Bryant, Berryman, M.D. Memoirs, 1849-1852

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Summary

Creators:
Bryant, Berryman, M.D., 1816-1898 and Sutter's Fort (Sacramento, Calif.).
Abstract:
This memoir includes the handwritten, in ink, (and a typed transcript) of reminiscences titled: "Reminiscences of California, 1849-1852 by Berryman Bryant M.D. He made two trips to California: 1st trip he arrived in San Francisco June 12 - 1849 having gone by sea to Mexico then overland; 2nd trip left Missouri on April 15, 1850, and traveled overland. It also includes at the end of the memoir " notes by his son Calhoun Bryant." Berryman opened the first private hospital in California at Sacramento in June of 1849, and proceeded to start up various other businesses: a hotel in Downieville, provisioner of a mining company, and a sheep rancherin Gilroy Valley. The memoir also includes background of his childhood in South Carolina, Alabama and Mississippi. This second trip back was with 42 men and his young wife - the men having formed a mining company, and Bryant supplies mining tools, etc. He then settled in Downieville and opened a hotel there. He then moved south, stopping in Gilroy Valley, where he and his wife - with a child Perry Mason Bryant),in 1853 raised sheep. The final portion is written by his souond Calhoun Bryant, this section giving more details of his father's life: losing his house in San Jose, his membership in the masons and some information about Berryman's wife, Henrietta Frances Reeve and her family. Dr. Bryant is noted dying at the home of Calhoun on March 14, 1898. His wife passesd away on January 15, 1903 and both are buried at Gilroy, Santa Clara, California.
Extent:
1.0 folder (1 memoir,unpaged; 1 transcript, 15 pages)
Language:
Preferred citation:

Bryant Berryman, M.D. Memoirs. The Society of California Pioneers.

Background

Scope and content:

This memoir includes the handwritten, in ink, (and a typed transcript) of reminiscences titled: "Reminiscences of California, 1849-1852 by Berryman Bryant M.D. He made two trips to California: 1st trip he arrived in San Francisco June 12 - 1849 having gone by sea to Mexico then overland; 2nd trip left Missouri on April 15, 1850, and traveled overland. It also includes at the end of the memoir " notes by his son Calhoun Bryant." Berryman opened the first private hospital in California at Sacramento in June of 1849, and proceeded to start up various other businesses: a hotel in Downieville, provisioner of a mining company, and a sheep rancherin Gilroy Valley. The memoir also includes background of his childhood in South Carolina, Alabama and Mississippi. He attended medical school in Memphis, Tennesse, and practiced in Alabama before coming West in 1849. His hosptial in Sacramento also employed someone named Warfield, as well as a Dr. Hungerford. Prices of food and supplies for the hospital are noted, as well as diseases encountered. On his first trip he left Alabama, arriving June 12, 1849, by sea via Mexico, and his second trip he left from Missouri by wagon train overland , arriving in San Francisco April 15, 1850. This second trip back was with 42 men and his young wife - the men having formed a mining company, and Bryant supplies mining tools, etc. He then settled in Downieville and opened a hotel there, this section discusses prices for the hotel and its success. He then moved south, stopping in Gilroy Valley, where he - with a child Perry Mason Bryant), bought land from Daniel Rhodes and in 1853 raised sheep. He went from 300 sheep (which he drove from New Mexico) to 36,000, eventually producing a wool crop that brought him $15,000 a year. The final portion is written by his souond Calhoun Bryant, this section giving more details of his father's life: losing his house in San Jose, his membership in the masons and some information about Berryman's wife, Henrietta Frances Reeve and her family. There is a short recollection of Henrietta's encounters with Indians on her way to California. Dr. Bryant is noted dying at the home of Calhoun on March 14, 1898. His wife passesd away on January 15, 1903 and both are buried at Gilroy, Santa Clara, California.

Biographical / historical:

Berryman Bryant, M.D. was born in 1816 in Spartanburg County, South Carolina. He arrived in California on June 12, 1849, traveling overland from Camden, Wilcox County, Alabama (Society of California Pioneers records.) His memoir notes the following: "two trips to California, 1st trip he arrived in San Francisco June 12, - 1849 by sea to Mexico then overland, 2nd trip left Missouri on April 15- 1850 traveled overland." He spent time in the gold mines and his reminiscence gives insights as to mining technqiues. Bryant opened the first private hospital in California at Sacramento in June 1849. The memoir discusses more about his medical practice, farming and his real estate holdings. He was a physician, and lived in San Jose, California. He married Henrietts Frances Reeve, and had 2 sons, Perry Mason and Calhoun. He died in San Francisco on March 14, 1898 at the age of 81 years, and Henrietta died on Jan. 15, 1903.

Acquisition information:
Donor and date of acquisition unknown.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Collection open for research.

Terms of access:

There are no restrictions on access.

Preferred citation:

Bryant Berryman, M.D. Memoirs. The Society of California Pioneers.

Location of this collection:
300 Fourth Street
San Francisco, CA 94107, US
Contact:
(415) 957-1849 ext. 160
mmdevine@californiapioneers.org
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