Guide to the Bale Family Papers, [ca. 1841-1899]

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Note

History --History, California --History, Bay Area

Guide to the Bale Family Papers, [ca. 1841-1899]

Collection number: BANC MSS C-B 746

The Bancroft Library



University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, California

Contact Information:

Processed by:
The Bancroft Library staff
Date Completed:
ca. 1968
Encoded by:
Xiuzhi Zhou
© 1997 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.

Collection Summary

Collection Title: Bale Family Papers,
Date (inclusive): [ca. 1841-1899]
Collection Number: BANC MSS C-B 746
Creator: Bales Family
Extent: Number of containers: 2 boxes and 1 oversize folder
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: Some accounts and legal papers of Dr. Edward T. Bale and papers relating to the establishment of his flour and saw mills in Napa Co., 1841-1849; personal and business papers of his wife, Maria I. Soberanes de Bale (niece of Mariano G. Vallejo), relating primarily to the management of their property, Carne Humana Rancho, Napa Valley, ca. 1850-1899.
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], Bale Family papers, BANC MSS C-B 746, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Biographical Sketch

Dr. Edward Turner Bale, surgeon on the English ship Harriet, came to California in 1837, practiced medicine for several years in Monterey, and in 1840 was appointed surgeon of the Mexican army. In 1841 he married María Ignacia Soberanes, the niece of Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo and was granted the Carne Humana Rancho in the Napa Valley. From that date until his death in 1849, he made his residence there and began his work as one of the early promoters of industry north of San Francisco Bay. Among his important accomplishments were the construction of a water-power flour mill in 1846 and the erection of a sawmill in 1848.

Scope and Content

The bulk of these papers was given to the Bancroft Library by Mrs. Stephen C. Clark and Edwin J. Bruck in 1952. They include a few of Dr. Bale's accounts and legal Papers and some material relating to the flour and saw mills, but consist primarily of the personal and business papers of his wife, who continued to live on the Rancho after her husband's death and managed the extensive property left to her. Additional material was given to the Library by Mrs. Viola L. Warren in 1967 and by Owen Duffy, courtesy of Miss Ivy M. Loeber, in 1968.

Box 1

General correspondence

Scope and Content Note

Arranged alphabetically by name of person or organization. Major correspondents include:
 

Cooper, Juan Bautista Roger, 1792-1872

 

Letter, July 9, 1870

 

Hartnell, María Teresa de la Guerra, 1809-

 

Letter, Aug. 16, 1881

 

Peabody, Edward T.

 

Letter, n.d.

 

Business Correspondence

Scope and Content Note

Addressed primarily to Mrs. Bale, her agents, or her attorneys. Arranged alphabetically by name of person or organization. Major correspondents include:
 

Brooks, Benjamin Sherman, 1820-1884

 

17 letters, 1858-1877

 

Bruck, Louis

 

4 letters, 1859-1875

 

Greene, John L.

 

10 letters, ca. 1870-1879

 

Halleck, Peachy & Billings

 

2 letters, 1857

 

Krug, Charles

 

2 letters, 1869

 

Larkin, Thomas Oliver, 1802-1858

 

1 letter, Feb. 17, 1854

 

Leese, Jacob Primer, 1809-1892

 

1 letter, Apr. 5, 1855

 

Shattuck, David O.

 

1 letter, July 28, 1853

 

U.S. Surveyor General

 

1 letter, Aug. 26, 1853

 

Family correspondence

Scope and Content Note

Primarily letters from her children and from relatives, arranged alphabetically by name of person. Included are letters from the following:
 

Pico, José Ramón

 

2 letters, 1891

 

Soberanes, Ezequiel

 

6 letters, 1880-1891

 

Soberanes, Mariano, 1796-1859

 

4 letters, 1872-1883

 

Soberanes, Victor

 

12 letters, 1869-1872

 

Vallejo, [José Manuel] Salvador

 

3 letters, 1847-1857

 

Vallejo, Mariano Guadalupe, 1807-1890

 

18 letters, 1860-1872

 

Bale, Edward Turner- Miscellaneous papers

 

Grant of Rancho Carne Humana from Governor Juan B. Alvarado, June 23, 1841

Additional Note

English translation
 

Tracing of Expediente for Rancho Carne Humana

 

Bills and receipts from John H. Everett; Hudsons Bay Co.; bark, Don Quixote; John C. Davis; William Hudson; Lilburn W. Boggs; W. H. McKee & Co.; John Greenwood; Samuel J. Gower, 1841-1849

 

Statement of salary due Dr. Bale, signed by José Abrego, Apr. 9, 1845

 

Photocopy of Bale's appointment as military surgeon for the California Battalion, Sept. 12, 1846

 

Receipt and note of contract, Thomas Kittleman and Edward T. Bale, for building flour mill, July 14, 1847

 

Copy of lease of parcel of land to Nathan Spear, 1847

 

Accounts with Thomas O. Larkin, 1847-1848

 

Agreements for renting houses, 1848-1849

 

Promissory note to Benjamin Mitchel, Aug. 9, 1849

 

Copy of will

 

Papers relating to the Bale Rancho - leases, mortg ages, agreements, deeds etc., ca. 1850-1877

 

Papers relating to John S. Cripps' management of the Bale property, 1850-1854

 

Papers relating to David O. Shattuck's management of the Bale property, 1852-1854

Box 2

Field notes, receipts, etc., for survey of the Bale Rancho, 1858-1867

 

Papers relating to the Bale saw mill, 1851-1854

 

Papers relating to Bale flour mill, 1850-1859

 

Miscellaneous bills and receipts for household expenses, clothing, food, farm implements, etc., ca. 1852-1871

 

Bills of sale, agreements and receipts for fencing, houses, livestock, pasture land, etc., 1858-1870

 

Tax receipts, Napa County, 1862-1873

 

María Ignacia Soberanes de Bale - Miscellaneous papers

 

Marriage contract with Edward T. Peabody, 1856

Physical Description: (copy)
 

Promissory notes, 1854-1875

 

Quit claim deed to Jacob P. Leese for Rancho San Cayetano, 1860

 

Accounts with the Bank of Napa, 1877-1878

 

Fire insurance policy

 

Release of all demands: Mariano G. Bale to Maria I. Soberanes, 1870

 

Revocation of her will, 1870

Physical Description: (copy)
 

Agreement, A. E. Bruck with M. I. S. de Bale, Mar. 17, 1883

 

Edward T. Peabody- Miscellaneous papers

 

Cuenta general de asuntos, Enero 1855

 

Pre-emption claim to land in Napa Co., May 1, 1857

 

Sight draft payable to him by Commission for the Survey of Sonoma, 1858

 

Information re his death in Guaymas, Mexico

 

Louis Bruck [son-in-law who assisted in managing the estate] - Miscellaneous accounts, receipts, power-of-attorney, etc., 1858-1860

 

John L. Green [attorney]- Legal papers, accounts, receipts, etc., 1868-1873

 

Papers relating to suits concerning the Bale Rancho

 

Papers relating to suit brought against María Peabody by Herman Michels

 

Papers relating to the education and care of the Bale children, 1852-1859

 

Charles Krug [son-in-law]- Miscellaneous accounts, receipts, etc., 1869-1888

 

Edward Bale [son] - Receipts for military stores, as officer, "Native California Cavalry," 1864; summons in a law suit, 1874

 

Miscellaneous papers

 

José Ignacio Soberanes.

 

Receipt for part payment on a lot sold to Thomas Thorn, Oct. 9, 1857

 

Complaint and summons in case: Francisco P. Pacheco vs. Mariano G. Vallejo et als.

 

Death notice for Mariano Soberanes

 

Affidavit (incomplete, p. 7-8 only) of A. A. Green in the United States vs. Heirs of de Haro, relating to survey of Laguna San Bruno

 

Material relating to the Bale Family (Gift of Mrs. Viola L. Warren).

Scope and Content Note

Includes a copy of an address given by Dr. Edward Bruck to a medical society about his great-grandfather, Edward T. Bale
 

Copies of legal documents relating to the Bale Family (Gift of Owen Duffy).

Scope and Content Note

Included: E T. Bale's will and marriage certificate; various deeds and leases, etc.