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Maclay (Charles) Papers
mssMC
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: Charles Maclay papers
Creator:
Maclay, Charles, 1822-1890
Identifier/Call Number: mssMC
Physical Description:
7.59 Linear Feet
(9 boxes, 31 volumes, and 1 expansion folder)
Date (inclusive): 1841-1922
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.
Language of Material: Materials are in
English.
Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at
the Huntington Library for more information.
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]. Charles Maclay papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino,
California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Mrs. Catherine Dace, 1938-1939.
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.
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.
Processed by Huntington Library Staff, circa 1945. In 2020, Gayle Richardson created the
finding aid derived from a legacy summary report.
Arranged chronologically.
Individual call numbers included in the collection: mssMC 1-694.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Legislators -- California -- History
Methodism -- California
Methodism -- Pennsylvania
Missionaries -- California
California -- Politics and Government -- 19th century
San Fernando (Calif.) -- History -- 19th century
San Fernando Valley (Calif.) -- History -- 19th century
Business papers -- California -- 19th century
Business papers -- California -- 20th century
Letters (correspondence) -- California -- 19th century
Letters (correspondence) -- California -- 20th century
Crocker, Charles,
1822-1888
Griswold, Mary E. Maclay
Haley, John J.
McLeran, Thomas G.
Porter, George Keating
Stanford, Leland, 1824-1893
Widney, R. M. (Robert Maclay),
1838-1929
Central Pacific Railway
Company
Southern Pacific Railroad Company
San Fernando, Rey de
España (Mission : San Fernando, Calif.)