Collection context
Summary
- Creators:
- Smart, Jesse.
- Abstract:
- This small collection chiefly contains letters from California farmer and nurseryman Jesse Smart (died 1861) to his sons, as well as some other Smart family correspondence. These letters mostly discuss Smart's experience in California mining for gold and running his nursery in the Sacramento Valley in the 1850s.
- Extent:
- 1.2 Linear Feet (1 box)
- Language:
- Materials are in English.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item]. Jesse Smart correspondence, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
The collection contains two documents and 38 pieces of correspondence, 23 of which are letters by Jesse Smart to his sons. These letters mostly discuss Smart's experience in California mining for gold and running his nursery. He often asks his sons to send him seeds of plants that are not available in California. He also comments on the prices of produce in California and the effects of the weather and insects on his crops. The remaining correspondence is written by other Smart family members and often discusses life in California, and more specifically, Sacramento. One letter, which is written by Jesse's daughter Charlotte, discusses her voyage to California from Maine.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Jesse Smart, a farmer and nurseryman from Troy, Maine, came to California in 1852 and settled in the Sacramento Valley. Although Smart did some mining in California, most of his income came from his nursery where he raised and sold both fruit and ornamental trees. He died in California in 1861.
- Acquisition information:
- Purchased from Dawson's Book Shop, March 4, 1969.
- Processing information:
-
Processed by Brooke M. Black in June 2002. In July 2024, Mari Khasmanyan updated the finding aid's linear feet and call number.
- Arrangement:
-
Items are arranged chronologically
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Indexed terms
- Subjects:
- Agriculture -- California -- History -- 19th century --
Sources
Gold mines and mining -- California -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
Nurseries (Horticulture) -- California -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
Nursery growers -- California -- Correspondence
Voyages to the Pacific coast.
Letters (correspondence) -- California -- 19th century - Names:
- Smart, Jesse.
- Places:
- Sacramento (Calif.) -- Description and travel
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more information.
- Terms of access:
-
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 necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item]. Jesse Smart correspondence, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
- Location of this collection:
-
1151 Oxford RoadSan Marino, CA 91108, US
- Contact:
- (626) 405-2191