Collection context
Summary
- Creators:
- Dakin, Fred H.
- Abstract:
- The papers of Fred H. Dakin, California mining engineer and antimony ore buyer for the Texas Mining and Smelting Company. Included are mine files, general correspondence and subject files, field notes and other notebooks, some mining financial records, personalia, and some plans/tracings for California canals.
- Extent:
- 8 cartons, 11 oversize folders, 4 volumes, 1 oversize box (16 linear feet)
- Language:
- Collection materials are in English
Background
- Scope and content:
-
Mine files, general correspondence and subject files, field notes and other notebooks, some mining financial records, personalia, and some plans/tracings for California canals. The mine files are arranged geographically by state or country and then by mine name, mining company name, or the personal name of a mine owner. These files relate mainly to antimony mines in the western United States (especially California, Nevada, Oregon, and Idaho) and Mexico and may include correspondence, reports on mines written by Fred H. Dakin, and notes. Many of these mine files are from Dakin's work as a ore buyer for the Texas Mining and Smelting Company, but some predate that phase of his career and are related to his own mining ventures, especially in Siskiyou County, California. The general correspondence and subject files include materials on general mining technologies or developments and some general mining correspondence. The field notes and other notebooks consist mainly of Dakin's own field notes from his assessments of various antimony mines. Among the personalia in the collection are report cards and other materials relating to Dakin's early schooling, files on the University of California, Berkeley's class of 1902, and files on the Kappa Sigma fraternity at UC Berkeley.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Frederick Holroyd Dakin, Jr. (1879-1971) was born in California to Frederick Holroyd Dakin, Sr. and Virginia Casebolt. Frederick H. Dakin, Sr., an immigrant from England, moved to California in the early 1870s and found work in the Asian art trade. He moved his family to Japan in 1880 for five years. Upon returing to California, the elder Dakin took up residence in Redding, California and began mining in Shasta County. He quickly established himself as a prominent figure in California mining circles and formed his own mining company, the Dakin Company. Frederick H. Dakin, Jr. attended school in Redding (Redding School), Berkeley (Boone's University School), and San Francisco (Pacific Heights School). In 1902, Frederick H. Dakin, Jr. graduated from the mining school at the University of California, Berkeley and joined his father in the family's mining business as a mining engineer. He later worked for the Texas Mining and Smelting Company as an ore buyer specializing in antimony ore. He remained active in his profession into his nineties. He and his wife, Margaret McKinnley, had six children.
- Acquisition information:
- The Fred H. Dakin papers were purchased from the Estate of Fred H. Dakin in 1972.
- Physical location:
- Many of the Bancroft Library collections are stored offsite and advance notice may be required for use. For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
- Rules or conventions:
- Finding Aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard
Access and use
- Location of this collection:
-
University of California, Berkeley, The Bancroft LibraryBerkeley, CA 94720-6000, US
- Contact:
- 510-642-6481