Guide to the Charles Fayette McGlashan Papers, 1847-1931

Processed by The Bancroft Library staff

The Bancroft Library.

University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, California, 94720-6000

Phone: (510) 642-6481

Fax: (510) 642-7589

Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu

URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu

Note

History --History, California --General History --History, California --History, Central Valley/Sierra

Guide to the Charles Fayette McGlashan Papers, 1847-1931

Collection number: BANC MSS C-B 570

The Bancroft Library

University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, California

Contact Information:

The Bancroft Library.
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, California, 94720-6000
Phone: (510) 642-6481
Fax: (510) 642-7589
Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu
URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu

Processed by:: The Bancroft Library staff
Date Completed:: ca. 1965
Encoded by:: Charlotte Gerstein

Collection Summary

Collection Title: Charles Fayette McGlashan Papers,

Date (inclusive): 1847-1931

Collection Number: BANC MSS C-B 570

Creator: McGlashan, C. F. (Charles Fayette), 1847-1931

Extent: Number of containers: 3 boxes, 2 cartons, and 4 oversize folders

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: Mainly material used in writing his book, History of the Donner Party, including letters from survivors and members of rescue parties and their relatives, newspaper clippings, photographs and relics. Included also: newspaper articles on the Mountain Meadows massacre and on the Truckee area, some family correspondence, and maps.

Languages Represented: English

Information for Researchers

Access

Collection is open for research, except for the Donner Party relics previously contained in Carton I, access to which requires the permission of the Head of Public Services.

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], Charles Fayette McGlashan papers, BANC MSS C-B 570, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Material Cataloged Separately

Donner Party photographs (113 items) were removed to the Pictorial Collections. These include photographs of members of the Donner Party, rescue parties, and relatives (60 items); photographs of Donner Monument dedication ceremonies, other Donner campsite area markers, research activities and general views, rock ledge in Kansas upon which J. F. Reed and others carved their initials (53 items).
Identified portraits have been removed to the Portrait Collection.

Scope and Content

The papers, which relate mainly to McGlashan's work on the Donner tragedy, were given to The Bancroft Library by his grandson, Douglas McGlashan Kelley, in 1956 and by Mrs. Kelley in 1959. A Key to Arrangement follows.

Biography

Charles Fayette McGlashan was born in Wisconsin in 1847 and came overland with his father and sisters, arriving at Placerville in September 1854.

He attended Sotoyme Institute, Healdsburg, California, from 1861 to 1865 and Williston Seminary in Massachusetts, 1868-1870. From 1872, McGlashan lived in Truckee almost continuously. Until 1874 he was principal of the public schools, resigning in October to go to Utah as correspondent for the Sacramento Record. He wrote a series of articles on the Mountain Meadows Massacre of 1657 and the arrest of John D. Lee, the accused leader of the Massacre. In 1875 he began the practice of law, in addition to becoming editor and then editor and owner of the Truckee Republican.

In 1878 a subscription to the Republican from a survivor of the Donner Party led to McGlashan's writing several articles on the subject. These resulted in correspondence and interviews with survivors, a series of articles in the Republican, and, in 1879, the publication of his book History of the Donner Party, A Tragedy of the Sierra. A revised and corrected second edition appeared in 1880 and has often been reprinted.

McGlashan was an active man with many and varied interests. In addition to his law practice and newspaper work, he was an amateur entomologist and astronomer, real estate developer, inventor, collector of Truckee area history and lore, and was actively involved in the financing and construction of the Donner Summit Memorials. He died at Truckee in 1931.

Boxes I & II, folder 1-55

Letters written to Charles Fayette McGlashan by members of the Donner Party and rescue parties, 1878-1922. Arranged alphabetically (450 letters)

Box I, folder 1

App, Leanna Charity (Donner), 1834-1930

5 letters, 1879

folder 2-4

Babcock, Georgia Ann (Donner), 1841-1911

18 letters, 1879-1880

folder 5-10

Breen, James Frederick, 1842-1899

39 letters, 1878-1880

folder 11

Breen, John, 1832-1903

3 letters, 1879

folder 12

Breen, Simon Preston, 1839-1899

3 letters, 1879

folder 13

Clark, Nicholas, 1816-

3 letters, 1879-1880

folder 14-15

Clarke, Mary Ann (Graves), ca. 1826-

9 letters, 1879-1880

folder 16-18

Graves, William C., ca. 1828-

21 letters, 1879

folder 19-27 and bound volume in 28

Houghton, Eliza Poor (Donner), 1843-1922

135 letters, 1879-1921

Box II, folder 29-37 and bound volume in 38

Lewis, Martha Jane "Patty" (Reed), 1838-1923

93 letters, 1879-1922

folder 39

McCutchen, William, ca. 1816-

Letter, 1879

folder 40

McDonnell, Eleanor (Graves), 1831-

Letter, ca. 1879

folder 41

McMahon, Isabella M. (Breen), 1845-1935

Letter, 1879

folder 42-47 and bound volume in 48

Murphy, Virginia Elizabeth Backenstoe (Reed), ca. 1833-1921

94 letters, 1879-1914

folder 49

Murphy, William G., 1836-

2 letters, 1879

folder 50

Schenck, Naomi L. (Pike), 1843-1934

3 letters, 1879

folder 51-52

Tucker, George W., 1831-

8 letters, 1879

folder 53

Tucker, Reasin P., ca. 1806-

7 letters, 1879-1880

folder 54

Wilder, Frances Eustis (Donner), 1840-1921

3 letters, 1879

folder 55

Williamson, Nancy (Graves), ca. 1837-

Letter, 1879

Box III, folder 56-57

Letters written to C. F. McGlashan by relatives of the Donner Party and of the rescue parties, 1879-1928. Arranged alphabetically (30 letters)

folder 56

A - Q (14 letters)

Anderson, Nellie [Eleanor] P. (Eddy)

Letter, 1880

Bell, Harriet (McCutchen)

Letter, 1928

Bequette, Mrs. Paschal, Jr. (member of Graves family), 1854-

2 letters, 1879

Breen, Mrs. John

Letter, 1879

Donner, Margaret J. (Mrs. George Donner, Jr.)

Letter, 1880

Eddy, Alonzo H.

Letter, 1880

Green, Bessie B. (member of Graves family)

Letter, 1925

Houghton, Sherman Otis (husband of Eliza Poor Donner), 1828-1914

2 letters, 1879-1880

Houskens, Mrs. G. L. (member of Donner family)

Letter, 1906

Merritt, Almena (Stanton)

Letter, 1879

Murphy, Mrs. Daniel R. (member of Reed family)

Letter, 1915

Murphy, John M. (husband of Virginia E. B. Reed)

Letter, 1880

folder 57

R - Z (16 letters)

Reed, Frazier O.

2 letters, 1923-1924

Reed, Helen Ayer (Mrs. Frazier O.)

Letter, [ca. 1915]

Stanton, Sidney, 1809-

8 letters, 1879-1880

Taylor, O. C. (relative of Rhoads)

Letter fragment, n.d.

Wilder, Benjamin W. (husband of Elitha C. Donner)

3 letters, 1879

Wilder, Georgie E. O. (member of Donner family)

Letter, 1902, written to Eliza Poor (Donner) Houghton

folder 58-72

Letters written to C. F. McGlashan relating to the Donner Party and to his book, History of the Donner Party, a Tragedy of the Sierra, 1879-1929. These include replies to requests for information, letters about publication of the book, and letters written by readers. Arranged alphabetically (176 letters) with separate folders for the following:

folder 67

Bancroft, Hubert Howe, 1832-1918

Letter, 1880

folder 68

Brannan, Samuel, 1819-1889

2 letters, 1879

folder 69

Doten, Alf[red], 1829-1903

2 letters, 1879-1880

folder 70

Knowland, Joseph Russell, 1873-

6 letters, 1920-1929

folder 71

Stephens, William Dennison, 1859-1944

Letter, 1918

folder 72

Stoddard, Charles Warren, 1843-1909

2 letters, 1906

folder 73-75

Miscellaneous letters written to C. F. McGlashan about matters other than the Donner Party, 1880-1930. Arranged alphabetically (25 letters)

folder 73

A - L (8 letters)

folder 74

M (11 letters)

folder 75

N - Z (6 letters)

folder 76-77

Letters written by C. F. McGlashan, 1879-1930 (mainly copies). Arranged chronologically (23 letters)

folder 76

1879-1925 (11 letters)

folder 77

1926-1930 (12 letters)

folder 78-79

Letters written to members of the McGlashan family, 1923-1937. Arranged alphabetically by writer (27 letters)

folder 78

A - G (15 letters)

folder 79

H - Z (12 letters)

folder 80-81

Letters written by members of the McGlashan family, 1934-1946. Arranged chronologically (14 letters)

folder 80

1934 (6 letters)

folder 81

1935-1946 (8 letters)

folder 82

Miscellany, 1911-1946. Arranged chronologically (9 letters)

Carton I, folder 83-84

Newspaper articles concerning the Donner Party, 1871-1936. These include statements of survivors, information on survivors and their relatives, and obituaries. (36 items)

folder 84

Wells, Evelyn, "The Tragedy of Donner Lake." Statements of Martha Jane Reed Lewis (20 items).

folder 85-87

Newspaper articles concerning Donner Summit Memorials and research at the Donner campsite, 1891-1941 (30 items).

folder 86

Truckee Republican, 1893 (5 items)

folder 87

Grizzly Bear, 1918 (2 items)

folder 88

Newspaper articles concerning the Donner Party written by C. F. McGlashan, 1927 (3 items)

folder 89

Miscellaneous newspaper articles concerning the Donner Party, 1922-1950 (10 items)

folder 90-92

Newspaper articles concerning C. F. McGlashan, his activities other than those relating to the Donner Party, and obituaries, 1893-1934 (38 items)

folder 91

Obituaries, 1931 (19 items)

folder 92

Resolutions adopted on death of C. F McGlashan, 1931 (4 items)

folder 93

Newspaper articles written by C. F. McGlashan about matters other than the Donner Party, 1884-1895 (33 items).

Scope and Content Note

Include statements of Truckee residents about the Rocking Stone.

folder 94-95

Miscellaneous newspapers and articles, 1871-1930 (23 items)

folder 95

Truckee Republican, 1892-1893 (8 items)

folder 96-105

Manuscript material used by C. F. McGlashan to write his book, History of the Donner Party. These include copies of statements, letters, and diaries written by members of the Donner Party and rescue parties, as follows (26 items):

folder 96

Breen, Patrick, 1805-1868

Diary, 1846-1847

folder 97

Donner, Mrs. George, 1801-1847

2 letters to a friend, published in Springfield Journal, 1846

folder 98

Graves, William C., ca. 1828-

Crossing the Plains in 1846, [1877]

folder 99

Houghton, Eliza Poor (Donner), 1843-1922

Biographical data, ca. 1879

Murphy, Virginia Elizabeth Backenstoe (Reed), ca. 1833-1921

folder 100

Account of journey to Donner Lake, n.d.

folder 101

Letter to her cousin, 1847 (2 versions)

See also BANC MSS 89/127 c

folder 102

Reed, James Frazier, Jr., 1841-

Statement of Reed-Snyder affair, 1879

folder 103

Notes by Eliza P. (Donner) Houghton and by Lewis Keseberg, 1879 (1 vol.)

folder 104

Notes, letters, newspaper articles, and misc. information (1 vol.)

folder 105

Miscellany (15 items)

folder 106-107 and relics in 2 small boxes

Donner Party Miscellany (35 items)

Scope and Content Note

This includes an inscribed copy (and also author's working copy) of History of the Donner Party; pamphlet on the location of the Breen cabin site; diary of Patrick Breen published by Academy of Pacific Coast history; activities of the Donner Monument Committee; poems, speeches, and relics of the Donner Party as follows. (These artifacts are boxed separately. Permission of the Head of Public Services is required for access. Photographs of the artifacts are on file in the carton.)

10 sealed vials containing portions of the foundation log of the Murphy cabin, with tags inscribed by Virginia E. B. (Reed) Murphy

fish hook

metal button

rusted screw

chinaware fragment

stone fragment

heavy oval object with black crocheted cover and black and brown string

baby's tooth in sealed vial found in log of Murphy's cabin, 1894

French dollar, in watch case, part of the money buried near Donner Lake by Mrs. Graves.

folder 108-109

Photographs of C. F. McClashan, his home, and several unidentified photographs (25 items)

Carton II, folder 113

Commonplace book of C. F. McGlashan, 1865-1867

Scope and Content Note

Includes compositions, copies of poems and articles, and copies of letters from his sister Ann (1 vol.)

folder 114

Scrapbook of C. F. McGlashan, 1874-1890

Scope and Content Note

Contains mainly newspaper clippings of Truckee events and people, and miscellaneous poems and articles (1 vol.)

folder 115

Scrapbook of C. F. McGlashan, 1874-1876

Scope and Content Note

Contains newspaper articles written by McClashan including his account of the Mountain Meadows Massacre trial, and articles about McGlashan and other Truckee area people and events (1 vol.)

folder 116-123

Legal papers of C. F. McGlashan and family, 1887-1934

Scope and Content Note

Includes abstracts of titles, deeds, indentures, and miscellaneous papers. (10 items and 7 bound volumes)

folder 124

Patents granted to C. F. McGlashan 1874-1930 (23 items)

folder 125

Miscellany

Scope and Content Note

Includes receipts, programs, Knights of Pythias and Shrine membership items (40 items)

portfolio Oversize portfolio

Includes maps of Truckee, the McGlashan Addition, Donner Camp, Emigrant Trail, and state proclamation of thanks to Native Sons for gift of Donner Monument. (25 items)