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Henry Cohn papers, 1852-1953.
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Collection Overview
Title:
Henry Cohn papers, 1852-1953Recollections of My Youth
Creator/Contributor:
Cohn, Henry, 1831-1915, creatorCreator/Contributor:
Western Jewish History Center, 065.Creator/Contributor:
Judah L. Magnes Museum, WJHC 1979.006.Creator/Contributor:
Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and LifeCreator/Contributor:
Online Archive of CaliforniaAbstract:
The collection contains personal documents, including a copy of Henry (Heiman) Cohn's birth certificate, a certificate of
his apprenticeship as a furrier (both in the German language), a document from New York City attesting to Henry being a Master
Mason (1854), a California gold bullion receipt, and Cohn's passport (1861). The collection also contains photographs of Henry
and members of his family, genealogical information about Cohn's family, and copies of English and Hebrew translations of
Cohn's Jugenderinnerungen (i.e. Recollections of My Youth), in which he describes his days at Poker Flat and St. Louis, California.
Date:
1852 (issued)Subject:
n-us-caCohn, Henry -- 1831-1915 -- Archives
Freemasons. -- Saint Louis (Sierra County, Calif.) -- Saint Louis Lodge no. 86.
Jews -- California -- History -- 19th century
Gold mines and mining -- California -- Sierra County
Saint Louis (Sierra County, Calif.)
Poker Flat (Calif.)
Note:
Formerly: Western Jewish History Center Collection Number 065.
Formerly: Judah L. Magnes Museum Collection Number WJHC 1979.006.
COLLECTION STORED, IN PART, OFF-SITE: Advance notice required for use.
Henry Cohn papers, BANC MSS 2010/675, The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, The Bancroft Library, University of California,
Berkeley.
Henry Cohn was born in 1831 in Dobrzyn, a town on the Polish-Prussian border. He came to the United States in 1852 and settled
in Saint Louis, California and Poker Flat, California, both of which are located in the Gold Country of California. Cohn became
an American citizen in Downieville, California and operated a store in Poker Flat between 1857 and 1863. He was a freemason
and member of Saint Louis Lodge No. 86. Henry returned to Germany in 1864 and remained there until his death in 1915. Some
of Henry Cohn's descendents and other relatives settled and remained in the Western United States, including nephews Alex
and Louis Cohn, who had come to join Henry in Saint Lois and Poker Flat and then ultimately settled in Utah in 1867, and son
Carl, who settled in Berkeley. Henry included his experiences during the California Gold Rush and the 1850s and 1860s in his
memoir entitled "Recollections of My Youth."
Materials in English, German, and Hebrew, with some translations into English.
Type:
Memoirs-California.Photographs.
Physical Description:
1 box and 1 oversize folder (.2 linear feet)
Language:
English
German
Hebrew
Origin:
CaliforniaCopyright Note:
COLLECTION STORED, IN PART, OFF-SITE: Advance notice required for use.