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Bernal Family Papers
mssHM
70789-70855
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Title: Bernal Family Papers
Dates: 1849-approximately 1896
Collection Call Number: mssHM
70789-70855
Creator:
Bernal family
Extent:
67 items in 1 box
Repository:
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
Manuscripts Department
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2129
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
Abstract: This collection chiefly documents
business, legal, financial, and real estate-related activities
of the Bernal family and their associates in the San Francisco Bay area of California in
the mid-to-late 19th century.
Language of Material: The records are in English and
Spanish.
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader
Services.
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.
[Identification of item]. Bernal Family Papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Purchased from Argonaut Bookshop, March 1949.
The Bernal Family resided in the San Francisco Bay area during the latter part of the
19th century. Carmen Sibrian de Bernal, who was born at San Juan Bautista Mission on
April 14, 1804, married Jose Cornelio Bernal on Junee 26, 1819 at Santa Clara
Mission. As these documents reveal, Carmen Sibrian de Bernal assumed a greater role
in the family's legal and financial matters after the death of her husband in
November 1850. The documents also demonstrate that the couple's son, Jose de Jesus
Bernal, born circa December 26, 1830 at San Francisco Mission, also took an active
role in the family's dealings, particularly in real estate affairs. Jose de Jesus
Bernal eventually married Geronima Rufino, whose family members also contributed to
this collection. Other persons who had familial ties to the Bernals include members
of the Vasquez and Higuera families. Other associates include members of the Italian
and Euro-American communities in the San Francisco area.
This collection chiefly documents
business, legal, financial, and real estate-related activities
of the Bernal family and their associates in the San Francisco Bay area of California in
the mid-to-late 19th century.
The chronologically-arranged documents demonstrate the range of legal, financial, and
real estate-related transactions initiated by or concerning the Bernal Family and
their associates. Included in this series are legal contracts, mortgages, leases,
title deeds, promissory notes, tax receipts, and general accounting records. The
series also includes materials created and / or signed by California-based
administrators, most notably by Jacques Antoine Moerenhout. The Belgian-born
Moerenhout served as consul for France in the United States and Tahiti and authored
The Inside Story of the Gold Rush (Campbell 85). Also represented is Henry Haight,
the San Francisco-based banker and uncle of the tenth governor of California, Henry
H. Haight.
The chronologically-arranged correspondence includes personal and business letters to
and by the Bernal Family members and their associates. Many letters were directed to
Geronima Rufino de Bernal, with a minority of letters directed to Carmen Sibrian de
Bernal.
Two chronologically-arranged portraits comprise their own series. Both portraits were
taken by San Francisco-based photographers, Charles Lake Cramer and George Daniels
Morse, sometime during the last thirty years of the nineteenth century. Only the
sitter in Morse's photograph was named and identified as Luis Ruffino.
Finally, ephemera are contained in the last folder of the collection. These items
include: a blank indenture form signed by Charles C Moore; a "Compromisos" (or
Obligations) printed card, filled in with pencil; an empty envelope addressed to
Carmen Sibrian de Bernal, postmarked January 3, 1882; and two business cards, one
for Mr. and Mrs. Aldrich and the other for Mr. and Mrs. Forbes.
The collection is arranged in 4 series in 1 box:
- Documents
- Correspondence
- Cartes-de-visite (2 items)
- Ephemera (5 items)
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
Huntington Library's Online Catalog.
Bernal
family
Halleck, H. W. (Henry
Wager), 1815-1872
Moss, Joseph
Mora,1809-1880
Deeds--California
Landlord and
tenant--California
Land titles--Registration and
transfer--California.
Leases--California
Mortgages--California
Real property tax--California
Taxation--California--San
Francisco
Women--California
California--History--19th
century--Sources
Livermore (Calif.)
San Francisco (Calif.)
San Mateo County (Calif.)
Cartes-de-visite (card
photographs)
Deeds California 19th
century
Leases California 19th
century
Legal documents California 19th
century
Letters (correspondence) California
19th century
Promissory notes