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Helen and Robert W. Long Collection of Moreno Documents
mssHLG 1-1132  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Descriptive Summary
  • Access
  • Administrative Information
  • Biographical Note
  • Scope and Content
  • Indexing Terms

  • Descriptive Summary

    Title: Helen and Robert W. Long Collection of Moreno Documents
    Dates: 1818-1974
    Bulk dates: 1839-1869
    Collection Number: mssHLG 1-1132
    Creator: Moreno, José Matías
    Extent: Approximately 1,500 items in 26 boxes
    Repository: The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. Manuscripts Department
    1151 Oxford Road
    San Marino, California 91108
    Phone: (626) 405-2191
    Email: reference@huntington.org
    URL: http://www.huntington.org
    Abstract: This collection consists mainly of the original correspondence (1839-1869) to and from José Matías Moreno (born ca. 1818), with the bulk of it dating from 1850s and 1860s when Moreno was an important agent, merchant, and political figure in San Diego and Baja, California. There is also some later material dealing with the subsequent history of his Rancho Guadalupe in northern Baja, California.
    Language of Material: The records are in Spanish and English.

    Access

    Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.

    Administrative Information

    Publication Rights

    The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.

    Preferred Citation

    [Identification of item]. Helen and Robert W. Long Collection of Moreno Documents, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

    Provenance

    Purchased from Helen P. Long, May 1988.

    Biographical Note

    José Matías Moreno was born about 1818 in Baja, California, the son of a Scottish whaler and a Mexican mother. As a youth he participated in various revolutionary movements, and eventually became the secretary to Governor Pío Pico in Alta California in 1845. A strong supporter of Mexico all his life, he fled to Baja California with Pico in 1846 in the face of American forces to continue the fight there against the U.S. After the war he came to San Diego, where he married the natural daughter of Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, thereby becoming related to many of the major californio families. He was vocal in his opposition to the californios who had backed the U.S. in the war, and defended the interests of his fellow Hispanics in their dealings with American Anglo businessmen. At the same time he acted as an agent, promoting the development of Baja California and soliciting American capital. He was also long active in Mexican internal politics in Baja and served in 1861-1862 as political chief of the border region of the territory for the Mexican government. His frequent extended absences from home resulted in an extensive correspondence with his wife which lasted throughout their marriage until his death in 1869.
    José Matías Moreno and Prudenciana López de Moreno had at least nine children: José Matías Moreno III, Carmen Carmelita Moreno, Dolores Moreno, Constatina Moreno, Mateo R. Moreno, Regina Moreno, Manuel Constantino Moreno, Constantino Moreno II, and Carmen Carmelita Moreno II. Dolores Moreno married George Anson Flower. Dolores and George had seven children: Andrew Flower, George Constantino Flower, Maria Nancy Flower, Dolores Flower, Sarela Flower, Lucinda Jane Flower, and Flora Cheatum. Lucinda Jane Flower married Percy William Barré. Lucinda and Percy had four children: Myron George Barré, Katherine Dolores Barré, Harriet Eugenia Barré, and William Percy Barré.

    Scope and Content

    This collection consists mainly of the original correspondence (1839-1869) to and from José Matías Moreno (born ca. 1818), with the bulk of it coming in the 1850s and 1860s when Moreno was an important agent, merchant, and political figure in San Diego and Baja, California. There is also some later material dealing with the subsequent history of his Rancho Guadalupe in northern Baja, California.
    Boxes 1-17 consist mainly of correspondence, documents, and manuscripts to and from José Matías Moreno. Some subjects include the history of his Rancho Guadalupe in northern Baja California; politics in Baja California and American economic and political influence there; filibustering; ranchos and land sales; commerce and shipping along the California coast; mining; and the social and domestic history of the Californios. Boxes 23-26 consist of additional oversize correspondence, documents, and manuscripts at the end of the collection. Note: At the end of Box 15, there are facsimiles, translations, and a group of loose notes and fragments. The notes and fragments appear to be a working translation. These folders do not have an HLG call number.
    Box 18 consists of papers regarding Rancho Guadalupe in northern Baja California. There are correspondence, documents, empty envelopes, miscellaneous financial records, negatives, printed matter, sketches, and maps from the 1880s-1948. Correspondence consists of mainly letters to and from Percy William Barré, Sarela Flower de Mygrant, Ella Mygrant, and two attorneys.
    Box 19 consists of the Flower family genealogy and photographs. The photographs are primarily reproductions. Also in Box 19 is Robert W. Long’s dissertation: Life and Times of José Matías Moreno.
    Box 20 consists of appeals, applications, circulars, correspondence, instructions, and notices to and from the United States Department of the Interior General Land Office from 1911 to 1968. The miscellaneous printed matter folder includes a newspaper clipping, a Baja California Travels Series list by Dawson’s Book Shop, The Journal of San Diego History, 1970, Old Main Towns of Northern Part of the Frontier of Lower California and Their Significance in English and Spanish, and a photocopy of Gabriel González, Last Dominican in Baja California by Peter Gerhard.
    Boxes 21 and 22 consist of index cards corresponding to the correspondence, documents, and manuscripts. The information found on these cards vary from only a name and a date to subject matter. The cards in Box 21 are arranged chronologically from 1850 to 1868. The cards in Box 22 are arranged alphabetically. Note: Not all of these cards are accurate. They appear to be a reference resource for the collection that was never completed.

    Arrangement

    This collection is arranged chronologically.

    Indexing Terms

    The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Huntington Library's Online Catalog.  

    Personal Names

    Altamirano, José Antonio, 1835-
    Alvarado, Juan Bautista, 1809-1882
    Argüello, Santiago, 1791-1862
    Vallejo, Mariano Guadalupe, 1808-1890
    Arnabar, Cándido
    Bandini, Juan, 1800-1859
    Buchanan, James, 1791-1868
    Burton, Henry Straton, -1869
    Castro, José, 1807-1860
    Coronel, Antonio Franco, 1817-1894
    Cota, Leonardo, 1816-1887
    Couts, Cave Johnson, 1821-1874
    Crosthwaite, Philip, 1825-1903
    Del Valle, Ignacio
    Estudillo, José Antonio, 1803-1852
    Gibert, Félix
    Flower, George Anson
    Flower family
    Forbes, James Alexander, 1804?-1881
    Forster, John, 1814-1882
    Franklin, Luis A.
    Franklin, William Buel, 1823-1903
    Guerra, Pablo de la, 1819-1874
    Hayes, Benjamin, 1815-1877
    Juárez, Benito, 1806-1872
    Leese, Jacob P. (Jacob Primer), 1809-1892
    Limantour, José Yves, -1885
    Long, Helen P., former owner
    López de Moreno, Prudenciana
    Manasse, Joseph S., 1831-1897
    Moreno, José Matías
    Maximilian, Emperor of Mexico, 1832-1867
    McClellan, George B. (George Brinton), 1826-1885
    Meléndrez, Antonio Ma. (Antonio María), 1830?-1855
    Mendoza, Juan Bautista
    Moerenhout, J. A. (Jacques Antoine), 1796-1879
    Morse, Ephraim, 1823-1906
    Mugarrieta, José Marcos, 1822-1886
    Olvera, Agustin, 1818-1876
    Pico, Antonio Maria, 1809-1869
    Pico, Pío, 1801-1894
    Porter, Rufus King
    Riveroll, Teodoro
    Rojo, Manuel C., 1823-1900
    Rosecrans, William S. (William Starke), 1819-1898
    Ruiz de Burton, María Amparo, 1832-1895
    Ruiz de Esparza, Feliciano
    Serra, Junípero, Saint, 1713-1784
    Stearns, Abel, 1798-1871
    Sutter, John Augustus, 1803-1880
    Vallejo, Mariano Guadalupe, 1808-1890
    Vischer, Edward
    Williston, Edward Bancroft, 1837-1920
    Yorba, Bernardo, 1800 or 1801-1858

    Corporate Names

    United States. Department of the Interior
    United States. General Land Office
    Yankee Blade (ship)

    Subjects

    Bull Run, 1st Battle of Va., 1861
    Cattle
    Cigar industry--California
    Copper mines and mining
    Diplomatic and consular service, Russian
    Filibusters--Mexico
    Gold mines and mining
    Indians of North America
    Land tenure--California, Southern
    Legislators--California--Correspondence
    Mercury mines and mining--California--New Almaden
    Mohave Indians
    Mines and mineral resources
    Pony express
    Ranches--California
    Salt industry and trade
    Salt mines and mining
    Small pox
    Water supply
    Whalers (persons)
    Whaling ships

    Geographic Areas

    Baja California (Mexico : Peninsula)--History--Sources
    California--Economic conditions
    California--History--Sources
    California--Politics and government--1850-1950
    Guadalajara (Mexico)--Politics and government
    La Paz (Baja California Sur, Mexico)--History
    Mexico--Economic conditions
    Mexico--Foreign relations
    Mexico--History--European intervention, 1861-1867
    Mexico--Politics and government--1861-1867
    San Diego (Calif.)--History--Sources
    San Francisco (Calif.)--Economic conditions
    San Francisco (Calif.)--Politics and government
    San Quintín (Baja California, Mexico)
    United States--Foreign relations
    United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
    United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Economic aspects

    Genre

    Letters (correspondence)--California--19th century
    Letters (correspondence)--California--20th century