Description
File contains 7 handwritten letters from Thomas O. Larkin to Edward L. William from 1856, and 3 photocopies of a handwritten
letter from Larkin to the Consulate of the United States 1846 (3 copies of same letter).
Background
Thomas Oliver Larkin was bron in Charleston, Massachusetts, September 16, 1802. In 1831, he boarded the Newcastle ship, and
landed in San Francisco in April, 1832. He was able to purchase a sawmill in Santa Cruz in 1833, and later that year married
his wife, Rachel. In 1835 he built California's first two-story house, which still remains in Monterey. In the 1840s, his
political participation gained him recognition from President Tyler, who appointed Larkin the American consul in Alta, California,
in 1843. He had a strong role in the Mexican-American war, and later acquired several rancheros. In 1858, he contracted typhoid
and died within a week.