Descriptive Summary
Administrative Information
Biographical Statement
Scope and Content
Indexing Terms
Related Material
Descriptive Summary
Title: Samuel Adams Journal and Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1849-1901
Collection number: MS 1 (Vault)
Creator:
Adams, Samuel, 1810-1888
Extent:
1 box (6 folders)
ca 40 items (.42 linear ft.)
Repository:
California Historical Society, North Baker Research Library
678 Mission Street
San Francisco, California 94105-4014
Abstract: Two original journals cover the voyage to California and Adam's
first months in San Francisco (4/1/1849 - 3/18/1850). The bulk of the Adams papers comprises
letters from Adams to his wife, business correspondence, and Mrs. Adams' letters to her son
Samuel G.
Physical location: Consult repository
Language:
English.
Administrative Information
Access
Publication Rights
Copyright has not been assigned to California Historical Society. All requests for
permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the
Director of Research Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of
California historical Society 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], Samuel Adams Journal and Papers. MS 1 (Vault), California
Historical Society, Manuscript Collections.
Acquisition Information
Gift of A.T. Shine, 3/14/1949
Biographical Statement
Samuel Adams arrived in California aboard the Barque
Mazeppa
on December 3, 1849 after a ten-month voyage at sea. He had left New York on January
27, 1849 with a carge of merchandise which he had been commissioned to sell for the firm of
Rowland and Whitehouse of Brooklyn, N.Y. Adams had previously managed a drugstore in
Brooklyn for Rowland, but when it and the house he had been preparing for his family burned,
he agreed to act as a commercial factor in order to support his family. The voyage of the
Mazeppa was plagued by storms, lengthy repairs to the ship
after it was forced to return to Rio de Janeiro, and long delays in navigating around Cape
Horn. Adams helped to pass the time by writing a journal for his wife and children living in
Winthrop, Me. Some sections are addressed to the children and in them he describes details
of life at sea--what the sailors ate, where they slept, and how they were disciplined; how
to reckon the speed of the ship in knots, and the awesome responsibilities of the
captain.
Adams' arrival in San Francisco, at the height of the gold rush, began with a concentrated
period of bargaining and selling the merchandise in his cargo. By March 15 he had disposed
of the bulk of the goods, had purchased some small parcels of land, and had set up his own
drug store. (From other sources it has been determined that the store was located on
Washington St. below Kearny; that he was burned out every year until he started his fourth
store in 1853.) Adams returned to Winthrop, Me. in 1853 (probably after having been awarded
free passage to New York as an agent of the Postoffice Dept.) and returned to San Francisco
later that year with his family.
Adams was married to Philemela Johnson. They had three children--Eve, Samuel, and George
Russell Adams, who became the youngest member of the Exploring Expedition in Russian
America, 1865-1867, as described in an article by Harold F, Taggart, CHS Quarterly, 35,
291
Scope and Content
The Adams collection includes five bound journals. Two volumes the original journal; the
remaining three volumes contain typewritten or longhand copies of the original volumes. The
first volume of the original journal covers the period 4/1/49 to 6/8/49 and is entirely
devoted to the voyage. It is prefaced by a compass rose and a sketch of the Barque
Mazeppa by George E. Young, a shipmate and later a California state
senator. Volume 2 covers the period 7/14/49 to 3/18/50 and describes the end of the voyage
and Adams' first months in San Francisco. The names of the officers, crew, and passengers of
the ship appear in the back of Volume 2. Tables of latitude and longitude of the
Mazeppa from May 1, 1849 to Nov. 4, 1849 are recorded in the back
of Volume 2.
The bulk of the Adams papers comprises letters from Adams to his wife and Mrs. Adams'
letters to her son Samuel; documents relating to Adams' agreement to work for Whitehouse and
Rowland and to his attempt to become a government mail agent; and various notes and
clippings relating to family matters. Two copies of addresses by George E. Young are
included.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
library's online public access catalog.
Girdler, John Captain
Adams, Samuel G.
Voyages to the Pacific coast
San Francisco (Calif.)--History
Diaries
Letters
Adams, Philemela
Related Material
California Historical Society Photograph Collection contains a photograph of his nephew
George Adams and his aunt, Sarah Adams.