Finding aid of the Samuel and George Heald Letters C058879

Finding aid prepared by Michael Lange
Society of California Pioneers
300 Fourth Street
San Francisco, CA, 94107-1272
(415) 959-1849
pkeats@californiapioneers.org
05/05/2014


Title: Heald, Samuel and George Letters
Identifier/Call Number: C058879
Contributing Institution: Society of California Pioneers
Language of Material: English
Container: B001394
Container: C058879
Physical Description: 1.0 folder (8 letters)
Date (bulk): Bulk, 1854-1858
Date (inclusive): 1854-1880
Abstract: The contents include letters to family, which include Samuel’s brother and sister-in-law updating them with his whereabouts. Samuel’s sister-in-law also replies with local news and gossip in a letter addressed both to her sister (Martha) and Samuel. There are a few letters’ from Samuel’s brother updating him with his health condition. Samuel also receives a letter about a medicine he can make and sell. Also included is a brief family synopsis of Samuel that George Heald put together.
creator: Heald, Harmon, 1824-1858
creator: Heald, Samuel, d. 1874

Conditions Governing Access note

Collection open for research.

Conditions Governing Use note

There are no restrictions on access.

Preferred Citation note

Samuel and George Heald Letters. The Society of California Pioneers.

Donor

Donor and date of acquisition unknown.

Biographical/Historical note

Samuel Heald was the son of George and Elizabeth Tatlow Heald, who were farmers first in Delaware, then Ohio, and moved to Snei Creek in Jackson County, Missouri in 1844. He was the oldest of 8 children. With news of the gold discovery in California, Samuel and two of his brothers, Thomas and Harmon, made the overland journey arriving in Sacramento city in September of 1849. Samuel moved to Sonoma County where he worked as a millwright and built a house near his mill on Mill Creek. He returned to Missouri to retrieve the rest of his family in 1851, and they lived with him in the vicinity of the mill until the summer of 1852. Harmon had already established himself near the current Healdsburg Plaza, and three other brothers, Thomas, Jacob, and George, settled on preempted land or land "purchased" from squatters in the vicinity. Samuel ran the mill alone for three years until 1854, when he returned to Missouri to find a bride. Although married previously when he lived in Missouri, his wife had died there in childbirth. He now returned to marry one of her sisters, Martha Cobb. After a long honeymoon spent traveling across the United States they returned to California. Samuel went on to build an early flourmill in Napa, then moved to San Jose. When he also contracted tuberculosis he returned to Cloverdale to live with his sister Sarah Shaw. He died there in August of 1874 at the age of 56. He and Martha had two children, both of whom lived to adulthood. They in turn had no children. Samuel Heald’s brother, Harmon built a cabin and eventually a store on what is now the west side of Healdsburg Avenue adjacent to and running north of the Plaza, and the town of Healdsburg is named for him.
(Source - http://www.ourhealdsburg.com/history/heald.htm, The Heald Family and the Town of Healdsburg.)

Scope and Contents note

The contents include letters to family, which include Samuel’s brother and sister-in-law updating them with his whereabouts. Samuel’s sister-in-law also replies with local news and gossip in a letter addressed both to her sister (Martha) and Samuel. There are a few letters’ from Samuel’s brother updating him with his health condition. Samuel also receives a letter about a medicine he can make and sell. Also included is a brief family synopsis of Samuel that George Heald put together.
Letter to Thomas Heald (brother of Samuel) – 03/12/1854 - Talks of his arrival to New Orleans; Letter to Thomas Heald (brother of Samuel) – 03/24/1854 - Informs him of his arrival to St. Louis; Letter to Liz Cobbs (Samuel’s sister-in-law) – 09/29/1854 - Updates her on their (Samuel and Martha) trip including Martha’s sea sickness; Letter from Liz Cobbs to both Samuel and Martha – 12/17/1854 - Talks about local gossip and news; Letter to Samuel from H. Heald - 04/03/1858 - speaks of his illness; Letter to Samuel from H. Heald - 03/01/1858 - speaks of his illness; Letter from George Heald to an unidentified cousin – 12/24/1880 - Contains a brief synopsis of Samuel Heald’s immediate family and asks for more information from the unidentified cousin; Letter from John Beale – 07/03/1856 - Gives an update about his family and offers a medicine for Samuel to sell.

Existence and Location of Originals note

The Society of California Pioneers, 300 Fourth Street, San Francisco, CA, 94017.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

California, Northern - History - 19th century.
Frontier and pioneer life – California
Genealogy
Healdsburg (Calif.)
Pioneers--California--History--19th century
Typhoid fever.