Franklin Augustus Buck Papers, 1846-1966, bulk 1846-1881

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Summary

Abstract:
The papers consist primarily of correspondence from 1846-1881 written by Franklin A. Buck to his sister detailing his activities in New York City until early 1849 and then his life in various parts of California and Nevada from 1849 to 1881, often illustrating the nature of frontier and pioneer life, gold and silver mining, ranching, and 19th century social life and customs.
Extent:
5.83 Linear Feet (5 boxes)
Language:
English.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item]. Franklin Augustus Buck Papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Background

Scope and content:

The papers consist primarily of correspondence written by Franklin A. Buck from 1846 to 1881 to his sister, Mary Sewall Bradley, living in Bucksport, Maine . The collection consists of 225 cataloged items, 1 piece of ephemera, and 150 envelopes. They detail his activities in New York City until early 1849 and then his life in various parts of California and Nevada from 1849 to 1881. Because Franklin regularly addresses his letters and envelopes to his sister as Mary Sewall Bradley and does not include her maiden name, the cataloging of the collection reflects this use.

Most of the letters detail Buck's life in California and Nevada between 1849 and 1881, and they document various floods, local and national politics, and the Civil War. The letters also illustrate the nature of frontier and pioneer life, gold and silver mining, ranching, and 19th century social life and customs in California and Nevada. The Weaverville letters also include descriptions of the local Chinese community, and the collection is dotted with comments by Buck on the California and Nevada Indians.

The collection also contains five letters from Franklin to his father, Rufus A. Buck, who was also living in Bucksport, maine. There are also six letters to Mary Sewall Bradley from Franklin's younger brother, Sewall Buck, which were written from California between 1851-1854. There is also an exchange of letters between Franklin and a friend named Edwin Kirk in San Francisco, California, in 1852. At the end of the collection is a typed document by Rockwell Dennis Hunt (1868-1966) which discusses the Franklin A. Buck correspondence.

Portions of many of the letters were published in A Yankee Trader in the Gold Rush: The Letters of Franklin A. Buck, compiled by Katherine A. White (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1930).

Biographical / historical:

Franklin Augustus Buck (1826-1909) was born in 1826. He grew up in Bucksport, Maine, and moved to New York City in 1846. In late 1848 he caught gold fever and set sail in January 1849 on the brig George Emery bound for San Francisco, California, via Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Cape Horn, and Callao (Peru). After arriving in California, Buck spent some time in San Francisco and Sacramento before settling in Weaverville as a merchant and occasionally prospected for gold. In 1855 he and his business partner built a sawmill on the North Fork of the Trinity River, and Buck was engaged in providing lumber for the local burgeoning towns and miners until he returned to the Atlantic States for a visit home for much of 1858. He returned to California in late 1858, settling again in Weaverville, but this time with his new bride, Jennie. They lived in Weaverville until 1867, when Buck began ranching in Red Bluff, CA. In 1869 Buck followed the latest silver mining boom and moved his family to Pioche, Nevada, where he once again took up ranching and the lumber trade and later expanded his operations to include a dairy. Buck became interested in gold mining activities in Bodie and the Mammoth Lakes region of California in 1879 and tried his luck as an investor but instead accepted a friend's offer to move to a ranch near Napa, California, in 1880. Buck and his family moved to Oakville, California, in 1880 and engaged in various agricultural activities, including growing grapes, making wine, producing butter, and raising chickens. Buck died in 1909.

Franklin Augustus Buck and his wife, Jennie, had four children: Arthur Benson Buck (born 1860), Emma Louise Buck (born 1862), Mary Sewall Buck (born 1868), and Rufus Harry Buck (born 1874).

Acquisition information:
Purchased from Pacific Book Auction Galleries in San Francisco, CA, May 1999. The collection had been offered for sale by Pacific Book Auction Galleries as Lot 57 in Sale 186 held on April 29, 1999 but did not sell at the time of the auction. Provenance records indicate that the collection was previously owned by Carl S. Denzel.
Arrangement:

The collection is arranged chronologically, and the envelopes are stored separately in Box 5.

  1. Box 1: Before 1846?-1853 [HM 60439-60499]
  2. Box 2: 1854-1861 [HM 60500-60559]
  3. Box 3: 1862-1874 [HM 60560-60621]
  4. Box 4: 1875-before 1966 [HM 60622-60663]
Physical facet:
376 pieces
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.

Terms of access:

The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item]. Franklin Augustus Buck Papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

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