Collection Summary
Information for Researchers
Scope and Content
Collection Summary
Collection Title: Richard Barnes Mason Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1847-1848
Collection Number: BANC MSS C-A 107
Origination: Mason, Richard Barnes, 1797-1850
Extent:
Number of containers: 1 portfolio
Number of microfilm reels: 1 partial reel (29 exposures)
Repository: The
Bancroft Library
Berkeley, California 94720-6000
Physical Location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Abstract: Contents: Circulars and documents as Military Governor of California; letters from Mason describing discovery of gold; methods
of mining, effect of mines on California, and problems of government arising after end of war with Mexico; and a few letters
to Mason. See also National Archives Microfilm Collection, Records of the Adjutant General's Office, RG 94.
Languages Represented:
English
Information for Researchers
Access
Collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Copyright has not been assigned to The Bancroft Library. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts
must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services. Permission for publication is given on behalf of The Bancroft
Library 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 reader.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Richard Barnes Mason papers, BANC MSS C-A 107, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Scope and Content
Richard Barnes Mason, born in Virginia in 1797, was a Colonel in the United States Army when he arrived in 1847 in California
to succeed Kearny as military governor. He was made a Brigadier General in 1848, and retained his position as governor until
February 1849. He died of cholera in St. Louis in 1850.
The papers in this collection pertain mainly to Mason's governorship, and consist of circulars, regulations, orders and letters
from Mason, with a few letters and documents to Mason.
The original documents come, for the most part, from the T. W. Norris Collection. The Proclamation of Dec. 27, 1847, came
from the Honeyman Collection. Photocopy of Mason's letters to Roger Jones is from original items in the U. S. National Archives.
The papers have been arranged chronologically. A partial list of items contained in this collection follows.