Inventory of the C. M. Silva & Son Correspondence

Sara Gunasekara

Department of Special Collections

General Library

University of California, Davis

Davis, CA 95616-5292

Phone: (530) 752-1621

Fax: (530) 754-5758

Email: speccoll@ucdavis.edu

Creator: C. M. Silva & Son

Title: C. M. Silva & Son Correspondence

Date (inclusive): 1874-1886

Extent: 1.4 linear feet

Abstract: Charles M. Silva (1823-1894) and his son Edward B. Silva (1854-1952) operated C.M. Silva & Son, a nursery specializing in fruit trees and plants, in Newcastle, California. This collection contains 135 letters written to C. M. Silva & Son from 1874-1879. Also included is one volume of outgoing correspondence from July to December 1886. The correspondence discusses growing fruit trees and plants, orders for their fruit and plant stock, shipping procedures, the quality of their products, and account debits and credits.

Physical location: Researchers should contact Special Collections to request collections, as many are stored offsite.

Repository: University of California, Davis. General Library. Department of Special Collections.

Davis, California 95616-5292

Collection number: D-417

Language of Material: Collection materials in English.

Biography

Charles M. Silva (1823-1894) was a native of Richmond County, New York who moved to California in 1849. A resident of Newastle, California from 1864 to 1894, Silva first planted several fruit trees and strawberry vines there in 1868. He was one of the first to discover the adaptability of Newcastle's soil for growing fruit trees and plants and became one of the pioneers of the fruit and nursery business in Placer County. Silva and his son, Edward, operated a nursery, C.M. Silva & Son, in Newcastle.

In 1870, the Silvas had about ten acres under cultivation, and although their fruit trees had not matured, they received approximately nine hundred dollars per acre each year from different kinds of berries. They marketed five tons of strawberries in 1870, averaging twenty cents per pound. They shipped thirty thousand dollars worth of fruit in 1874 and the business had doubled annually for the preceeding four years. In 1875, they had thirty acres planted in fruit trees and strawberries.

Charles Silva had three children: Edward Burton Silva (February 16, 1854-April 24, 1952), Jennie Culver (July 17, 1858-April 27, 1941) and Elizabeth Oldham (September 7, 1860-June 14, 1948). He passed away on November 7, 1894.

Sources:

Gittings, Samuel Evans. The foundations of Placer County horticulture, 1850-1900. Auburn, CA: Placer County Historical Society, 1996.

Lardner, William Branson. History of Placer and Nevada counties, California: with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the counties who have been identified with their growth and development from the early days to the present. Los Angeles, Calif. : Historic Record Company, 1924.

Obituary of Charles M. Silva. Placer Republican, November 9, 1894.

Scope and Content

The collection contains 135 incoming letters to C.M. Silva & Son from 1874-1879. One volume of outgoing letters from July to December 1886 is also included.

Correspondents include other nurserymen such as J. Capps and Sons of Mt. Pulaski, Illinois, McKinley Brothers of Los Angeles, John Rock of San Jose, and Shinn's Nurseries of Alameda County and fruit and produce merchants such as M.T. Brewer of Sacramento and Hixson, Justi and Co. of San Francisco, among others. Also present are three letters from Edward Payson Roe, a novelist and cultivator of small fruits. The correspondence discusses growing fruit trees and plants, orders for Silva's products, shipping procedures, the quality of Silva's products, and account debits and credits.

Arrangement of the Collection

The collection is arranged in two series: Incoming and Outgoing.

Related Material

The Nursery and Seed Catalog Collection (O-009) contains price lists and descriptive circulars from C.M. Silva & Son from 1878-1887.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

C.M. Silva & Son

Silva, Charles M., 1823-1894

Silva, Edward B., 1854-1952

Rock, John, 1836-1904

Roe, Edward Payson, 1838-1888

Shinn's Nurseries

J. Capps and Sons

Newcastle (Calif.)--History

Nurseries (Horticulture)--California

Nursery growers

Strawberries--California

Access

Collection is open for research.

Processing Information

Sara Gunasekara processed this collection and created and encoded this finding aid.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], C. M. Silva & Son Correspondence, D-417, Department of Special Collections, General Library, University of California, Davis.

Publication Rights

Copyright is protected by the copyright law, chapter 17, of the U.S. Code. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Department of Special Collections, General Library, University of California, Davis 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.

Series 1 Incoming 1874-1879

Physical Description: 135 letters

Scope and Content Note

Arranged alphabetically by correspondent and then chronologically.

Box 1:1

J. Beman & Co. 1877 September 5

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:2

Berriman, Thomas 1879 March 20

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:3

Blowers, R.B. 1878 March 8

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:4

Blowers, R.B. 1878 August 25

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:5

M.T. Brewer and Co. 1876 June 24

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:6

M.T. Brewer and Co. 1877 April 23

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:7

M.T. Brewer and Co. 1878 November 29

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:8

Brown, S.W. 1878 December 5

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:9

Brown, S.W. 1879 April 11

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:10

Burrel, E. undated

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:11

J. Capps and Son 1874 October 15

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:12

J. Capps and Son 1876 April 3

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:13

J. Capps and Son 1876 July 28

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:14

J. Capps and Son 1877 May 14

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:15

J. Capps and Son 1877 September 6

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:16

J. Capps and Son 1878 September 17

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:17

J. Capps and Son 1878 October 22?

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:18

J. Capps and Son undated

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:19

Carville, Matthew 1878 April 24

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:20

Case, A.B. 1877 October 15

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:21

Clark, E.P. 1877 February 21

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:22

Coghill, A.J. 1877 July 28

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:23

Cooper, A.J. 1878 December 10

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:24

Co-operative Nursery and Fruit Company of Los Angeles County 1878 December 8

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:25

A.H. Cummings and Co. 1877 June 7

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:26

Downing, Charles 1877 June 20

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:27

H.M. Engle and Son 1877 April 14

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:28

H.M. Engle and Son 1877 May 31

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:29

H.M. Engle and Son 1877 October 3

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:30

Fenton, Ellen 1878 April 11

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:31

W.L. Ferris Jr. and Co. 1876 November 28

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:32

W.L. Ferris Jr. and Co. 1877 January 8

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:33

W.L. Ferris and Co. undated

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:34

Ferris, Minard and Co. undated

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:35

Fox, Bernard 1878 April 24

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:36

Fox, Bernard 1878 June 6

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:37

Gardner, C.C.? 1879 May 26

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:38

Gillet, Felix? 1878 April 20

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:39

Hallenbach, G.W. 1879 February 27

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:40

A. Hance and Son 1874

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:41

A. Hance and Son 1878 May 20

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:42

A. Hance and Son 1879 September 19

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:43

Haynes, E. undated

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:44

Hines, J.W. 1878 August 25

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:45

Hixson, Justi and Co. 1878 July 11

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:46

Hixson, Justi and Co. 1878 August 22

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:47

Hixson, Justi and Co. 1878 August 26

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:48

Hixson, Justi and Co. 1878 August 31

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:49

Hixson, Justi and Co. 1878 September 17

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:50

Hixson, Justi and Co. 1878 October 1

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:51

Hixson, Justi and Co. 1878 October 11

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:52

Hixson, Justi and Co. 1878 December 23

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:53

Hixson, Justi and Co. 1879 April 9

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:54

Hixson, Justi and Co. 1879 June 6

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:55

Howe and Hall 1875 June 17

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:56

Howe and Hall 1876 June 23

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:57

Howe and Hall 1878 September 2

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:58

Johnson and Sugden 1877 May 25

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:59

Kesler, C.W. 1878 April 25

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:60

Lolor, Charles P. 1877 August 31

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:61

Loomis, Harry 1879 March 31

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:62

McKinley Bros. 1878 March 18

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:63

McKinley Bros. 1878 April 2

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:64

McKinley Bros. 1878 April 6

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:65

McKinley Bros. 1878 April 29

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:66

McKinley Bros. 1878 November 8

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:67

McKinley Bros. 1878 December 20

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:68

McKinley Bros. 1879 January 27

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:69

W. McRay and Sons 1876 February 14

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:70

Nyland, V. 1877 November 9

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:71

Ogier, A.M. 1878 June 8

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:72

Ogier, A.M. 1878 August 14

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:73

Ohlandt, N. 1879 February 14

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:74

Orange Judd Company Publishers 1878 October 4

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:75

Richter, J. 1877 April 18

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:76

Rock, John 1876 December 22

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:77

Rock, John 1877 January 25

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:78

Rock, John 1877 April 13

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:79

Rock, John 1877 May 16

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:80

Rock, John 1877 June 11

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:81

Rock, John 1877 September 20

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:82

Rock, John 1878 January 10

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:83

Rock, John 1878 June 14

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:84

Rock, John 1878 September 10

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:85

Rock, John 1878 November 5

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:86

Roe, E.P. 1878 February 25

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:87

Roe, E.P. 1878 September 9

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:88

Roe, E.P. 1878 September 14

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:89

San Francisco Journal of Commerce 1878 August 27

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:90

Shinn's Nurseries 1876 September 12

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:91

Shinn's Nurseries 1876 November 15

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:92

Shinn's Nurseries 1876 December 13

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:93

Shinn's Nurseries 1876 December 19

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:94

Shinn's Nurseries 1876 December 25

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:95

Shinn's Nurseries 1877 February 14

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:96

Shinn's Nurseries 1877 April 12

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:97

Shinn's Nurseries 1877 May 18

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:98

Shinn's Nurseries 1877 September 14

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:99

Shinn's Nurseries 1877 October 25

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:100

Shinn's Nurseries 1877 November 22

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:101

Shinn's Nurseries 1877 December 22

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:102

Shinn's Nurseries 1878 January 14

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:103

Shinn's Nurseries 1878 May 21

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:104

Shinn's Nurseries 1878 August 1

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:105

Shinn's Nurseries 1878 September 12

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:106

Shinn's Nurseries 1878 November 7

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:107

Shinn's Nurseries 1878 November 20

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:108

Shinn's Nurseries 1878 November 25

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:109

Shinn's Nurseries 1878

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:110

Shinn's Nurseries 1879 May 24

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:111

Shinn's Nurseries 1879 June 28

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:112

Sibley, W.E. 1878 April 1

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:113

Sibley, W.E. 1878 August 9

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:114

Sibley, W.E. 1878 December 19

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:115

Sisson, Wallace and Co. 1878 November 1

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:116

Somers, William 1878 February 14

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:117

Smith, James F. 1878 January 4

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:118

Somers, William 1878 April 3

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:119

Somers, William undated

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:120

Warren, Col. 1878 November 14

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:121

Warren, Col. 1878 November 18

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:122

Warren, Col. 1879 March 6

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:123

Warren, Col. 1879 May 20

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:124

West, W.B. 1877 December 18

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:125

West, W.B. 1878 January 8

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:126

West, W.B. 1878 January 14

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:127

West, W.B. 1878 February 9

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:128

West, W.B. 1878 December 9

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:129

C.W. Westbrook's Nurseries and Fruit Farm 1878 October 4

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:130

Whitney, John 1877 March 5

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:131

C.G. Wickersham and Co. 1879 April 12

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:132

Williams, E. and J.C. 1878 April 14

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:133

Williams, E. and J.C. 1878 April 10

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:134

Wright, W.G. 1878 March 31

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:135

Unidentified 1878 April 8

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Box 1:136

Unidentified 1878 October 8

Physical Description:

Scope and Content Note

Wrapped Volume 1

Series 2 Outgoing 1886 July 26-December 18

Physical Description: 1 volume

Scope and Content Note