Guide to the Pacific Mail Steamship Company Passenger Lists MS 873
Library & Archives staff
California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives
August 2020
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives
Title: Pacific Mail Steamship Company Passenger Lists
source:
Hardy, Grahame H.
Identifier/Call Number: MS 873
Physical Description:
143 Sheets
Date (inclusive): December 1905 - December 1913
Abstract: This collection is the statement of all tickets issued via the Pacific Mail Steamship Company for the San Francisco Overland
route, dating from December 1905-December 1913.
Material Specific Details: Handwriting is difficult to read. These original documents are the second page of a carbon copy. The carbon copy "ink" is
often faint and hard to read.
Physical Location: Statewide Museum Collections Center: WS 5004
Collection is open for research by appointment.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Grahame H. Hardy
Arranged chronologically.
The Pacific Mail Steamship Company was established on April 12, 1848 to carry US mail on the Pacific leg of a transcontinental
route via Panama. Chief Officers of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company were: Aspinwall, William Henry, 1807-1875; Bartlett,
Edwin, 1796-1867, Chauncey, Henry; Howland, Gardiner Greene, 1787-1851
In 1867, supported by its U.S. mail contracts, the "mail line" launched the world's first regular trans-Pacific steamship
service linking the United States with Asia. The initial route was San Francisco to Yokohama, with service to Hong Kong and
Shanghai. The ships carried the fast-growing trade between East and West.
In 1912, Congress banned ships owned by railroads from using the Panama Canal, and so Pacific Mail was sold to W. R. Grace
and Company, where it operated as a subsidiary from 1916 till 1925, when the company's trans-Pacific fleet was bought over
by the San Francisco-based Dollar Shipping Company. In 1938, Dollar Line's name was changed to American President Lines.
American President Lines is known as APL, a global container-shipping company.
[Identification of item], Pacific Mail Steamship Company Passenger Lists, MS 873, California State Railroad Museum Library
& Archives, Sacramento, California.
This collection is the statement of all tickets issued by the Pacific Mail Steamship Company for the San Francisco Overland
route. The statement sheets for the month of [date] / document the apportionment of earnings and expenses accruing to the
San Francisco Overland Route for the steamships and rail lines. It records the names of passengers traveling from Asia to
San Francisco; documenting the name of the steamship, number of voyage, names of passengers, arrival date in San Francisco,
destinations (to and from), number and class of tickets, and which railroads were used.
Includes a record of tickets issued for the Overland Route steamship and railroad travel; revenues posted to various corporate
entities (Southern Pacific, Union Pacific, Chicago and North Western, Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe, and the Occidental and
Oriental Steamship Company). The amount paid by the passenger is listed as well as the breakdown of earnings for each steamship
and rail line that the passenger used to rach their final destination.
The statement sheets were to be made monthly by the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, with the original being placed on file
in the Pacific Steamship Company's records. A copy of the same was forwarded to each of the steamship and rail lines listed
on the sheet.
Copyright has not been assigned to the California State Railroad Museum. All requests for permission to publish or quote from
manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the CSRM Library & Archives.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Aspinwall, William Henry, 1807-1875Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Company
Bartlett, Edwin, 1796-1867
Chauncey, Howard
Chicago and North Western Railway Company
Chicago and North Western Transportation Company
Howland, Gardiner Greene, 1787-1851
Occidental and Oriental Steamship Company
Pacific Mail Steamship Company
Rail travel
Railroad travel
Railroads--Fares
Steamships
Southern Pacific Railroad Company
Train travel
Transportation--Fares
Transportation--Rates
Union Pacific Railroad Company
United States--Overland Route
Hardy, Grahame H.
Statement of all tickets issued via the San Francisco overland route December 1905 - December 1913