Collection context
Summary
- Creators:
- Nichols, Samuel, -1850
- Abstract:
- Papers belonging to Samuel Nichols, who came to California from Buffalo, New York, to mine for gold in 1849.
- Extent:
- 1.21 Linear Feet (1 box)
- Language:
- Materials are in English.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item]. Samuel Nichols papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
The collection contains letters from Samuel Nichols to family discussing his 1849 overland journey and 1850 ocean voyage to San Francisco via Panama. There are also four letters from his wife, Sarah Ann Taylor Nichols. Among other family papers, there is a diary, from 1821 to 1822, and autobiography, 1821, by Benjamin Hodge, a relative of the Nichols family.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Samuel Nichols left Buffalo, New York, in 1849 with his son George to travel overland to the gold mines of California. After the death of George near Independence, Missouri, Samuel returned home, then traveled to California via the Panama route in 1850. He died of cholera in Sacramento the same year.
- Acquisition information:
- Purchased from Mary E. Nichols, May 1936.
- Processing information:
-
Processed by Virginia Rust in 1982. In January 2025, Brooke M. Black created a finding aid.
- Arrangement:
-
Arranged chronologically.
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Indexed terms
- Subjects:
- Gold mines and mining -- California
Overland journeys to the Pacific -- Personal narratives
Voyages to the Pacific coast -- Personal narratives
California -- Gold discoveries -- Personal narratives
Diaries
Letters (correspondence) - Names:
- Hodge, Benjamin
Nichols, Sarah A. - Places:
- Panama -- Description and travel
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more information.
- 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]. Samuel Nichols papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
- Location of this collection:
-
1151 Oxford RoadSan Marino, CA 91108, US
- Contact:
- (626) 405-2191