Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
William Moore Papers: Finding Aid
mssMoore, William papers
View entire collection guide
Search this collection
Table of contents
Title: William Moore Papers
Dates (inclusive): 1857-1891
Collection Number: mssMoore, William papers
Creator:
Moore, William, 1827-
Extent: 95 items including two oversize
ledgers.
Repository:
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
Manuscripts Department
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2129
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
Abstract: This collection contains the papers of William Moore (born 1827), an early
settler and surveyor in Los Angeles, California.
The materials chiefly reflect Moore's surveying projects from the late 1850s into the 1870s and
include Moore’s daily diaries as well as his field books.
Language: Primarily English. A
few items are in Spanish.
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services
Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.
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.
[Identification of item]. William Moore Papers, The Huntington Library, San
Marino, California.
Gift of Florence Moore Kreider, January 1935, May 1938 and November 1946.
William Moore was an early settler and surveyor in Los Angeles, California. He
worked for the Los Angeles city surveyor’s office as early as the 1850s and served
as the Los Angeles county surveyor in 1857, 1858-59 and 1861. He also worked as the
Los Angeles city surveyor in 1868 and 1873. Moore conducted surveys of many of the
city’s major streets, neighborhoods, and real estate tracts. From his diaries, it
also appears that he invested in real estate in the downtown area.
In the late 1860s and 1870s he began working for the Canal and Reservoir Company
owned by Isaias Hellman and John G. Downey. Hellman was a prominent Los Angeles
banker and Downey served as governor of California during the Civil War. They
partnered in the creation of the Canal and Reservoir Company, which created a system
of canals to divert water from the Los Angeles River and bring it to the
neighborhood now known as Bunker Hill. They also collaborated to found the
well-known Farmers and Merchants Bank in Los Angeles. Moore knew both men and worked
for the Canal and Reservoir Company surveying and overseeing work on the canal
system. After work on the canals, Moore worked with the Los Angeles city council on
the city’s sewer system.
Moore also completed a number of other surveying projects around Southern
California, including a survey of the San Gabriel Mission and its lands as well as
the Los Nietos township (owned by John Downey and eventually incorporated as the
city of Downey). According to his diaries, he also surveyed areas of the Arroyo
Seco. Moore’s work also included projects with Los Angeles mayor Prudent Beaudry and
the prominent Boyle, Temple, and Workman families.
Moore was a bilingual English and Spanish speaker and practiced his language skills
by writing some of his diary entries in Spanish. His language skills may have helped
him secure work surveying land for some of Southern California’s wealthy
Mexican-American families.
In the 1890s, Moore also invested in agricultural land in Southern California and
grew oranges during the region’s citrus boom.
This collection contains the papers of William Moore (born 1827), an early
settler and surveyor in Los Angeles, California, in the following series: manuscripts, correspondence, legal
documents, ephemera, and oversize. The manuscripts include Moore’s daily diaries as
well as his field books. The diaries contain short entries reflecting his business
activities. The field books contain sketches and calculations of his various
surveying projects. The small series of correspondence includes letters from friends
written to Moore and his wife. The correspondence also includes one letter from
Moore to his wife about his discovery of gold during a mining expedition in 1878.
The legal documents include contracts, deeds, indentures, leases, and promissory
notes. The two oversize ledgers include notes and drawings of Moore’s various
surveying projects.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
Huntington Library's Online Catalog.
Moore, William,
1827-.
Surveyors -- California -- Los Angeles
-- Archives.
California -- History
-- 19th century -- Sources.
Los Angeles (Calif.)
-- History -- 19th century -- Sources.
Los Angeles (Calif.)
-- Maps.
Los Angeles (Calif.)
-- Surveys.
Los Angeles County
(Calif.) -- History -- 19th century -- Sources.
Los Angeles County
(Calif.) -- Maps.
Los Angeles County
(Calif.) -- Surveys.
Diaries -- 19th century.
Field notes -- California, Southern --
19th century.
Letters (correspondence) --
California, Southern -- 19th century.
Maps -- California, Southern -- 19th
century.
Surveys -- California, Southern --
19th century.
Time books -- California, Southern --
19th century.