Collection context
Summary
- Title:
- Titus Hale papers
- Dates:
- ca. 1868-1878
- Creators:
- Hale, Titus
- Abstract:
- This collection contains four books of research done by Hale on the titles to property of Rancho San Andreas for his partition suit entitled Briody vs. Hale, 1877.
- Extent:
- 1 flat 4 books
- Language:
- Languages represented in the collection: English
- Preferred citation:
-
Titus Hale papers. MS 121. Special Collections and Archives, University Library, University of California, Santa Cruz.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
This collection contains four books of research done by Hale on the titles to property of Rancho San Andreas for his partition suit entitled Briody vs. Hale, 1877. Aided by William M. White, law student for Hagan & Younger law firm of Santa Cruz, Hale researched 112 plus claimants to titles of the Rancho San Andreas. He filed a partition suit, Briody vs. Hale 1877, by which the title to the property was eventually settled.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Titus Hale was born on February 2, 1834 in Missouri and arrived with his father and others in California on September 1, 1849. A month later they arrived at Lawson where his company separated. Titus and his father, Israel Foote Hale went onto Sacramento where Titus sold nuts and eventually pies, cakes as well. It was during this time he met F.A. Hihn of Santa Cruz who was peddling candy. Sacramento flooded during the winter of 1849-50 and the Hales took refuge on the brig "Toronto". But the flood used up their capital and he and his father moved onto Georgetown, eventually settling in Oregon Canyon. There Titus established a claim and was able to send $600 home to Missouri. After digging out that claim they worked their way around Gold Country, ending up in San Francisco for a few days in 1851 before returning to Missouri.
Three years later, Titus moved back to California, settling in Santa Cruz in 1855 where he lived for the next twenty five years. During that time he owned some interest in the Rancho San Andreas located between Watsonville and Santa Cruz. The ranch was first owned by Jose Castro who died in 1834, leaving a widow and fourteen children. His estate was never settled with interests in the lands conveyed by all manner of deeds. So Hale "commenced and carried on a partition suit, by which title to property was settled". There were a hundred and twelve owners besides other claimants. Two years were spent transcribing and examining deeds with the aid of William M. White, law student at Hagan & Youngers office. Hale's settled portion of the Rancho was three thousand acres.
In 1872, Hale joined F.A. Hihn, Claus Spreckels, R.R. Porter, George E. Logan in a company organized. After many lawsuits, the railroad was finished in 1876 but it was a failed business venture that eventually was sold to Charles Crocker, Southern Pacific Railroad. Hale went onto own and operate a variety of businesses from shipping to ranching.
Titus Hale married widow Martha Ann Aldrich in 1862. She died in Oakland, California on December 9, 1891. Together they raised six children, Rose G., Mary Otis, Edward F., Crescent P. William T. Charles B. between the years 1863 and 1875. Hale lived out his years in Oakland, dying in 1925 at the age of ninety one.
- Acquisition information:
- Gift of the Younger Family
- Physical location:
- Stored offsite at NRLF: Advance notice is required for access to the papers.
- Rules or conventions:
- Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard
Indexed terms
About this collection guide
- Date Prepared:
- © 2006
- Date Encoded:
- Machine-readable finding aid created by UCSC OAC Unit. Machine-readable finding aid derived from MS Word. Date of source: August 3, 2006.
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Collection open for research.
- Terms of access:
-
Property rights reside with the University of California. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permission to publish or to reproduce the material, please contact the Head of Special Collections and Archives.
- Preferred citation:
-
Titus Hale papers. MS 121. Special Collections and Archives, University Library, University of California, Santa Cruz.
- Location of this collection:
-
Special Collections and Archives, University Library1156 High StreetSanta Cruz, CA 95064, US
- Contact:
- (831) 459-2547