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Finding aid to the William Hartnell Papers,
1815-[183?]
MS Vault 28
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Title: William Hartnell papers
Date: 1815-[183?]
Collection Identifier: MS Vault 28
Creator:
Hartnell, William E. P. (William Edward Petty), 1798-1854
Contributing Institution:
California Historical Society
678 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA, 94105-4014
(415) 357-1848
reference@calhist.org
Abstract: Documenting educational and commercial life in California in the 1820s and 1830s, the collection consists of a treatise on
algebra (183?),
Tratado sobre el Algebra, written by P. Nicholson and translated into Spanish by Hartnell; and a daybook (1823-1827) and account book (1815-1816,
1826-1828), maintained by Hartnell, containing financial accounts for various missions, government offices, commercial houses,
ships, and individuals with whom Hartnell conducted business in California.
Language of Material: The algebra textbook is in Spanish; the daybook and account book are in English and Spanish, with English predominating.
Collection is open for research.
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.
[Identification of item], William Hartnell papers, MS Vault 28, California Historical Society.
Materials related to William Hartnell and his school, Casa de Educacion y Pupilage, may be found in the William Hartnell miscellany,
Vault MS 71.
A John C. Frémont letter translated into Spanish by Hartnell can be found in Letters from Thomas O. Larkin and the Sub-prefect
regarding John C. Frémont, MS 943.
Born in England in 1798, William Edward Petty Hartnell, also known as Guillermo Eduardo Hartnell, came to California in 1822
after spending several years in South America in the employ of Lima's John Begg and Co. Beginning in 1823, Hartnell, with
his partner Hugh McCulloch, conducted an extensive trade with the California missions, exchanging hides and tallow, foodstuffs,
and other goods. Hartnell converted to Catholicism in 1824, married María Teresa de la Guerra in 1825, and became a Mexican
citizen in 1830. In 1834, Hartnell was granted the Alisal Ranch near Monterey, where he founded a school, the Casa de Educacion
y Pupilage, which would be attended by his children and other students. He also held offices under the Mexican and United
States governments of California, serving as visitador-general of missions (1839-1840), and official interpreter for United
States (1847-1850). Hartnell died in 1854.
Documenting educational and commercial life in California in the 1820s and 1830s, the collection comprises a treatise on algebra
(183?),
Tratado sobre el Algebra, written by P. Nicholson and translated into Spanish by William Hartnell; and Hartnell's business records, consisting of
a daybook (1823-1827) and account book (1815-1816, 1826-1828).
Kept in Monterey, the daybook records purchases of foodstuffs and other goods by various individuals and organizations in
California with whom Hartnell traded, including and especially the missions, between 1823 and 1827.
The account book contains financial accounts for various missions, government offices, commercial houses (including the William
E. P. Hartnell House), and individuals in California, as well as records for ships arriving in California, for the years 1826
to 1828. Records for the years 1815 and 1816 (pages 405-406), concerning trade with Mathew Carter of New York, are scanty.
Endpapers are inscribed in Spanish by José M. Herrera, "habilitado provisionalmente por la Republica Mexican por los años
de 1826 y 1827 en el Territorio de Californias," or provisional paymaster of the Mexican Republic in California.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog:
Hartnell, William E. P. (William Edward Petty), 1798-1854 -- Archives
Algebra--Textbooks.
Businessmen--California.
California--Commerce.
Daybooks.
Hides and skins--California.
Journals (accounts).
Missions--California--History.
Produce trade--California.
Tallow.
Sources consulted for Biography note:
Bancroft, Hubert Howe.
The works of Hubert Howe Bancroft, Volume XIX: History of California, Volume II, 1801-1824. Santa Barbara: Wallace Hebberd, 1966.
Bancroft, Hubert Howe.
The works of Hubert Howe Bancroft, Volume XX: History of California, Volume III, 1825-1840. Santa Barbara: Wallace Hebberd, 1966.