Requa (Isaac Lawrence) Papers, 1819-1935

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Summary

Title:
Isaac Lawrence Requa papers
Dates:
1819-1935
Creators:
Requa, Isaac L.
Abstract:
A collection of professional and personal material related to the life and work of Isaac Lawrence Requa, American mining engineer and businessman.
Extent:
3.75 Linear Feet (3 boxes)
Language:
Materials are in English.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item]. Isaac Lawrence Requa papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Background

Scope and content:

A collection of 381 items from 1819 to 1935, which consists of letters, documents, manuscripts, one scrapbook, and two photographs related to the personal life, professional activities and family of Isaac Lawrence Requa. There is personal correspondence between Requa and his family from 1877 to 1901, and materials about mining in Virginia City, Nevada. The collection also contains vouchers of the Chollar-Norcross-Savage Shaft Company and the Chollar Potosi Mining Company from 1876 to 1879. There are also letters and a few manuscripts by Mark Lawrence Requa, including his memoirs from January 10, 1918 to June 30, 1919 while director of the Oil Division of the United States Fuel Administration.

Biographical / historical:

Isaac Lawrence Requa (1828-1905) was a mining engineer and businessman. Requa was born in Tarrytown, New York and came around Cape Horn to California in 1850. He engaged in mining in California until 1860, when he moved to Virginia City, Nevada; he became superintendent of the Chollar-Potosi Mining Company, the Hale and Norcross Mines, and the Union Mill and Mining Company, which controlled most of the mills on the Comstock Lode. Requa married Sarah Jane Mower (1831-1922) and they had two children, Mark Lawrence Requa and Amy Requa Long Mitten. In 1880, Requa established his home in Oakland, California, and became active in Republican politics, serving as Republican State Central Committee Chairman for twenty years, but declined the nomination for governor of California. He was president of the Oakland Bank of Savings and in 1894 was made president of the Central Pacific Railroad. Requa died in Oakland in 1905. Mark Lawrence Requa (1865-1937) was born in Virginia City, Nevada; he engaged in mining in California and Nevada, built the Nevada Northern Railroad, served as head of the oil division of the U.S. Fuel Administration from 1918 to 1919 and helped manage the presidential campaigns of Herbert Hoover in 1928 and 1932.

Acquisition information:
Gifts of Mrs. John Henry Russell, September 1934 and December 1936. Gift of Mrs. Mark L. Requa, June 1944. Acquired from Amy Requa Russell, April 1957 and April 1959. Purchased from Argonaut Book Shop, January 1961.
Processing information:

Processed by Huntington Library staff, circa 1965. In 2020, Gayle Richardson created the finding aid derived from a legacy summary report.

Arrangement:

Arranged alphabetically.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Gayle Richardson
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2022-01-12 09:11:51 -0800 .

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more information.

Terms of access:

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]. Isaac Lawrence Requa papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Location of this collection:
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108, US
Contact:
(626) 405-2191
reference@huntington.org
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