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Inventory of the Louis Janin Papers, 1859-1914, (bulk 1859-1894)
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Title: Louis Janin Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1859-1914, (bulk 1859-1894)
Creator: Janin, Louis, Nov. 7, 1837-March 6, 1914
Extent: 110 pieces of correspondence, 2 letterbooks, 3 mining reports, 47 notebooks and pocket diaries
Repository: The Huntington Library
San Marino, California 91108
Language:
English.
Gift of Mrs. Elliot Evans, September 24, 1984.
Collection is open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information
please go to following
URL .
In order to quote from, publish, or reproduce any of the manuscripts or visual materials, researchers must obtain formal permission
from the office of the Library Director. In most instances, permission is given by the Huntington as owner of the physical
property rights only, and researchers must also obtain permission from the holder of the literary rights. In some instances,
the Huntington owns the literary rights, as well as the physical property rights. Researchers may contact the appropriate
curator for further information.
[Identification of item], Louis Janin Papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Louis Janin (Nov. 7, 1837-March 6, 1914), one of three sons in a New Orleans family who followed the profession of mining
engineer, figured prominently in Western mining for nearly sixty years. Educated at Yale and then at the Freiberg Mining Academy,
Janin began his career out West in 1861, shortly after his return from Europe. He made his first mark on the profession in
the early 1860's on the Comstock Lode, where he applied his scientific training to improving the extraction of silver from
formerly-discarded tailings. In subsequent years, first in the employ of others and later in his own practice, he obtained
experience on mining fields all over the Far West. Having established a considerable reputation as a consulting engineer for
accuracy and discriminating judgment, Janin acquired a growing list of clients including investors in Mexican properties and,
in 1873, the Japanese government. His many skills and the breadth of his experience particularly attracted litigants in mining
suits, who regularly employed Janin to ascertain the facts of the matter or provide corroborative testimony. Although afflicted
in later life with a variety of ailments, Janin carried on with his work for some years and attained the profound respect
of his peers. The three sons of his marriage to Elizabeth Marshall, Louis, Jr., Eugene, and Charles, chose their father's
profession, carrying on the distinguished family name with their own careers.
The collection consists of two letterbooks containing press copies of Janin's business and personal correspondence between
1878 and 1894, a number of incoming letters primarily from the Concepcion Mining & Milling Co. for the years 1887 through
1889, several property appraisals authored by Janin in the 1870's, and 47 notebooks and pocket diaries kept by Janin between
1859 and 1889, containing financial accounts, addresses, memoranda, experimental data, and rough notes for mining surveys.
Freiberg Mining Academy (1859-1860), mining and milling techniques, mining operations in the trans-Mississippi West (1861-1889),
in Japan (1872-1873) and in Mexico (1876-1879, 1880, 1887-1889), Louis Janin's business and financial affairs, Janin family
matters including Santa Ynez (Calif.) ranch
Three school notebooks from Janin's attendance at the Freiberg Mining Academy (1859-1860), Box 1, vols. 1-3, notebooks from
his consulting work in Japan (1872-1873), Box 2, vols. 19-21 and in Mexico (1876-1879, 1880), Box 3, vols. 30, 40, notebooks
containing testimony given in a mining debris suit (1878) and Bulwer v. Standard (1889), Box 3, vols. 31 and 47, and correspondence
between Janin and the Concepcion Mining and Milling Co. concerning company finances and field operations in Mexico (1887-1889),
Box 1, folder 1 and letter-book 2
The collection is stored in three grey boxes, whose contents are arranged chronologically. Box 1 contains three tan folders
entitled Correspondence, Mining Reports, and Biographical information (all arranged chronologically), two press copy letterbooks
and notebooks 1-9. Box 2 contains notebooks 10 through 24. Box 3 contains notebooks 25 through 47.