Benjamin Davis Wilson Collection, 1836-1941, bulk 1847-1894

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Summary

Creators:
Wilson, Benjamin Davis, 1811-1878
Abstract:
Collected business and personal correspondence relating to Southern California landowner Benjamin Davis Wilson (1811-1878) and his family. The collection also includes account books, diaries (kept by Wilson's wife Margaret and their daughters Annie and Ruth), and assorted ephemera. The Shorb and Patton families are also heavily represented in the correspondence.
Extent:
2,394 items in 41 boxes.
Language:
The records are in English .

Background

Scope and content:

The collection consists of letters, manuscripts, documents and maps related to the life and business affairs of Benjamin Davis Wilson. Subject matter includes business and social life in California (1850-90), Indian affairs in Southern California (1852-56), the wine industry, the Santa Fe trade, the estate settlement of Solomon Sublette, and the early history of Pasadena, San Marino, and Wilmington, California.

There is also a great deal of personal correspondence from Wilson’s wife Margaret S. Hereford Hereford Wilson, his daughters Maria de Jesus Wilson Shorb, Ruth Wilson Patton, and Annie Wilson, his son John B. Wilson, Ruth’s husband George S. Patton, Sr., and many of Margaret’s Hereford relatives. Also included are diaries kept by Margaret, Ruth, and Annie Wilson. Other individuals represented in the collection include Phineas Banning, Edward Fitzgerald Beale, Joseph Lancaster Brent, Cave Johnson Couts, Stephen Clark Foster, John Charles Frémont, John S. Griffin, William McKendree Gwin, Benjamin Hayes, Henry Edwards Huntington, George S. Patton, Jr., and Jonathan Trumbull Warner.

Biographical / historical:

Benjamin Davis Wilson (1811-1878), a native of Tennessee, was a pioneer California rancher and businessman who came to Southern California from New Mexico in 1841 as a member of the Rowland-Workman party. He purchased the Jurupa Rancho (Riverside, Calif.) in 1843. In 1851-52 Wilson was elected the second mayor of Los Angeles, in 1852 he served as U.S. Indian Agent under Superintendent Edward F. Beale, and in 1855-57 and 1869-72 he served as state senator. He purchased Rancho de Cuati and adjacent land to develop his Lake Vineyard Ranch (part of present-day San Marino) and with John S. Griffin purchased Rancho San Pascual (which later became the city of Pasadena). Wilson planted vineyards and citrus groves and became active in business circles.

In 1844, Benjamin D. Wilson married Ramona Yorba, daughter of Bernardo Yorba, a well-known land owner during the Mexican period. Their daughter, Maria de Jesus Wilson, known as Sue, married James DeBarth Shorb (1842-1896). They also had a son, John B. Wilson, who later committed suicide. After Ramona's death, Wilson married Margaret S. Hereford (d. 1898) in 1853. Margaret had a son, Edward Sublette Hereford, also called “Judge,” from her first marriage. Together Wilson and Margaret had two daughters, Anne (d. 1931) and Ruth (d. 1928), who married George S. Patton, Sr. (1856-1927). Ruth and George’s son was General George S. Patton (1885-1945). They also had a daughter, Anne W. Patton (1887-1971). The Pattons and Wilsons were also related to the Banning family through George Patton Sr.’s half-sister Anne Smith, who married Hancock Banning, the son of Phineas Banning.

Acquisition information:

Purchased from Mrs. C.J. McClung in November 1933 (WN 1-1138).

Gift of Anne W. Patton in 1959 (WN 1139-1926).

Gift of David and Peter W. Patton, August 5, 1971 (WN 1127-2292; 2412-2419).

Gift of Mrs. James W. Totten, April 19, 1971 (WN 2293-2303).

Gift of Anne Totten, October 26, 1972 (WN 2304-2403).

Gift of Doyce Nunis, August 21, 1974 (assorted items).

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged chronologically in 41 boxes. This includes 33 boxes of correspondence, manuscripts, and business records; 2 boxes of account records; 3 boxes of account books, letterbooks, school exercise books, and diaries; and 3 boxes of miscellaneous documents and ephemera. There are also four rolled maps and a deerskin trunk. Addenda series received after the acquisition of the original papers in 1933 have been integrated into the collection, with the exception of the Patton Papers (also called Wilson Addenda II), which have been cataloged as a separate collection.

Rules or conventions:
Finding Aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Location of this collection:
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108, US
Contact:
(626) 405-2191
reference@huntington.org
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