Dunning Family Papers mssHM 70310-70360

Contributing Institution: The Huntington Library

Title: Dunning family papers

Creator: Dunning family

Identifier/Call Number: mssHM 70310-70360

Physical Description: 1.2 Linear Feet (1 box)

Date (inclusive): 1853-1872

Abstract: A collection of correspondence of the Dunning family of California and Maine.

Language of Material: Materials are in English.

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[Identification of item]. Dunning family papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Purchased for the Huntington from M and S Rare Books by the Library Collectors' Council, January 2007.

Benjamin P. Dunning came from a seafaring and merchant family located in the vicinity of Brunswick, Maine. Before heading to California during the gold rush, Benjamin Dunning was master of sailing vessels and involved in the building of his own ships, which caused considerable financial distress. He came to California shortly before 1853, while his mother Abagail B. Dunning, father James Dunning (born 1793), sister Abby, and brothers Hiram A. Dunning (born 1825), and Clement S. Dunning (born 1833) remained in Maine. While in California, Benjamin, along with his uncle John Merryman, mined for gold and pursued endeavors such as buying and selling claims, running a blacksmith shop, and operating a sawmill. Benjamin returned to Maine between 1855-1858 to become master of the brig Ben Dunning. Eventually Benjamin convinced his brother Hiram, his wife Mary Frances, and brother Clement to join him in California. Although he returned to Maine periodically, Benjamin Dunning remained in California for much of the rest of his life.

A collection of 51 items which consits of correspondence between members of the Dunning family from 1853 to 1872, with the bulk of the collection falling between 1853-1860. Benjamin P. Dunning is the central figure in this collection; he wrote thirty-three of the letters and received six. There are eleven other authors in the collection, most significantly, his older brother Hiram A. Dunning. The letters describe the conditions of various mining camps in northern California, mainly those in Calaveras and Yuba counties, comment on the conditions and hardships of mining as well as furnish details on prices for mining supplies and food. They also illustrate several aspects of the California Gold Rush experience including prices of mining claims; the vicissitudes of postal service; the legend of Joaquín Murieta; the struggle with Chinese miners; and descriptions of sea voyages from New York to California via South America and the Isthmus of Panama. Some of Benjamin Dunning's letters discuss the severe illness and death of his beloved sister, Abby, in Maine, while some of Hiram Dunning's letters discuss the death of his wife and baby in childbirth in California. The collection includes a pictorial letter sheet titled "The What Cheer House, San Francisco, Cal," with related autograph letter. Importantly, the pictorial letter sheet is not listed in either Joseph Baird Jr.'s California Pictorial Letter Sheets 1849-1869 (1967), or the Catalogue of the Collection of Henry H. Clifford California Pictorial Letter Sheets (1994). The collection includes six folders of ephemera, including two trade cards (one from The What Cheer House, and the other for The Broadway Wood and Coal Yard in San Francisco), two letter fragments, and various handwritten receipts. The collection also contains a promissory note, a judicial record, and a receipt book of personal accounts. There is a handwritten obituary for Hiram Dunning's wife, Mary Frances, which includes a pressed flower petal.

Processed by Christabel Magnuson, April 2008. In 2021, Gayle Richardson created a finding aid derived from the legacy finding aid.

Arranged chronologically.