W. H. Holabird Papers: Finding Aid

Finding aid prepared by Erik Altenbernd, September 2, 2010.
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens
Manuscripts Department
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2129
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
© 2016
The Huntington Library. All rights reserved.


Overview of the Collection

Title: W. H. Holabird Papers
Dates (inclusive): 1889-1973
Bulk dates: 1889-1919
Collection Number: mssHM 73863-73892
Creator: Holabird, W. H.
Extent: 40 items.
Repository: The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. Manuscripts Department
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2129
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
Abstract: This collection contains 40 items primarily related to the work of Southern Pacific Railroad agent and California Development Company receiver W.H. Holabird (1845-1921), as well as some personal and ephemeral items. Business correspondence and documents chiefly date from 1909 to 1918 and include reports for the Southern Pacific Railroad on the properties of Miller and Lux (1909) and the economic resources in Siberia, Manchuria, and the Philippines.
Language: English.

Access

Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.

Administrative Information

Publication Rights

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]. W. H. Holabird Papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Provenance

Gift of E. R. Holabird, February 21, 1983.

Biographical Note

Railroad agent and California Development Company receiver W.H. (William Hyman) Holabird (1845-1921) was born in Shelburne, Vermont, on September, 29, 1845. In 1858, Holabird emigrated with his family to Macon, Missouri, and later, Atchison, Kansas. In Kansas, Holabird worked for the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad as an office clerk and passenger agent distributing newspapers. After the outbreak of the Civil War, Holabird returned to Vermont and enlisted in the 18th Vermont Infantry Regiment and subsequently participated in the Battle of Gettysburg; Holabird also served in the U.S. Navy as a fireman aboard the first USS Monadock (an ironclad monitor ) as well as Acting Assistant Paymaster. After the war, Holabird found employment with the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway, where he served as a confidential agent to AT&SF president, Allen Manvil, and supervised the railway’s survey of the Tejon Pass (Tehachapi Mountains, Calif.).
After Manvil’s death, Holabird worked for the Southern Pacific Company and served for many years as the field agent of E.H. Harriman (1848-1909), president of the Southern Pacific Railroad. As Harriman’s agent, Holabird traveled extensively throughout California–in 1909, for instance, Holabird surveyed for the Southern Pacific the extensive land holdings of Miller and Lux, a large San Francisco-based ranching firm–as well as the Philippines, Japan, Manchuria, and Siberia. Holabird concluded his professional life by serving as receiver and general manager of the California Development Company (CDC) from 1909-1916; closely tied to the Southern Pacific, the CDC was engaged in diverting water from the Colorado River for the purposes of irrigating the deserts of Imperial County, California. Under Holabird’s direction, the CDC turned profits and returned to solvency. Holabird died due to multiple cerebral hemorrhages in Sierra Madre, California, on March 1, 1921.

Scope and Content

This collection contains forty items primarily related to the work of railroad agent and California Development Company receiver W.H. Holabird (1845-1921), as well as some personal and ephemeral items.
The first and largest series (HM 73863-73875) is comprised of 13 items including correspondence and one report related to Holabird's survey of Miller and Lux's property for Southern Pacific in 1909. Holabird's surveys were in response to the Southern Pacific's interest in purchasing Miller and Lux and its various holdings. Includes one letter by Henry Miller to Holabird.
Series 2 (HM 73876-73878) contains 3 documents related to Holabird's time as receiver and general manager of the California Development Company.
Series 3 (HM 73879-73884) is made up of various reports Holabird wrote during and after his trips to the Philippines, Manchuria, and Siberia while working for E.H. Harriman and the Southern Pacific Railroad. This section also includes related correspondences regarding Manchuria with New York City-based journalist George Kennan (1845-1924).
The final series (HM 73885-73892) contains 12 miscellaneous and personal items including a photograph of Holabird, biographical and autobiographical materials, letters, and World War I-era essays written by Holabird regarding nationalism and communism; it also includes a folder of ephemera with two copies of the Los Angeles Times announcing Holabird's death and a newspaper clipping written by Holabird on agriculture and irrigation in the Imperial Valley.

Related Materials in the Huntington Library

Arrangement

This collection has been organized into 4 series:
  • 1. Miller and Lux survey materials (HM 73863-73875)
  • 2. California Development Company materials (HM 73876-73878)
  • 3. Southern Pacific Railroad materials (HM 73879-73884)
  • 4. Miscellaneous and personal items (HM 73885-73892)

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Huntington Library's Online Catalog.  

Subjects

Harriman, Edward Henry, 1848-1909.
Holabird, W. H.
California Development Company.
Miller & Lux.
Southern Pacific Company.
Agriculture -- California -- Imperial County.
Ranches -- California.
Water-supply -- California -- Imperial County.
Colorado River (Colo.-Mexico)
Imperial County (Calif.)
Imperial Valley (Calif. and Mexico)

Forms/Genres

Essays -- California -- 20th century.
Letters (correspondence) -- California -- 20th century.
Reports -- California -- 20th century.

Additional Contributors

Kennan, George, 1845-1924.
Miller, Henry, 1827-1916.


Box 1

mssHM 73863-73892

 

Miller and Lux survey materials. 1909

 

1909 March 4. Calvin, E.E. 1 letter to W.H. Holabird [includes two referenced letters from Robert Rutledge to Julius Kruttschnitt (Feb. 27, 1909) and from E.E. Calvin to Robert Rutledge (Mar. 14, 1909)]. HM 73863.

 

1909 March 22. Holabird, W.H. 1 letter to E.E. Calvin. HM 73864.

 

1909 March 22. Holabird, W.H. 1 letter to Robert Rutledge Esq. HM 738865.

 

1909 March 23. Calvin, E.E. 1 letter to W.H. Holabird. HM 73866.

 

1909 March 26. Holabird, W.H. 1 letter to E.E. Calvin. HM 73867.

 

1909 March 27. Holabird, W.H. 1 letter to Henry Miller, 1827-1916. HM 73868.

 

1909 March 29. Miller, Henry, 1827-1916. 1 letter to W.H. Holabird. HM 73869.

 

1909 March 29. Randolph, Epes. 1 letter to W.H. Holabird. HM 73870.

 

1909 April 9. Holabird, W.H. 1 letter to E.E. Calvin. HM 73871.

 

1909, May 7. Holabird, W.H. 1 letter to James Leroy Nickel. HM 73872.

 

1909, Aug. 10. Holabird, W.H. 1 letter to E.O. McCormick. HM 73873.

 

1909. Holabird, W.H. Report by WM. Holabird Upon the Properties of Miller and Lux…. HM 73874.

Stapled and folded. On verso: writing in hand of author. Report detailing the condition and market value of Miller and Lux lands and holdings.
 

[1909?]. Note on Miller and Lux letterhead. HM 73875.

 

California Development Company materials. [1915?]-1918

 

[1915?]. Holabird, W.H. Important Statement by W.H. Holabird, Receiver of the California Development Company, which Water Users Should Carefully Read. HM 73876.

 

1918. Holabird, W.H. To “Sir.” Includes handwritten draft of essay in letter format. HM 73877.

 

1918. Holabird, W.H. SHALL AND ALL AMERICAN CANAL with a heading at LAGUNA DAM be built? Includes author’s handwritten notes and edits. HM 73878.

 

Southern Pacific Railroad materials. 1905-1917 and undated

 

1906-1917. Holabird, W.H. 1 letter to George Kennan, 1845-1924. Included: Referenced, untitled essay beginning, “Manchuria is likely to occupy a very prominent place….” HM 73879.

 

1917, July 25. Kennan, George, 1845-1924. 1 letter to W.H. Holabird. HM 73880. 

 

Undated. Kennan, George, 1845-1924. Untitled note. HM 73881.

 

Undated. Holabird, W.H. SIBERIA AND NORTHERN MANCHURIA. Report on economic resources of Siberia and Manchuria. HM 73882.

 

1905. Holabird, W. H. Untitled report beginning, “On July 22nd, 1905, Mr. J.H. Wallace and myself left San Francisco….” Report on economic resources of Philippines. HM 73883.

 

Undated. Holabird, W.H. COPRA. Report on production and export of copra from Philippines. Ink very faint and carbon copy paper torn at bottom of several sheets. HM 73884.

 

Miscellaneous and personal items. 1889-1973 and undated

 

1916 February 8. Photograph of W.H. Holabird and Eugene S. Ives. HM 73885. 

 

1889-1900. Holabird, W.H. Untitled autobiography. HM 73886.

 

[1914?]. Biography of W.H. Holabird. HM 73887.

 

1934, December 5. Van Norden, M.L. 1 letter to W.H. Holabird. HM 73888. 

 

1934, December 14. Holabird, Harry G. 1 letter to M.L. Van Norden. HM 73889.

 

1917, May 13. Holabird, W.H. Miscellaneous. Handwritten essay or speech. HM 73890. 

 

1919 March 21. Holabird, W.H. Miscellaneous. Essay titled “United Sates of America: What of the Future?” HM 73891.

 

Undated. Holabird, W.H. Miscellaneous. Untitled essay. HM 73892. 

 

1921-1973. Ephemera.

Physical Description: 4 items.