This collection contains one manuscript, 19 letters, and 30 pieces of ephemera related to Thomas H. Hansbrow (1826-1868) of Sacramento, California. Most of the correspondence and ephemera relates to the various pumps Hansbrow designed for mining, steamers, agriculture and railroads. The manuscript is the 1921 memoir of Hansbrow's brother-in-law, Samuel A. Randel, with sections which relate to Hansbrow's marriage and travel to California in 1849.

Thomas H. Hansbrow's early life is a bit obscure, but he was born in 1826 and was a tinner before he traveled from Illinois to the gold rush in California. There he ran a stove and hardware store and invented a pump, which won awards at the World's Fair of 1862. He was a rather important figure in Sacramento during the 1850s and 1860s, serving as the Superintendent of the City Water Works and as a member of the Board of Supervisors. He was a director of the California State Agricultural Society and served as a state assemblyman from 1865-1866. He died in 1868.

50 items.

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