A collection of material related to Joseph Pownall, forty-niner and California businessman.

Dr. Joseph Pownall (1818-1890) was born in Hackettstown, New York; in 1849, he made the overland journey from Louisiana to California seeking gold. After working the Mariposa diggings, he went to Columbia, California; in 1852 Pownall bought stock in the Tuolumne County Water Company, where he served as a company officer, including the offices of secretary, treasurer, and superintendent, until his death in 1890. In 1857, Joseph Pownall married Mary C. Harrison Newell; the couple had two children, Lucy Pownall Senger and Joseph Benjamin Pownall. Mary C. H. Newell was the widow of William Henry Newell, who had been one of the founders of the Tuolumne County Water Company in 1851.

22.5 Linear Feet (14 boxes, 32 volumes, 3 folders, 1 oversize map)

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