Finding aid to the Jacob P. Leese papers, 1837-1862,
MS OV 10
Finding aid prepared by Marie Silva.
California Historical Society
678 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA, 94105-4014
(415) 357-1848
reference@calhist.org
2012
Title: Jacob P. Leese papers
Date: 1837-1862
Collection Identifier: MS OV 10
Creator:
Leese, Jacob P. (Jacob Primer), 1809-1892.
Extent: 1 oversize box(2 linear feet)
Contributing Institution:
California Historical Society
678 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA, 94105-4014
(415) 357-1848
reference@calhist.org
URL: http://californiahistoricalsociety.org/
Location of Materials: Collection is stored onsite.
Language of Materials: Most collection materials are in English, with some correspondence in Spanish.
Abstract: Consists of personal and business correspondence, indentures, legal documents, ship's papers, accounts, inventories, and maps,
documenting the activities, business interests, and land holdings of early California merchant Jacob P. Leese, his wife Rosalia
Vallejo de Leese, and his partner Thomas O. Larkin, between the years 1837 to 1862. Items of note include indentures for three
Chinese servants transported to California from Hong Kong in 1849; accounts for the brig
Eveline, on which Leese traveled to China to engage in trade (1849); a signed account statement of John C. Fremont for the United
States Army (1847); accounts with Hudson's Bay Company (1841); and deeds and other legal documents for land holdings in San
Francisco, Monterey, and Sonoma, including Rancho Sausal. The collection also contains three manuscript maps depicting Rancho
Sotoyome (surveyed by Jasper O'Farrell, 1844); lots 327 and 328 at Broad Way and Battery in San Francisco (surveyed by William
M. Eddy, 1850); and lots in Monterey belonging to Thomas Larkin and others prior to 1848 (1849).
Access
Publication Rights
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Director
of Library and Archives, North Baker Research Library, California Historical Society, 678 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA
94105. Consent is given on behalf of the California Historical Society as the owner of the physical items and is not intended
to include or imply permission from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner. Restrictions
also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to research and educational
purposes.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Jacob P. Leese papers, MS OV 10, California Historical Society.
Related Collections
Daguerreotype portraits of Jacob P. Leese and Rosalia Vallejo de Leese can be found in the California Historical Society's
Daguerreotype Collection under the identifying numbers 8G and 8H.
Donor
Collection items are on indefinite loan from the M. H. De Young Memorial Museum.
Biographical Information
Early California merchant Jacob Primer Leese was born in St. Clairsville, Ohio, in 1809, and came to California in 1833 and
again in 1834, engaging in trade in Los Angeles and later in Monterey. In 1836, Leese entered into a mercantile partnership
with Monterey businessmen Nathan Spear and William Sturgis Hinckley, relocated to Yerba Buena (now San Francisco), and there
opened a store. The partners ran a profitable business, trading merchandise for rancho products. Naturalized in 1837, Leese
married Rosalia Vallejo, sister of General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo. In 1841, Leese sold his business interests to Hudson's
Bay Company, and moved to his Sonoma ranch, still retaining extensive land holdings in Yerba Buena. Leese served as alcalde
in Sonoma (1844-1845), and was one of the prisoners taken in the 1846 Bear Flag Revolt. Around 1849, he entered into a business
partnership with Thomas Oliver Larkin in Monterey, traveling to China on the brig
Eveline. Leese and his wife were also major land holders in Monterey County; among their claims was Rancho Sausal, deeded to Rosalia
by her brother Mariano G. Vallejo. Leese left California in 1865, returning to the state in 1885. He died in San Francisco
in 1892.
Scope and Contents
The collection consists of personal and business correspondence, indentures, legal documents, ship's papers, accounts, inventories,
and maps, documenting the activities, business interests, and land holdings of early California merchant Jacob P. Leese, his
wife Rosalia Vallejo de Leese, and his partner Thomas O. Larkin, between the years 1837 to 1862. Items of note include indentures
for three Chinese servants transported to California from Hong Kong on the
Mary in 1849; accounts for the brig
Eveline, on which Leese traveled to China to engage in trade (1849); a signed account statement of John C. Fremont for the United
States Army (1847); accounts with Hudson's Bay Company (1841); and deeds and other legal documents for land holdings in San
Francisco, Monterey, and Sonoma, including Rancho Sausal. The collection also contains three manuscript maps depicting Rancho
Sotoyome (surveyed by Jasper O'Farrell, 1844); lots 327 and 328 at Broad Way and Battery in San Francisco (surveyed by William
M. Eddy, 1850); and lots in Monterey belonging to Thomas Larkin and others prior to 1848 (1849).
Many prominent early Californians, businessmen, and firms are represented in Leese's correspondence, accounts, and legal papers,
including: Thomas O. Larkin; Philip A. Roach; Antonio M. Osio; Fr. Rafael de Jesus Moreno; Rafael Garcia; Faxon Dean Atherton;
G. F. Grant (?); Henry Mellus; Joseph B. Eaton; John C. Fremont; Graciano Manjarrez; Mariano G. Vallejo; William E. P. Hartnell;
Juan B. Alvarado; Alexander S. Taylor; Parrott & Co.; the Society of California Pioneers; Hudson's Bay Company; Lovering &
Gay; Mellus, Howard & Co.; Alizal Silver Mining Co.; and the Monterey Wharf Company.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog:
Leese, Jacob P. (Jacob Primer), 1809-1892--Archives.
Merchants--California.
Chinese--California.
Chinese--United States--Legal status, laws, etc.
Land titles--California--Monterey County.
Real property--California--Monterey County.
Real property--California--San Francisco.
Real property--California--Sonoma County.
California--Commerce.
San Francisco (Calif.)--Commerce.
China--Commerce--United States.
United States--Commerce--China.
Rancho Sausal (Monterey County)
Rancho Sotoyome (Sonoma County)--Maps.
Monterey (Calif.)--Maps.
San Francisco (Calif.)--Maps.
Larkin, Thomas Oliver, 1802-1858.
Vallejo de Leese, Rosalia.
Frémont, John C. (John Charles), 1813-1890.
Eddy, William M.
O'Farrell, Jasper, 1817-1875.
Eveline (Brig).
Hudson's Bay Company.
Manuscript maps.
Ship's papers.
Deeds.
Indentures.
Inventories.
Folder 1
Letters from Jacob P. Leese
1843, 1849
Scope and Contents
Consists of letters to Thomas O. Larkin (1849) and John M. Loughlin (1843). The letter to Larkin concerns the transport of
fifteen Chinese cooks from Hong Kong to California on the ship
Mary.
Folder 2
Photocopies of letters from Jacob P. Leese
1849-1850
Folder 3
Letters to Jacob P. Leese
1837-1852
Language of Materials: In Spanish.
Scope and Contents
Consists of letters written in Spanish to Jacob P. Leese. Correspondents include Philip A. Roach, Antonio M. Osio, Fr. Rafael
de Jesus Moreno, and Rafael Garcia.
Folder 4
Letters to Jacob P. Leese
1844-1862
Scope and Contents
Consists of letters written in English to Jacob P. Leese. Correspondents include Faxon Dean Atherton, G. F. Grant (?), Henry
Mellus, Joseph B. Eaton, Parrott & Co., and the Society of California Pioneers.
Folder 5
Accounts
1841-1850
Scope and Contents
Consists of accounts with and for Thomas O. Larkin, Hudson's Bay Company, Lovering & Gay, Mellus, Howard & Co., John C. Fremont
(for the United States Army), the brig
Eveline, the ship
Mariposa, the bark
Don Quixote, and others. Accounts for the
Eveline and
Mariposa document trade between Hong Kong and California.
Folder 6
Receipts and promissory notes
1841-1858
Folder 7
Indentures between Jacob P. Leese and Ahine ("coolie"), Atu (cook), and Awye (tailor)
1849
Folder 7
Memo: of coolie passengers [aboard the]
Mary, amount advanced to account of wages
1849
Folder 8
Photocopies of indentures between Jacob P. Leese and Chinese servants
1849
Folder 9
Miscellaneous indentures and legal documents
1849-1850
Scope and Contents
Includes agreements between William E. P. Hartnell, Juan B. Alvarado, and Alexander S. Taylor concerning the Alizal Silver
Mining Co. in Monterey.
Folder 10
Graciano Manjarrez land records, Monterey
1849
Language of Materials: In Spanish.
Scope and Contents
Consists of copies of Manjarrez's letter to the Ayuntamiento of Monterey and the Ayuntamiento's reply concerning land granted
to Manjarrez by David Spence.
Folder 11
Translation of naturalization paper for Jacob L. Leese
1849
Folder 11
Deed of Rancho Sausal, from Mariano G. Vallejo to his sister Rosalia Vallejo de Leese
1857
Folder 11
Monterey Wharf Company certificate of stock
1857
Folder 12
Records in Case No. 74, Board of the United States Land Commission
1854
Folder 13
Map of Rancho Sotoyome, surveyed by Jasper O'Farrell
1844
Folder 13
Map of lots in Monterey belonging to Thomas Larkin and others prior to 1848
1849
Folder 13
Map of lots 327 and 328 at Broad Way and Battery, San Francisco, surveyed for Jacob P. Leese by Wm. M. Eddy
1850
