San Francisco Chief of Police Department Correspondence
MS.141
M. Carey
University of California, Santa Cruz
2013
1156 High Street
Santa Cruz 95064
speccoll@library.ucsc.edu
Note
FA published July, 2013
Contributing Institution:
University of California, Santa Cruz
Title: San Francisco Chief of Police Department correspondence
Identifier/Call Number: MS.141
Physical Description:
0.25 Linear Feet
1 half document box (61 items)
Date (inclusive): 1868-1877
Physical Description: 1 portfolio
Language of Material:
English .
Access
Collection open for research.
Acquisition Information
Purchased in early 1960s from Argonaut Book Store, San Francisco, CA.
Biographies
Henry Hiram Ellis came to California in 1849 from Maine, was a gold miner and captain of
several vessels before coming to San Francisco as policeman in 1855. He worked his way up in
the Police Force and was elected chief of Police in 1875.
Patrick Crowley: Growing up in New York, Crowley gave up work as a printer in 1847 and
volunteered to serve aboard the USS Macedonian during its relief mission to Ireland during
the potato famine. Moving to California in 1850, he settled in San Francisco and in 1856 was
elected a city constable. In 1866 he was elected Chief of the San Francisco Police
Department serving until 1873. Following the creation of a Police Commission, Crowley was
appointed Chief of Police again in 1879 and served until his retirement in 1897. He was the
longest serving chief of the San Francisco Police Department.
Preferred Citation
San Francisco Chief of Police Department correspondence. MS 141. Special Collections and
Archives, University Library, University of California, Santa Cruz.
Finding aid revision statement
This finding aid was revised in the Reparative Archival Redescription Project in 2021-2022.
Previous versions of this finding aid are available upon request.
Scope and Content of Collection
This collection contains fifty eight letters, two official documents, and one newspaper
article, and mainly written by law enforcement officers from around the country to Henry H.
Ellis, San Francisco Chief of Police from 1873 to 1877. Includes one letter addressed to
Patrick Crowley, Chief of Police from 1868 to 1873,and one list giving the "Number &
character of Chinese arrests for the 3 months ending 30 Sept 1876."
Publication Rights
Copyright for the items in this collection is owned by the creators and their heirs.
Reproduction or distribution of any work protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair
use requires permission from the copyright owner. It is the responsibility of the user to
determine whether a use is fair use, and to obtain any necessary permissions. For more
information see UCSC Special Collections and Archives policy on Reproduction and Use.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Chinese Americans -- California -- San
Francisco
Law enforcement -- California -- San
Francisco -- 19th century
Schick, George Dexter, 1845-1876
San Francisco (Calif.). Police
Department
Ellis, Henry Hiram, 1829-1909
Crowley, Patrick
box-folder 1:1
Crowley, Patrick,
4/7/1872
box-folder 1:2
Ellis, Henry H.,
undated, 1873-1877
box-folder 1:4
List - "Number & Character of Chinese Arrests for the 3 months ending 30
Sept. 1876",
1875-1876
box-folder 1:5
"Miner's Dream" from
The Flag of Our Nation -
clipping,
undated
