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Hubon Family Papers
MSS 0663
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Title: Hubon Family Papers
Identifier/Call Number: MSS 0663
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla, California, 92093-0175
Languages:
English
Physical Description:
0.2 Linear feet
(1 archives box)
Date (inclusive): 1801 - 1966
Abstract: The Hubon Family Papers contain the correspondence of early San Diego settler Frederick Hubon (1827-1882), and include letters
from three generations of Hubons, with some additional correspondence from other acquaintances. The correspondence touches
upon major events of the nineteenth century, including California's gold rush and the Civil War, as well as personal Hubon
family concerns.
Creator:
Hubon family
Acquired 2007.
Hubon Family Papers, MSS 663. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego.
This collection has been completely digitized and can be viewed through links in the container list, or by clicking the link
below.
Digital copies of this material are intended to support research, teaching, and private study. This work may be used without
prior permission. The original manuscripts for this collection are held by Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego Library.
These materials were collected by John B. Goodman, III, and were donated by him to UC San Diego.
The Hubon Family Papers provide a glimpse into the lives of three generations of San Diego pioneer Frederick Hubon's (1827-1882)
family. The earliest history of the family's migration from France to America is unclear but the family's only reporter, Frederick's
niece, Emily Hubon, said their branch of the family lived in Baltimore, Maryland, in the late 1700s.
Frederick's grandfather, Stephen Hubon, moved to the Caribbean island of St. Thomas, perhaps to be employed with the tobacco
or sugar plantation trade. St. Thomas is where Frederick's father, Henry, is said to have been born, circa 1788. When Henry
was approximately fourteen years old, he was sent to the United States for his education. However, shortly before the boat
sailed, according to the family reporter, a slave revolt occurred on St. Thomas Island, many people were murdered, and these
grandparents were never heard from again. The ship captain then allegedly stole the boy's education money and deposited young
Henry into an apprenticeship in Salem, Massachusetts. Henry spent time at sea and eventually became a Salem undertaker.
Henry is first found in the 1812 Salem historical records when he married Ann Beckford. Ann bore one child, Eliza Ann, and
died shortly thereafter at age 22. Henry was at sea and reportedly did not know he had a daughter for a number of years. The
child may have been adopted as marriage records later cross-reference the last name Caban in addition to Hubon, and these
circumstances are confirmed by Emily Hubon's family history.
When Henry returned to Salem from sea, he met and married Frances (nee Dwyer or Dwire, probably the daughter of Edmund and
Anna Grant Dwire of Salem) Hubon on December 13, 1818. Their children included Frederick (born Stephen Frederick), Henry G.,
Edward, Mary, and possibly others. Frederick's brother, Henry G., with whom he remained close all his life, became a carpenter,
followed Frederick to California in 1949, and later returned to Salem to take over the family undertaking business.
Frederick was born in Salem on September 19, 1827. At age 22, he caught "gold fever" and ventured off to become a California
"forty-niner." He arrived in San Francisco on September 26, 1849 on board the
Cordova. Shortly thereafter, he was joined by his brother, Henry G., and they were in Stockton and the new town of Benicia, perhaps
utilizing their carpentry skills to help build those cities. Henry G. became sick and returned to Salem, and within three
years, Frederick also returned to Salem. A miniscule glimpse of their adventures in this period are captured in Henry G.'s
letter to Frederick when he was in Panama on his way back to Massachusetts.
In 1858, in Salem, Frederick married Sarah Livingston Allen (reportedly a descendant of Dr. David Livingston of African exploration
fame) who was born on Prince Edwards Island, Canada on October 27, 1829. After beginning a family of four children (Frederick
Lincoln, 1-16-1860; Clarence Edward, 9-1-1862; Fannie Dwyer, 11-17-1864; Irving Allen, 11-19-1867) in Massachusetts, Frederick
and Sarah sailed to San Francisco and then moved south to San Diego, arriving on September 23, 1868. Their fifth and final
child, Leonard James, was born on September 22, 1870, in San Diego.
When the Hubon family arrived, San Diego was primitive and sparsely populated (the 1870 census showed a population of only
2,300). A terrible smallpox epidemic had ravaged the region six years earlier, and the first public school house was only
two years old. At first, Frederick, much to Sarah's dismay, tried farming, and so moved his family to an even more isolated
area. Sarah wrote of her fear when a drunken man came to their farm house when she was alone with the children. Farming was
not successful for Frederick, so the family moved back to town, much to Sarah's relief. The 1880 census lists Frederick as
a carpenter and Sarah keeping house with the five children.
Frederick died at the family's San Diego residence at the corner of Seventh and D Streets on May 15th, 1882. The next day's
San Diego Union paper stated his death was "after a long and painful illness." They also noted that, "San Diego numbered him among her best
citizens." Frederick and Sarah's second son, Clarence Edward, died three years later, of unidentified causes, at age 23.
Widow Sarah Hubon lived on into her ninth decade, passing away on October 21, 1923. The remaining four children prospered
in San Diego. In 1890, Irving was a surveyor and civil engineer for the city of San Diego, Frederick Lincoln was a deputy
city clerk, and youngest son, Leonard, was a clerk at the Horton House pharmacy. Daughter Fannie married Charles A. Stedman,
who became the harbor-master of San Diego. When Fannie died in 1950, the
San Diego Union would recognize her life as a San Diego pioneer, as well as a poet and writer. Many of the Hubons are buried at Mount Hope
Cemetery in San Diego.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Hubon Family Papers contain the correspondence of early San Diego settler Frederick Hubon (1827-1882), and include letters
from three generations of Hubons, with some additional correspondence from other acquaintances. The correspondence touches
upon major events of the nineteenth century, including California's gold rush and the Civil War, as well as personal Hubon
family concerns. The papers include a small amount of miscellaneous materials such as a carte-de-visite photographic portrait
of Frederick's mother, Sarah Livingston Allen Hubon, and her remembrances of early San Diego; genealogical information; and
a poem by Frederick's daughter, Fannie Hubon Stedman.
The papers are arranged in chronological order in two series: 1) CORRESPONDENCE and 2) MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS.
Digital copies of this material are intended to support research, teaching, and private study. This work may be used without
prior permission. The original manuscripts for this collection are held by Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego Library.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Hubon family -- Archives
California -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Sources
Gold mines and mining -- California -- History -- Sources
San Diego (Calif.) -- History