John Cumming California Gold Rush and western migration research files

Finding aid prepared by Brooke M. Black

The Huntington Library

1151 Oxford Road

San Marino, California 91108

Phone: (626) 405-2191

Fax: (626) 449-3477

Email: reference@huntington.org

URL: http://www.huntington.org

Descriptive Summary

Title: John Cumming California Gold Rush and western migration research files

Inclusive Dates: 1827-1993

Bulk Dates: 1849-1859

Collection Number: mssCumming

Extent: 8 boxes (3.3 linear feet)

Repository: The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens

The Huntington Library

1151 Oxford Road

San Marino, California 91108

Phone: (626) 405-2191

Fax: (626) 449-3477

Email: reference@huntington.org

URL: http://www.huntington.org

Abstract: Research material collected by historian John Cumming, chiefly on western immigration from Michigan.

Language of Material: The material is in English.

Administrative Information

Access

Collection is open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department.

Publication Rights

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 permission rests with the researcher.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of Item], John Cumming California Gold Rush and western migration research files, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Acquisition Information

Gift of John Cumming, Jr. and Marilyn B. Cumming, March 2017.

Biography

John Cumming was born in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts in 1915. He taught in the Detroit Public School system before becoming director of the Clarke Historical Library at Central Michigan University in 1961. Cumming served as director for 22 years, substantially increasing the size of the library during his tenure. He was a member of a number of professional organizations and researched Michiganders who went west in the 19th century, especially to the California Gold Rush. He was also an author of many books and journal articles. Cumming married Audrey Marie Severence in 1939 and together they had two sons, Robert and John. He died in 2010.

Scope and Content

This collection is comprised of the research conducted by historian John Cumming in his study of Michiganders who went west in the 19th century. The collection includes transcriptions of articles, diaries, and letters written by emigrants from Michigan to the American West, many of which were published in Michigan newspapers. The dates cited refer to the date of the originals from which the transcriptions were created. Often the location of the originals is noted on the transcriptions. Also included are several items written by John Cumming. There is one folder that contains original letters from the Gold Rush era: Box 4 (13): Gold Rush Notes: contains original manuscript items and letters.

Arrangement

The original order of the collection was maintained. It is arranged alphabetically by folder title.

Indexing Terms

Personal Names

Cumming, John, 1915-, collector

Subjects

Overland journeys to the Pacific -- Personal narratives

Pioneers -- West (U.S.) -- History -- 19th century

Voyages to the Pacific coast -- Personal narratives

Geographic Areas

California -- History -- 19th century

Michigan -- Emigration and immigration

West (U.S.) -- Description and travel

Genres

articles

diaries

essays

letters (correspondence)

photocopies

research (documents)

stats (copies)

transcriptions (documents)

typescripts

Box 1

A - Bell

Folder 1

"Acquisition of California:" photocopy of Chapter LV from Fifty years and over of Akron and Summit county (1892)

Folder 2

Adrian Michigan Expositor: transcriptions of Gold Rush letters (1849)

Folder 3

Adrian Michigan Expositor: transcriptions of Gold Rush letters (1849-1855)

Folder 4

Adrian Michigan Expositor and other newspapers: transcriptions of Gold Rush letters (1849-1857)

Folder 5

Adrian Weekly Times: transcriptions of Gold Rush letters (1873-1878)

Folder 6

Anonymous Diary, Michigan to California: transcription (1854-1933)

Folder 7

Articles of Association; gold seekers traveling from Michigan to California: negative photostat from Bancroft Library (1849-1850)

Folder 8

Ashley, D. R.: account of trip from Monroe, MI, to California: negative photostat from Bancroft Library (1849-1850)

Folder 9

Baker, Hozial: photocopy of "Overland journey to Carson Valley, Utah" (1859)

Folder 10

Baker, Milo: photocopy of transcription of 1850 diary, published in Michigan Heritage (1850)

Folder 11

Bates, Morgan: copy of his journal and associated letters, also Abner Pratt (1849-1981)

Folder 12

Bell, Orrin: photocopies of Gold Rush letters (1853-1973)

Folder 13

Bell, Orrin: transcriptions of Gold Rush letters (1853-1854)

Folder 14

Bell, Orrin: transcriptions of Gold Rush letters (1853-1855)

Box 2

Blackwood - Couper

Folder 1

Blackwood, Jane: typescripts of Gold Rush letters from California (1853-1854)

Folder 2

Blackwood, Jane and Thomas: typescripts of Gold Rush letters from California (1849-1850)

Folder 3

Blackwood, Jane and Thomas: transcriptions of Gold Rush letters (1849-1853)

Folder 4

Blackwood family: transcriptions of Gold Rush letters from various family members (1849-1850)

Folder 5

Blackwood diary: typescript [1849?]

Folder 6

Bonine diary: transcription of Gold Rush diary (1849)

Folder 7

Bordwell's Opera House: Saginaw Courier-Herald transcribed articles (1895)

Folder 8

Bordwell's Opera House: transcription of deposition of witness Frankie Howe (1895)

Folder 9

Branch County Journal: transcriptions of Gold Rush letters (1850-1853)

Folder 10

Burral, George: transcription of 1849 diary from Newberry Library (1849)

Folder 11

California letters: transcriptions of letters [probably published in Michigan Expositor] (1849-1850)

Folder 12

Card, Cicero: photocopy of diary to Montana Territory (1863-1866)

Folder 13

Centerville Western Chronicle: transcriptions of Gold Rush letters (1849-1850)

Folder 14

Clifton, John: Chapter 3 of More than gold in California, 1849-1933 from Bancroft Library (1933)

Folder 15

Coldwater Sentinel: transcripts of Gold Rush letters (1850-1852)

Folder 16

Couper, John C.: condensed extracts from diary, photocopy of typescript (1852)

Box 3

Cumming, John, 1915-

Folder 1

Cumming, John, 1915-: Around the Horn (essay regarding Dr. Thomas Blackwood) [undated]

Folder 2

Cumming, John, 1915-: Ever Westward [undated]

Folder 3

Cumming, John, 1915-: Ever Westward [undated]

Folder 4

Cumming, John, 1915-: Exodus '49 [undated]

Folder 5

Cumming, John, 1915-: Ho for California!!! [undated]

Folder 6

Cumming, John, 1915-: Dr. James Delavan and the Rocky Bar Company [undated]

Folder 7

Cumming, John, 1915-: James Delavan and the Rocky Bar Company, transcribed from the Adrian Michigan Expositor [undated]

Folder 8

Cumming, John, 1915-: The Long Road to California (essay regarding William Lewis Manly) (1849-[undated])

Folder 9

Cumming, John, 1915-: Michigan Argonauts: A list of Michigan people who migrated to California during the Gold Rush period [undated]

Folder 10

Cumming, John, 1915-: On the Road to El Dorado [undated]

Folder 11

Cumming, John, 1915-: On the Road to El Dorado [undated]

Folder 12

Cumming, John, 1915-: The Panama Route [undated]

Folder 13

Cumming, John, 1915-: The Wolverine Rangers [undated]

Box 4

Daily - Hammond

Folder 1

The Daily Commercial and other items: transcriptions of letters from California (1845)

Folder 2

The Daily Commercial and The Enquirer and Message: transcriptions of letters about California (1844-1845)

Folder 3

The Daily Commercial: transcriptions of letters (1844)

Folder 4

Daughters of Utah Pioneers-Central Company: copy of printed "They Came in '48" (1948, Sep.)

Folder 5

Detroit Free Press: transcriptions of Gold Rush letters (1849-1850)

Folder 6

Detroit Free Press: transcriptions of articles about California (1849-1850)

Folder 7

Detroit Free Press: transcriptions of articles about Michigan (1849-1850)

Folder 8

Foster, William C.: typescript letter, overland travel (1850, Oct. 9)

Folder 9

Genesee Whig: typescripts of Gold rush letters (1851)

Folder 10

Genesee Whig: typescripts of letters about various topics (1851)

Folder 11

Genesee Whig and others: typescripts of Gold Rush letters (1849-1853)

Folder 12

Gold Rush Index: typescript, probably by John Cumming, 1915- [undated]

Folder 13

Gold Rush Notes: contains original manuscript items and letters (1839-1851)

Folder 14

Gold Rush Publications: typescript list of published Gold Rush accounts [undated]

Folder 15

Goss, Milo J. and family: typescripts of Gold Rush letters (1849-1853)

Folder 16

Grand Rapids: negative photostat of Gold Rush diary (1849)

Folder 17

Grand Rapids Daily Eagle: typescripts of letters about Wyoming and Utah (1870)

Folder 18

Grand Rapids Enquirer: typescripts of Gold Rush letters (1849-1853)

Folder 19

Green, Edmund: typescript of "Reminiscences of a Pioneer" diary (1849)

Folder 20

Hammond, William: essay entitled "On the Road to California in 1852," from letters to the Marshall Statesman (1852)

Box 5

Hanchette - Miscellaneous

Folder 1

Hanchette, William: photocopies of newspaper columns and transcriptions of Gold Rush letters published in Coldwater Sentinel (1851-1852)

Folder 2

Hanchette, William: transcriptions of letters written from Sacramento, published in Coldwater Sentinel (1853)

Folder 3

Harlan, George: photocopy of court proceedings (1839-1972)

Folder 4

Harner, Samuel: photocopies of letters by Harner and other items (1853-1972)

Folder 5

Hillsdale Standard: transcriptions of Gold Rush letters (1849-1850)

Folder 6

Holbrook, Silas: transcriptions of Gold Rush letters from Branch County Journal and Coldwater Sentinel (1851-1852)

Folder 7

Holbrook, Silas: transcriptions of Gold Rush letters from Coldwater Sentinel (1851-1852)

Folder 8

Isham, G. S.: photocopy of "Guide to California and the Mines" (1850)

Folder 9

Jackson Citizen: transcriptions of Gold Rush letters (1849-1852)

Folder 10

Jonesville Telegraph: transcriptions of Gold Rush letters (1850-1852)

Folder 11

Kalamazoo Gazette: transcriptions of Gold Rush letters (1849-1851)

Folder 12

Kellogg, George: transcription of letter to wife from Acapulco, Mexico and other items (1852-1908)

Folder 13

The Knoxville Journal: transcriptions of Gold Rush letters (1849-1851)

Folder 14

Lake Superior Journal: transcriptions of letters about Michigan (1849-1850)

Folder 15

Mann, H. E.: mimeographed copy of portion of diary (1849)

Folder 16

Maps [undated]

Folder 17

Marvin, D. S.: transcription of letter, also Gold Rush related items (1815-1849)

Folder 18

Marshall Statesman: transcriptions of letters, including Kansas and California (1850-1854)

Folder 19

Marshall Statesman: transcriptions of Gold Rush letters, also from Democratic Expounder (1849-1855)

Folder 20

Marshall Statesman: transcriptions of Gold Rush letters (1848-1852)

Folder 21

Miscellaneous Ephemera (1833-1908)

Box 6

Morrill - Schutt

Folder 1

Morrill, Henry Codman: transcriptions of diary around Cape Horn (1849-1989)

Folder 2

Myrick, Thomas s.: typescripts of letters (1849-1851)

Folder 3

Myrick, Thomas s.: typescripts of letters to The Jackson Citizen (1850-1853)

Folder 4

New York Daily Tribune: typescripts of letters from California and upper Midwest region (1848-1849)

Folder 5

Niles Republican: typescripts of articles about upper Midwest region (1847-1860)

Folder 6

Niles Republican: typescripts of Gold Rush letters (1849-1850)

Folder 7

Norris, Joe: copy of article about Gold Rush in Detroit Historical Society Bulletin (1958, Dec.)

Folder 8

Oakland (Mich.) Gazette: typescripts of articles, also notes concerning Adams family history (1848-1866)

Folder 9

Parish, G.: typescript of portions of Gold Rush diary (from Clarke Historical Library) (1852)

Folder 10

Pontiac Gazette: typescripts of Gold Rush letters (1849-1874)

Folder 11

Rathbone, A. D.: The Man with the Catgut Bear: A tale of Pere Marquette (poem) [1940]

Folder 12

Reel Index: microfilm of "California County and Regional Histories," Research Publications, and other items (1876-1904)

Folder 13

Runyan, I.: Journal whilst Crossing the Plains typescript (1852)

Folder 14

Saginaw Daily Courier: typescripts of letters concerning mining in Colorado and elsewhere (1876-1885)

Folder 15

Sandusky Clarion: typescripts of articles about upper Midwest and Oregon (1827-1843)

Folder 16

SAS Institute: data printout, California census (1852)

Folder 17

Schutt, H. R.: typescript of Journal of a visit to Oregon and California in the summer of 1850 and the return in 1854 overland (1850-1854)

Box 7

Seeley - Wheeler

Folder 1

Seeley-Phelps: diary, typescript of The Story of a Party of Michigan men as they traveled Toward the Land of Promise (1850)

Folder 2

Sherman, W. T.: "The California Gold Fields in 1848", copies of two letters by Sherman, housed in the Beinecke Library made for Frederick Beinecke in 1964 (1964)

Folder 3

Smith, Chester: diary published in the Colorado Genealogist Vol. 38, no. 1 (1977)

Folder 4

Spooner: typescript of diary (1849-1850)

Folder 5

Strang, James W.: typescript of newspaper accounts (LDS church) (1851-1882)

Folder 6

Sutton, Richard: letters transcribed by Mabel Horning McGehee, pp. 1-99 (1853-1856)

Folder 7

Sutton, Richard: letters transcribed by Mabel Horning McGehee, pp. 100-109 (1853-1856)

Folder 8

Sutton, Richard: letters transcribed by Mabel Horning McGehee, pp. 200-299 (1853-1856)

Folder 9

Sutton, Richard: letters transcribed by Mabel Horning McGehee, pp. 300-427 (1853-1856)

Folder 10

Tecumseh Herald: typescripts of Gold Rush letters (1850-1909)

Folder 11

United States: typescripts of Gold Rush letters from Morgan Bates, Thomas Blackwood and S. W. Higgins (1845-1852)

Folder 12

Van Gordon, Ira: biographical sketch [after 1868]

Folder 13

The Vigilance Committee: typescript of letter from Alonzo Delano to the Adrian Michigan Expositor (1851, Aug. 1)

Folder 14

Watrous Letters: typescripts of letters to Democratic Expounder (1851)

Folder 15

Wheeler, Enos: typescripts of letters (1852)

Box 8

Wisner - Various

Folder 1

Wisner, Charles O.: typescripts of letters (1852-1854)

Folder 2

Wisner, Charles O.: typescript of journal (1852-1854)

Folder 3

Wixom, W. W.: copy of journal made in 1954 from typescript version (from University of the Pacific) (1851-1993)

Folder 4

Wolverine Rangers: Gold Rush letters from this emigrant company to Marshall Statesman (1849-1850)

Folder 5

Woodman, Jane Harris: photocopies of typescripts of letters written to her husband in Gold Rush California (1851-1981)

Folder 6

Wooster, David: photocopies of letters from California (1858-1859)

Folder 7

Wooster, David: typescripts of letters to Adrian Michigan Expositor (1850-1853)

Folder 8

Unidentified Bancroft: negative photostats of letters from the Bancroft Library (1849)

Folder 9

Various: copies and transcripts of letters to assorted Michigan newspapers (1849-1859)

Folder 10

Various Biographical Sketches: typescripts from multiple publications [undated]