Maclay (Charles) Papers, 1841-1922

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Summary

Title:
Charles Maclay papers
Dates:
1841-1922
Creators:
Maclay, Charles, 1822-1890
Abstract:
A collection of the personal and business papers of Charles Maclay, California State Senator and the founder of the city of San Fernando, California.
Extent:
7.59 Linear Feet (9 boxes, 31 volumes, and 1 expansion folder)
Language:
Materials are in English.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item]. Charles Maclay papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Background

Scope and content:

A collection of 850 items from 1841 to 1922; it consists of personal and business papers, correspondence, speeches, and a journal of Charles Maclay. Subject matter includes the development of the town of San Fernando, California; politics in the 1860s and 1870s; Methodism in both Pennsylvania and California; and the Southern and Central Pacific Railroads. Correspondents in the collection include, among others, Charles Crocker, Mary E. Maclay Griswold, John J. Haley, Thomas G. McLeran, George Keating Porter, Leland Stanford, and Robert Maclay Widney.

Biographical / historical:

Charles Maclay (1822-1890) was born in Concord, Pennsylvania; he attended Dickinson College and became a circuit preacher in the Methodist Episcopal Church before being sent as a missionary to California in 1851. Maclay settled in Santa Clara, California, with his wife Kate Lloyd Maclay, and became one of the first trustees of the University of the Pacific. Maclay turned to farming and later set up a mill, a tannery, and a store in Saratoga, California. He served as a member of the state assembly (1861 to 1862) and as a state senator (1868 to 1873), where he introduced bills encouraging the construction of the Southern Pacific Railroad and the establishment of the University of California. In 1874, along with George Keating Porter and Benjamin F. Porter, Maclay purchased a portion of the Rancho Ex-Mission de San Fernando which had previously belonged to Eulogio F. de Celis. On his part of the property, Maclay founded and developed the town of San Fernando, and in 1885 he endowed the Maclay College of Theology, which later became a department of the University of Southern California. Maclay died in July 1890.

Acquisition information:
Gift of Mrs. Catherine Dace, 1938-1939.
Processing information:

Processed by Huntington Library Staff, circa 1945. In 2020, Gayle Richardson created the finding aid derived from a legacy summary report.

Arrangement:

Arranged chronologically.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Gayle Richardson
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2021-08-02 12:55:03 -0700 .

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]. Charles Maclay papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Location of this collection:
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108, US
Contact:
(626) 405-2191
reference@huntington.org
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