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Finding aid of the Spooner Family papers
MSS 270  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Descriptive Summary
  • Access
  • Publication Rights
  • Preferred Citation
  • Biography / Administrative History
  • Scope and Content of Collection
  • Indexing Terms
  • Related Material

  • Descriptive Summary

    Title: Spooner family papers
    Dates: 1857-1963
    Collection number: MSS 270
    Creator: Spooner, John Pitcher, 1845-1917
    Collection Size: .5 linear feet
    Repository: University of the Pacific. Library. Holt-Atherton Dept. of Special Collections
    Stockton, California 95211
    Abstract: Collection consists of family photographs of John Pitcher Spooner family and papers of John Pitcher Spooner and Fred K. Spooner. John Pitcher Spooner's papers include family correspondence, notes, a sea voyage sketchbook and genealogy notes (1857-1917). Fred Spooner's papers include school papers and reminiscences of steamboat crew members and childhood experiences (1920s).
    Physical location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
    Languages: Languages represented in the collection: English

    Access

    Collection open for research.

    Publication Rights

    Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.

    Preferred Citation

    Spooner family papers. MSS 270. Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections, University of the Pacific Library.

    Biography / Administrative History

    John Pitcher Spooner was born in New Bedford, Mass. (1845) and went to sea at an early age. After several voyages he settled in San Francisco, Calif. (1864), where he took a job with Bradley-Rulofson Photographers. After fifteen years with this firm he married one of his models, Sarah Elizabeth Williams, and opened his own studio in Stockton, Calif. (1879). Spooner's glass plate photographs and stereo views of Stockton constitute a valuable record of the city's appearance during the last quarter of the 19th century. Spooner retired in 1901. He had two children, John Jr., a civil engineer, and Susan Spooner White, a teacher.
    Fred K. Spooner, who is represented by many items in this collection, is the son of John Pitcher Spooner, Jr. Fred Spooner was an educator, serving for many years as Principal of Stockton Junior High School. His reminiscences describe the colorful steamboat era in Stockton history (1890-1920).

    Scope and Content of Collection

    Collection consists of family photographs of John Pitcher Spooner family and papers of John Pitcher Spooner and Fred K. Spooner. John Pitcher Spooner's papers include family correspondence, notes, a sea voyage sketchbook and genealogy notes (1857-1917). Fred Spooner's papers include school papers and reminiscences of steamboat crew members and childhood experiences (1920s)

    Indexing Terms

    The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
    John Pitcher Spooner Photography Studio (Stockton, Calif.)
    Spooner family
    Spooner, Fred K.
    Photographers - California - Stockton
    River steamers - California - Stockton
    Stockton (Calif.) - Social life and customs
    Stockton (Calif.) - History

    Related Material

    Many Stockton photographs by John Pitcher Spooner are located in the general photogrpah collection in the Holt-Atherton Special Collections department.