larkin, Thomas Oliver, 1802-1858.
Vallejo de Leese, Rosalia.
Frémont, John C. (John Charles), 1813-1890.
Eddy, William M.
O'Farrell, Jasper, 1817-1875.
Eveline (Brig).
Hudson's Bay Company.
Manuscript maps.
Ship's papers.
Deeds.
Indentures.
Inventories.