Finding aid to the Faxon Dean Atherton family papers, 1852-1910,
MS 4129
Finding aid prepared by Marie Silva
California Historical Society
678 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA, 94105-4014
(415) 357-1848
reference@calhist.org
2011
Title: Faxon Dean Atherton family papers
Date: 1852-1910
Collection Identifier: MS
4129
Creator:
Atherton, Faxon Dean, 1815-1877
Extent:
2 boxes,
1 volume
(1.5 linear feet)
Contributing Institution:
California Historical Society
678 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA, 94105-4014
(415) 357-1848
reference@calhist.org
URL: http://www.californiahistoricalsociety.org/
Location of Materials: Collection is stored onsite.
Language of Materials: Collections materials are mostly
in English, with some papers in Spanish.
Abstract: Dated between 1852 and 1910, the bulk of the
collection consists of personal and business correspondence addressed to Faxon Dean
Atherton; business records generated by Atherton, his agents, and associates in
Valparaiso and California; and real estate records for land owned by Atherton in
Alameda, Contra Costa, Monterey, and Santa Cruz counties. The collection also
includes personalia and ephemera collected by Atherton family members; court
documents and probate records; income, state, and county tax documents; and other
papers.
Access
Publication Rights
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from or otherwise use collection materials
must be submitted in writing to the Director of the 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.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Faxon Dean Atherton family papers, MS 4129, California
Historical Society.
Related Collections
Related materials may be found in the Faxon Dean Atherton papers, Vault MS 5.
System of Arrangement
The collection is arranged in seven series: 1) Correspondence; 2) Personalia and
ephemera; 3) Business records; 4) Legal records; 5) Real estate records; 6) Income,
state, and county tax records; and 7) James Lick Trust records. Papers are arranged
in rough chronological order within series.
Processing Information
Processed by Marie Silva in 2011.
Biographical Information
Faxon Dean Atherton was born in Dedham, Massachusetts, in 1815. He began his
commercial career in 1830 as an apprentice to his brother-in-law, Boston merchant
Charles T. Ward, and started his own hauling business in Boston in 1832. Atherton
first came to the Pacific Coast in 1833, securing a position with Loring & Co.
at their ship chandlery firm in Valparaiso, Chile, the following year. Around 1835,
he met George Henry Bowen, who would become his business partner and lifelong
friend.
From 1836 to 1838, Atherton worked as a clerk for Alpheus B. Thompson, a merchant
engaged in the hides and tallow trade on the California coast. During this period,
Atherton penned his California diary and formed friendships with many prominent
Californians, including Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo and Thomas O. Larkin (with whom he
was to be associated in several real estate and commercial ventures).
Atherton settled in Valparaiso around 1840 and became a successful merchant dealing
in hides and tallow, foodstuffs, and other commodities. In 1850, Atherton and Bowen
joined Loring & Co. as partners. Eventually, Atherton became one of the
wealthiest men on the Pacific Coast, making extensive investments in California
commerce and real estate. In 1853, he hired San Francisco agent Alexander B. Grogan
to represent his interests in California. After Atherton’s death, Grogan served as
the executor of his estate.
Around 1860, Atherton returned to California to settle permanently, liquidating his
assets in Valparaiso and reinvesting his money in the new state. Atherton's real
estate purchases included Valparaiso Park in San Mateo County; the land now forms
much of present-day Atherton. Other significant purchases in the 1850s and 1860s
included: San Cayetano, Corralitos, and Sal Si Puedes ranches in Santa Cruz County;
San Lorenzo Ranch and Hayward lots in Alameda County; and Milpitas Ranch in Monterey
County. Atherton also served on the Board of Trustees of the Lick Trust and played
an instrumental role in the construction of a railroad to Hayward.
Atherton married Dominga Goñi, daughter of a prominent Chileno family. They had seven
surviving children: Eulogia Isabel (wife of Enrique Edwards); Elena or Helena (wife
of Captain Fred Macondray and Percival W. Selby); María Alejandra (wife of Lawrence
Rathbone); Florence (wife of Ed Eyre); Faxon Dean Atherton, Jr. (husband of Jenny
Selby); George H. B. Atherton (husband of California author Gertrude Atherton); and
Francisco Atherton. Faxon Dean Atherton died at Valparaiso Park in 1877.
Scope and Contents
Dated between 1852 and 1910, the bulk of the collection consists of personal and
business correspondence addressed to Faxon Dean Atherton; business records generated
by Atherton, his agents, and associates in Valparaiso and California; and real
estate records for land owned by Atherton in Alameda, Contra Costa, Monterey, and
Santa Cruz counties. The collection also includes personalia and ephemera collected
by Atherton family members; court documents and probate records; income, state, and
county tax documents; and other papers.
Correspondence (1852-1896) documents Faxon Dean Atherton’s family life, as well as
his commercial and real estate ventures in Chile and California. Family
correspondence includes letters written to Faxon Dean Atherton by his sister and
brother-in-law, Amanda and Charles T. Ward; wife Dominga Goñi de Atherton (in
Spanish); children, George Atherton, Faxon Dean Atherton, Jr., Florence Atherton,
and Isabel Edwards; and son-in-law Enrique Edwards. Letters written by Atherton’s
friends and business associates document Atherton’s business activities in
Valparaiso in the 1850s; the business activities and disputes of other New England
merchants in Chile, including Loring & Co. and Samuel Crane & Co.; and
Atherton’s commercial and real estate investments in California in the 1850s, 1860s,
and 1870s, especially as recorded by his attorney James W. Thrift.
Business records (1852-1910) include accounts, receipts, invoices, and other
documents created or collected by Faxon Dean Atherton, his San Francisco agent
Alexander B. Grogan, and Dominga Goñi de Atherton, in Valparaiso and California.
These include billheads for a variety of mid-nineteenth-century Valparaiso and
California businesses, including Loring & Co. Other business records include
records for Dry Creek Tunnel & Fluming Co. in Shasta County and Fair Oaks Farm
Dairy, owned and operated by Atherton’s son-in-law Percival W. Selby.
Real estate records (1859-1882) include surveys, deeds, indentures, accounts, and
leases for California lands purchased by Faxon Dean Atherton, including San
Cayetano, Corralitos, and Sal Si Puedes ranches in Santa Cruz County; San Lorenzo
Ranch and Hayward lots in Alameda County; and Milpitas Ranch in Monterey County.
Other papers include report cards for Atherton’s children, including Florence
Atherton’s Mills Seminary records;
Faxon D. Atherton vs.
Fortoul et als.
court papers, documenting a land dispute between
Atherton and members of the Vallejo family; estate records for New England merchant
John Gorham Coffin, who died in Valparaiso; and two documents pertaining to the
James Lick Trust, for which Atherton served on the board of trustees.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Atherton family.
Billheads.
Businessmen--California.
Deeds.
Letters.
Merchants--California.
Merchants--Chile--Valparaíso.
Real estate investment--California.
Real property--California--Alameda County.
Real property--California--Contra Costa County.
Real property--California--Monterey County.
Real property--California--Santa Cruz County.
Receipts (financial records).
Box 1, Folder 1
Finding aid to the Faxon Dean Atherton family papers
2011
Correspondence
1852-1896
Physical Description:
34.0 folders
Letters to and from Atherton family members
1857-1883
Physical Description:
7.0 folders
Box 1, Folder 2
Letters from Charles T. Ward and Amanda Ward (brother-in-law
and sister of Faxon Dean Atherton) to Faxon Dean
Atherton
1857,
1874-1876
Box 1, Folder 3
Letters to and from Dominga Goñi de Atherton (wife of Faxon
Dean Atherton)
1874-1883
Language of Materials: Letters are in
Spanish.
Box 1, Folder 4
Letters from George Atherton (son of Faxon Dean Atherton) to
Faxon Dean Atherton
1868-1875
Box 1, Folder 5
Letters to and from Florence Atherton (daughter of Faxon Dean
Atherton)
1874-1875
Scope and Contents
Consists of letters written to and by Florence Atherton while she was
a student at Mills Seminary in Oakland, California.
Box 1, Folder 6
Letters from Isabel Edwards (daughter of Faxon Dean Atherton)
to Faxon Dean Atherton
1864,
1874-1875
Box 1, Folder 7
Letters from Faxon Dean Atherton, Jr., to Faxon Dean
Atherton
1874
Box 1, Folder 8
Letters form Enrique Edwards (son-in-law of Faxon Dean
Atherton) to Faxon Dean Atherton
1874-1875
Letters to and from Faxon Dean Atherton's friends and business
associates
1852-1896
Physical Description:
27.0 folders
Box 1, Folder 9
Letters to and from Samuel Crane regarding his dispute with
Elisha T. Loring of Loring & Co.
1852-1856
Box 1, Folder 10
Letters from James Hall to Loring & Co.
1854
Box 1, Folder 11
Letters from Thomas K. Sanders to Faxon Dean
Atherton
1854
Box 1, Folder 12
Letter from Joseph P. Thompson to Faxon Dean
Atherton
1857
Box 1, Folder 13
Letters from W. W. Evans and Charles H. Hill to Faxon Dean
Atherton regarding the Valparaiso railroad
1857
Box 1, Folders 14-21
Letters from James W. Thrift to Faxon Dean
Atherton
1861-1874
Scope and Contents
Letters from Atherton's attorney James W. Thrift document Atherton's
real estate investments in California in the 1860s and 1870s.
Box 1, Folder 22
Letters to and from Alex B. Grogan (Faxon Dean Atherton's San
Francisco business agent)
1863,
1874-1878
Box 1, Folder 23
Letter from Loring & Co. to Faxon Dean
Atherton
1866
Box 1, Folder 24
Letter from Antonio Agacio to Faxon Dean Atherton
1873
Box 1, Folder 25
Letters from Samuel D. Crane to Faxon Dean
Atherton
1873-1874
Box 1, Folder 26
Letters from William Blain to Faxon Dean Atherton
1873-1874
Box 1, Folder 27
Letters from Edgar Briggs to Faxon Dean Atherton
1873-1876
Box 1, Folder 28
Letters from James W. Sturgis to Faxon Dean
Atherton
1873-1876
Box 1, Folder 29
Letter from James T. Watkins to Faxon Dean Atherton regarding
a tobacco venture in Lake County, California
1874
Box 1, Folder 30
Letters from John Brown to Faxon Dean Atherton
1874-1875
Box 1, Folder 31
Letters from Pelham W. Ames to Faxon Dean
Atherton
1874-1875
Box 1, Folder 32
Letters from Edmund White to Faxon Dean Atherton
1874-1876
Box 1, Folder 33
Letters from Gustave Schulte to Faxon Dean
Atherton
1875-1876
Box 1, Folder 34
Miscellaneous letters to Faxon Dean Atherton
1850-1874
Box 1, Folder 35
Miscellaneous letters to Faxon Dean Atherton
1875-1896,
undated
Personalia and ephemera
1868-1888, undated
Physical Description:
3.0 folders,
1 volume
Box 1, Folder 36
Business and calling cards
undated
Box 1, Folder 37
Report cards
1868,
1874-1875
Box 1, Folder 38
Miscellaneous ephemera
1868-1888
Volume 1
Harper's Statistical Gazetteer of the
World
, by J. Calvin Smith (signed by W. L.
Atherton?)
1855
Business records
1852-1910
Physical Description:
13.0 folders
Accounts
1852-1880
Physical Description:
4.0 folders
Box 1, Folder 39
Faxon Dean Atherton accounts
1852-1858
Scope and Contents
Includes accounts with Alex B. Grogan and Samuel D. Crane &
Co.
Box 2, Folder 1
Faxon Dean Atherton accounts
1861-1868
Scope and Contents
Includes accounts with Alex B. Grogan and Patterson and Stow.
Box 2, Folder 2
Faxon Dean Atherton accounts
1871-1877
Receipts and invoices
1853-1910
Physical Description:
7.0 folders
Box 2, Folder 4
Dominga Goñi de Atherton receipts, Valparaiso,
Chile
1855
Box 2, Folder 5
Faxon Dean Atherton receipts, Valparaiso, Chile
1853-1856
Scope and Contents
Includes the billhead of Compro de Loring (Loring & Co.).
Box 2, Folder 6
Faxon Dean Atherton invoices and receipts,
California
1857-1869
Box 2, Folder 7
Faxon Dean Atherton invoices and receipts, California and
Valparaiso
1870-1877
Box 2, Folder 8
Alex B. Grogan invoices and receipts, California
1863-1878,
undated
Box 2, Folder 9
Expense bills to the Central Pacific and Southern Pacific
Railroads
1873-1897
Box 2, Folder 10
Invoices and receipts
1879-circa 1910,
undated
Box 2, Folder 11
Dry Creek Tunnel & Fluming Co. (Shasta County)
records
1871-1872
Box 2, Folder 12
Fair Oaks Farm Diary records (Percival W. Selby,
proprietor)
1887-1891
Legal records
1853-1880
Physical Description:
3.0 folders
Box 2, Folder 13
John Gorham Coffin estate records
1853-1854
Language of Materials: Documents are in
English and Spanish.
Scope and Contents
Consists of records of the Valparaiso estate of John Gorham Coffin, of
which Faxon Dean Atherton was executor.
Box 2, Folder 14
Probate notices and other legal documents
1854-1880
Language of Materials: Documents are in
English and Spanish.
Box 2, Folder 15
Faxon D. Atherton vs. Fortoul et als.
complaints and memorandum
1864,
undated
Scope and Contents
Consists of a copy of a complaint and memorandum documenting the land
dispute between Faxon D. Atherton and Maria de Jesus Vallejo de Fortoul
et als. (including Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo) over Rancho Bolsa de San
Cayetano in Monterey County.
Real estate records
1859-1882
Physical Description:
9.0 folders
Box 2, Folder 16
Corralitos Ranch records
1859-1880
Box 2, Folder 17
Sal Si Puedes Ranch records
1860-1875
Box 2, Folder 18
Milpitas Ranch records
1861-1882
Box 2, Folder 19
Hayward real estate records
1863-1879
Box 2, Folders 20-21
San Lorenzo Ranch records
1864-1881
Box 2, Folder 22
Bolsa de San Cayetano Ranch records
1867-1880
Box 2, Folder 23
Contra Costa Water Company deed
1878
Box 2, Folder 24
Miscellaneous real estate records
1860-1875,
undated
Box 2, Folder 25
Income, state, and county tax records
1863-1875
Physical Description:
1.0 folder
Box 2, Folder 26
James Lick Trust records
1876-1877
Physical Description:
1.0 folder
