Redington Quicksilver Mining Company Records, 1871-1910

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Summary

Creators:
Redington Quicksilver Mining Company
Abstract:
This collection contains material documenting the business activities and expenditures of the Redington Quicksilver Mining Company in northeastern Napa County, California, over the course of almost two decades in the late-19th century and early 20th century, between 1871-1910.
Extent:
1.6 linear feet
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Redington Quicksilver Mining Company Records, D-761, Archives and Special Collections, UC Davis Library, University of California, Davis.

Background

Scope and content:

Description from bookseller:

This collection contains material documenting the business activities and expenditures of the Redington Quicksilver Mining Company in northeastern Napa County, California over the course of almost two decades in the late-19th century.

The collection offers documentation of the company's day-to-day business operations through a voluminous number of letters, documents, balance sheets, assessments, receipts, invoices, tax valuations, partnership agreements, licenses, and more. The Redington Quicksilver Company was originally known as the X.L.C.R. Mining Company, located in Sulphur Canon, north of Berryessa Valley. Discovered in 1860 or 1861 by silver prospectors on land being graded for a road, the cinnabar deposits proved rich and valuable, and a company was formed and changed hands several times over the next decade. The 1881 History of Napa and Lake Counties, California quotes mine superintendent Charles E. Livermore, 'The Redington Quicksilver Mine is located in the northeastern portion of Napa County, about eighteen miles from Clear Lake. The mine was discovered some twenty years ago, and has been worked more or less successfully ever since. Some three hundred men, with their families, forming quite a little town known as Knoxville, owned by the company, are usually clustered around this mine, thus making, with the farmers around, a community of some five hundred people....'

Material in each of the four boxes include:

1) Approximately a hundred manuscript letters, comprised of twenty-two letters from 1872, sixty from 1874, and twenty from 1876, most to superintendent C.E. Livermore, some to others, many from company treasurer Horatio Livermore, some on Redington Quicksilver Company letterhead. A typical document of interest is a manuscript 'Inventory of Kitchen, R.Q. Co., August 31 1872,' with prices, lots of coffee, cornmeal, sugar, rice, cabbage, and even some salmon.

2) Dozens of monthly balance sheets from H.P Livermore, Treasurer of the R.Q. Co., plus hundreds of shipping receipts and waybills, often with line-item costs for transporting material.

3) Hundreds of receipts for the purchase of supplies from various companies, most notably lumber and equipment, and for extensive business travel by numerous company officials all over California and the West Coast, offering a granular account of the business operations of the R.Q. Co."

Acquisition information:
Purchased from McBride Rare Books.
Processing information:

Michelle Trujillo processed this finding aid with information provided by the bookseller.

Arrangement:

The records are arranged in five series. Where resources are arranged by title, document type and business name are used.

Arrangement of the materials is as follows:

Series 1: Correspondence - Arranged chronologically by date.

Series 2: Road poll tax documents - Arranged chronologically by date.

Series 3: Accounts, balance sheets, reports - Arranged alphanumerically, first organized by date, then by title.

Series 4: Expenses - Arranged chronologically by date.

Series 5: Bills, receipts, orders - Arranged alphabetically by title

Physical location:
This collection is stored off-site at the Northern Regional Library Facility. Researchers should contact Archives and Special Collections to request collections in advance
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

All applicable copyrights for the collection are protected under chapter 17 of the U.S. Copyright Code. Requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Regents of the University of California as the owner of the physical items. It is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Redington Quicksilver Mining Company Records, D-761, Archives and Special Collections, UC Davis Library, University of California, Davis.

Location of this collection:
University of California, Davis, Special Collections, UC Davis Library
100 NW Quad
Davis, CA 95616-5292, US
Contact:
(530) 752-1621
speccoll@ucdavis.edu
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