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Shorb Family Photograph Collection: Finding Aid
photCL 284
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Title: Shorb Family Photograph
Collection
Dates (inclusive): approximately 1860s-1966
Collection Number: photCL 284
Extent:
Approximately 350 photographs and 1 photograph album in 8 boxes : albumen
prints, gelatin silver prints, photographic copy prints ; images chiefly 20 x 25
cm or smaller, album 27 x 34 cm.
Repository:
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
Photo Archives
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2191
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
Abstract: This collection of photographs centers around the family of
James De Barth Shorb (1842-1896) and his "San Marino" ranch in the San Gabriel
Valley, California. There are also photographs of Shorb's family home in Maryland,
as well as his parents, siblings and children; photographs of female students and
nuns at Ramona Convent, Alhambra, and Convent of Holy Names, Oakland, California;
Shorb family at picnics and recreational events; and Shorb family friends.
Language: English.
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services
Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.
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], Shorb Family Photograph Collection, The Huntington
Library, San Marino, California.
Acquired from various sources including gifts of Shorb Steele, 1955, 1958; Mr. N.
A. Strain, Jr., 1960; and Barbara F. Vucanovich, 2011.
James De Barth Shorb (1842-1896), an attorney and civil engineer from Maryland, came
to California in 1864. After his marriage to Maria de Jesus Wilson in 1867, Shorb
joined his father-in-law, Benjamin Davis Wilson, in the development of their
extensive land holdings in San Marino and Pasadena, and in the founding of the San
Gabriel Winery. Shorb constructed and was president of the San Gabriel Valley
Railroad and the Alhambra Railroad. In 1871, Shorb created the Lake Vineyard Land
and Water Company, and in 1874, Shorb acquired a large tract of land consisting of
parts of present-day San Marino, Pasadena, and Alhambra. He was active in many
business ventures and served as Los Angeles County treasurer in 1892.
For information on the Shorb farmstead "San Marino" in Maryland, see Maryland
Historical Trust Inventory No. F-6-98:
https://mht.maryland.gov/secure/medusa/PDF/Frederick/F-6-98.pdf.
The Shorbs built a house in what is now San Marino, California about 1865-1870. The
property was purchased by Henry E. Huntington around 1903-4 and the house demolished
ca. 1906-08 to make way for the Huntington's house (now the Huntington Library Art
Gallery).
This collection of photographs centers around the family of James De Barth Shorb
(1842-1896) and his "San Marino" ranch in the San Gabriel Valley, California. Views
of Shorb's ranch include the house, grounds, reservoirs, ranch workers, horses, and
nearby Mission San Gabriel. There are also photographs of Shorb's family home in
Maryland, his parents, Dr. James Aloysius Shorb (1798-1867) and Margaret McMeal
Shorb, siblings and other Maryland family. After moving to California, Shorb married
Maria de Jesus "Sue" Wilson, the daughter of B. D. Wilson, and they had eleven
children. All appear in the collection except “Benito” (1876-1877). The others are
seen in photographs as children and some also as adults, with their spouses and
children: Maria Ynez Shorb White Buck (1868-1933); James De Barth "Barty" Shorb Jr.
(1870-1907); Margaret Nina Shorb (1871-1875); Edith Octavia Shorb Steele
(1872-1954); Ramona Yorba Shorb Murtaugh (1874-1921); Joseph Campbell Shorb
(1878-1919); Ethel Rebecca Shorb (1880-1959); Donald McMeal Shorb (1883-1933);
Norbert Newlands Shorb (1887-1951); and Bernardo Yorba Shorb (1888-1928). [Please
note the name "McMeal" is also sometimes spelled "McNeal".]
There are also photographs of female students and nuns at Ramona Convent, Alhambra,
and Convent of Holy Names, Oakland, California; Shorb family at picnics and
recreational events; and Shorb family friends including Edward L. Watkins, his wife
Mary Stone Watkins and children; Charles Frederick Holder; Grace Mellus; Katharine
Mellus; Anne Wilson Patton; Eleanor Martin (1826-1928); and Susan Thornton Glassell
Patton Smith.
Other people included in collection: James King Steele and son James Shorb Steele
(husband and son of Edith Shorb); Adeline Day Shorb and children Mary Day and Yorba
(wife and children of Donald McMeal Shorb); Daniel McMeal; Mary B. Shorb (wife of
Norbert Shorb); Harriet Shorb (later called Sister Anne Alexis); Julia Shorb; Sophie
Shorb; Dr. Ferdie Chatard and his wife, Josie and son, Robert (friends of Shorbs in
Maryland), Ethelbert Dowlen (viticulturist); Ike Cooper; and Taylor Scott White.
A disbound photograph album of 38 pages contains snapshots dating from 1895-1896 of
Shorb ranch, family members, Lake Vineyard, Catalina Island, camping and hunting,
picnics and Shorb family friends including the Rice family, Richard I. Howitt, J. H.
Gilmour, E.M. Tiernan and members of the Patton family. There are also some views of
Chinese peddlers, Chinese workers and African American children at Shorb Ranch.
Other items of note: Photograph of an African American man standing by horse and
carriage at Shorb home in Maryland (item 41); a studio portrait of a Chinese man
named Liu Tian written in Chinese (known as "Hen" by the Shorbs) by Fong Get Photo
Studio, San Francisco (item 85); and a Chinese man, possibly an employee, known as
"Sing" (item 86), who also appears in the photograph album (Box 8).
Some of the loose photographs are copy prints from negatives in other Huntington
collections including the Patton and Holladay collections.
Related materials in the Huntington Library
- James De Barth Shorb papers (Call number: mssShorb papers)
- James De Barth Shorb papers addenda (Call number: mssShorb addenda)
- Shorb family deeds and photographs (Call number: mssHM 80516-80520)
- Patton Family collection of negatives and photographs (Call number: photCL 282). Contains photographs of the Shorb family
- 11 cased daguerreotypes or ambrotypes, 1850s-1880s, of Shorb family or friends: photDAG 49 (Maria de Jesus Wilson Shorb as a young girl); photDAG 89 (Margaret McMeal Shorb); photDAG 98 (Donald McMeal Shorb); photDAG 100 (Ethel Shorb); unidentified people in photDAG 97, 99, 102, 103, 104; and two painted miniatures of male Shorb ancestors, photDAG 105 and 109
- oversize photographs of Shorb family and homes: photOV 10450-10459; photOV 10660-10676; photOV 11267
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
Huntington Library's Online Catalog.
Holder, Charles
Frederick, 1851-1915 -- Photographs.
Patton, Anne Wilson --
Photographs.
Shorb, J. Campbell --
Photographs.
Shorb, James De Barth
-- Photographs.
Shorb, James De Barth
-- Homes and haunts -- Photographs.
Patton family --
Photographs.
Shorb family --
Photographs.
Mission San Gabriel
Arcangel (San Gabriel, Calif.) -- Photographs.
Ramona Convent of the
Holy Names of Jesus and Mary (Alhambra, Calif.) -- Photographs.
Chinese -- California --
Photographs.
Ranches -- California --San Marino --
Photographs.
San Marino (Calif.) --
History.
Photographs.
Photograph albums.
Strain, Numa Alonzo, donor.
Vucanovich, Barbara F., 1921-2013,
donor.
Fong Get Photo Studio,
photographer.
Wolfenstein, V. (Valentin),
1844-1909, photographer.