Guide to the Asher Family Day Book MS 165
Finding aid prepared by Amanda Hughes
Collection processed as part of grant project supported by the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) with generous
funding from The Andrew Mellon Foundation.
San Diego History Center Document Collection
July 12, 2012
1649 El Prado, Suite 3
San Diego, CA, 92101
619-232-6203
Title: Asher Family Day Book
Identifier/Call Number: MS 165
Contributing Institution:
San Diego History Center Document Collection
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
0.25 Linear feet
(1 box)
Date (inclusive): 1912-1913
Abstract: The collection consists of a day book belonging to the Asher family, recording personal and professional information activities
and accounts for 1912-1913.
creator:
Asher family
This collection is open for research.
The San Diego History Center (SDHC) holds the copyright to any unpublished materials. SDHC Library regulations do apply.
Collection processed by Amanda Hughes on July 12, 2012.
Collection processed as part of grant project supported by the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) with generous
funding from The Andrew Mellon Foundation.
Asher Family Day Book, MS 165, San Diego History Center Document Collection, San Diego, CA.
Biographical / Historical Notes
Josephus Marion Asher (1833-1912) arrived in San Diego in 1869 and was the first commercial nurseryman in the area, providing
buyers with fruit trees, shrubs, and vines from his Fruit Vale ranch in Paradise Valley. Asher was married to Sarah Haley
Clark (1844 – 1913) and they had eight children, including Josephus Marion Asher, Jr. and Robert H. Asher (hermit of Palomar).
The collection consists of the Asher family day book for 1912-1913, recording personal and professional activities and accounts.
Beginning at the day book's front inside cover, there is an index listing the book's contents in alphabetical order by account
name with its corresponding pages. The accounts are generally arranged with entries by date and with notations in credit and
debit columns. The accounts record business activities for the nursery as well as family spending accounts and purchases,
such as dairy and poultry records. The book also includes records of personal accounts such as letters sent and received and
taxes paid by the family throughout the year. There are also some intimate details of personal life including the deaths and
burials of Josephus Asher, Sarah Asher, and Mary Elizabeth Asher.
Contents are arranged as stated in the alphabetical index of contents on the book's inside front cover.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Asher family
Asher, Josephus Marion
Asher, Mary Elizabeth
Asher, Sarah Haley
Account books
Agriculture -- Accounting
Horticulture
Nurseries (Horticulture)
Paradise Valley (Calif.)
San Diego (Calif.)
San Diego County (Calif.)
Box-folder 1:1
Asher Family Day Book, 1912-1913
Alphabetical Index of Contents (inside cover and pages following)
Death and funeral arrangements of Josephus M. Asher (page 1)
Accounts, death and funeral arrangements of Sarah Asher (pages 2-3)
Death and funeral arrangements of Mary Elizabeth Asher (page 12)
Green house records (page 98)
Records of letters sent and received (pages 122-129, 134-137)
Dairy records (pages 148-166)
Poultry records (pages 190–215)
Record of taxes paid (page 259)