The finding aid for the William Heath Davis Letters C057896
J. Davis
Society of California Pioneers
10/05/2017
101 Montgomery Street, Suite 150
Presidio of San Francisco
San Francisco, CA 94129
pkeats@californiapioneers.org
Note
B002182 / B-2-1b
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
Society of California Pioneers
Title: William Heath Davis Letters
creator:
Davis, William Heath, 1822-1909
Identifier/Call Number: C057896
Physical Description:
1 folder
1 Folder ( two letters; one hand written and one typed)
Date (inclusive): 1893-1894
Abstract: This file contains two letters written by William Heath Davis. One of the letters is type-written and the other is hand-written.
The first typed letter is dated April 10th, 1893 and is addressed to a Mrs. Anita Cooper Wohler and the other is dated June
27th, 1894 and is addressed to the President of the Society of California Pioneers, C.V.S. Gibbs. In both letters Mr. Davis
is asking for a loan to help him with the publishing cost pertaining to his book, titled "60 years in California". Mr Davis
arrived in California in August of 1831.
This file contains two letters written by William Heath Davis. One of the letters is type-written and the other is hand-written.
The first typed letter is dated April 10th, 1893 and is addressed to a Mrs. Anita Cooper Wohler and the other is dated June
27th, 1894 and is addressed to the President of the Society of California Pioneers, C.V.S. Gibbs. In both letters Mr. Davis
is asking for a loan, in one letter one thousand dollars, to help him with the publishing cost pertaining to his book, titled
"60 years in California". It is not known whether or not the Society of California Pioneers made him the loan of money, but
he asked the Society for $2,000. He notes that since the publication of his first book in 1889, he has been working on this
second book, "Sixty years in California".
William Heath Davis (1822-1909) was the son of a Boston ship captain engaged in the Hawaiian trade and a Polynesian mother.
He visited California twice on trading voyages before setting up business there in 1838. In 1845 he settled permanently in
San Francisco, becoming one of the city's leading merchants. His marriage to Maria de Jesus Estudillo tied him to the Hispanic
community in his adopted region. Mr. Davis would go on to write "Seventy-five years in California" in 1929, which was an expansion
of "Sixty years in California", a book Davis published in 1889, and the subject of these two letters. It is a history of California
as well as the author's memoirs of his life through the mid 1850s with an emphasis on the transformation of Yerba Buena to
San Francisco, the Gold Rush, and the imposition of United States power in California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Source and date of acquisition not known.
Existence and Location of Originals
The Society of California Pioneers, 101 Montgomery St., Suite 150, Presidio of San Francisco, San Francisco CA, 94129
The William Heath Davis Letters. The Society of California Pioneers.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Society of California Pioneers.
Frontier and pioneer life – California
Pioneers -- California -- History -- 19th century
Davis, William Heath, 1822-1909