Finding Aid to the Charles B. Polhemus Papers, 1858-1916
Processed by Mary Morganti
The Bancroft Library.
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, California, 94720-6000
Phone: (510) 642-6481
Fax: (510) 642-7589
Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu
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© 1996
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Note
History --History, California --History, Bay Area
Geographical (By Place) --California --Bay Area
Social Sciences --Business and Economics
Finding Aid to the Charles B. Polhemus Papers, 1858-1916
Collection number: BANC MSS 91/17 c
The Bancroft Library
University of
California, Berkeley
Berkeley, California
Contact Information:
- Processed by:
- Mary Morganti
- Date Completed:
-
February 1992
- Encoded by:
- Campbell J. Crabtree
© 1996 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Collection Summary
Collection Title: Charles B. Polhemus Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1858-1916
Collection Number: BANC MSS 91/17 c
Collector:
Polhemus, Charles B.
Extent:
Number of containers: 5 boxes, 2 cartons
Linear feet: 4.6
Repository: The Bancroft Library
Berkeley, California 94720-6000
Physical Location: For current information on the location of these materials, please
consult the Library's online catalog.
Languages Represented: Collection materials are in English and Spanish
Information for Researchers
Access
Collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Copyright has not been assigned to The Bancroft Library. All requests for permission to publish or
quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of the Manuscripts Division.
Permission for publication is given on behalf of The Bancroft Library as the owner of the physical
items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be
obtained by the reader.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Charles B. Polhemus papers, BANC MSS 91/17 c, The Bancroft Library,
University of California, Berkeley.
Administrative Information
Acquisition Information
The Charles B. Polhemus Papers were given to The Bancroft Library on February 12, 1991 by the estate
of Irene J. Polhemus.
Biography
Charles B. Polhemus was born in Burlington County, New Jersey on February 10, 1818,
to Ann Van Zant of Baltimore and Montgomery
Polhemus, a New Jersey merchant and landowner. His paternal grandfather was Major
John Polhemus, who served in the Revolutionary Army of 1775 and whose
father-in-law, John Hart, was an organizer of the Jersey Blues
and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Charles attended school in Burlington County
until the age of 12, when he began to learn the drug business, earning a pharmacy diploma within four
years.
Charles Polhemus went to South America in February of 1836. He lived in
Valparaiso, Guayaquil, Lima, and finally in Payta, serving
as a clerk and book-keeper in the commission business, as principal of a business, and as U. S. Consul
in Payta for four years. He came to California during the Gold Rush of 1849 and established a branch of
Alsop & Co. of New York and South America in San Francisco. Alsop
& Co. was one of the largest American banking and commission concerns in South America and
Charles continued to work with them for the next 14 years. Between 1850-1860, he also served as the
Consul for Chile and Peru in San Francisco. During these
years, he lived on Stockton Avenue in a house brought, with 16 others in 1849 or 1850, around the Horn
in pieces by Commodore Stockton. In 1852 he married Matilda Murphy, a native of
New York. Matilda and Charles had three children: Mary Josephine, George B.,
and one who died in infancy, followed before 1880 by Matilda.
In 1864, with Donahue and Newhall, Charles became interested in the San Francisco and San Jose
Railroad, which they
guaranteed and subsequently owned.
They built a branch to Gilroy, which required the purchase of Commodore
Stockton's ranch of approximately 2,000 acres, some of which was inside the city limits of San Jose. In
1867, Charles sold his interests in the railroad to Stanford, Huntington, Hopkins, &
Co., later known as the Southern Pacific Railroad. In that same
year, he and three associates purchased land in San Bernardino and Los
Angeles counties, which they later sold at great profit.
Charles' own ranch included 110 acres of the original Stockton Ranch, nearly half in
the city of San Jose, as well as several ranches in Santa Clara County, totalling
nearly 1000 acres. The ranch appears to have become his primary residence sometime after 1860; his
diaries record frequent stays at Lick House in the City. Charles died at home on his ranch on June 25,
1904, according to the diary of his son, George.
George B. Polhemus was born in San Francisco on January 21, 1857 and was educated as part of the study
group of The Rev. Dr. George Burrows, for preparation to enter Cambridge
University. He did not complete his studies. Instead, in 1884, George purchased the
Cerro Alegre Rancho, an 805 acre ranch near the S.P.R.R.'s Coyote
Station. In addition, he leased 3,300 acres on which he raised Ayrshires, Shorthorns,
Jerseys, Holsteins, and Holstein-Freesian cattle and thoroughbred horses. Although chosen by the
Republican convention in 1886 to run for state assembly, he was defeated and showed no further political
ambitions. George married Jennie Ryder, daughter of George W. Ryder
of Santa Clara Valley in January 1887. His diary records the 8th birthday of a son,
Charles B. Polhemus, Jr. [born November 27, 1888].
[Obtained primarily from
Pen Pictures from the Garden of
the World, or Santa Clara County, California,
1888]
Scope and Content
Charles B. Polhemus came to California in 1849 and was an active and successful businessman and diplomat,
with interests in real estate, the commission and banking business, ranching, and the railroad industry.
This collection consists of retained copies of correspondence, diaries, and business records of Charles
B. Polhemus and his son George.
Series 1, Correspondence (Outgoing), 1864-1897, gives a long record of those to whom Charles wrote in his
various capacities, both as a business and family man, and in his continued role as Consul for Chile in
San Francisco.
In Series 2, Charles' diaries record in some detail his daily life and activities as a rancher in the
Santa Clara Valley, while also giving evidence of his involvement with the developing business of
agriculture, land, and property rights in California, including legislation concerning these issues.
Much of his time was spent "calling on" bankers and various other concerns, both in San Francisco and in
Santa Clara County. His family life is also recorded in these daily entries. One cousin often mentioned,
Henry D. Polhemus (born in Valparaiso, Chile), served as station agent for the San Francisco and San
Jose Railroad and eventually settled in Marin County as an agent for the
North Pacific Coast Railroad.
The two diaries kept by George B. Polhemus (Series 6) record only briefly his daily activities. It is in
the farming journals that appear to follow that may be found the detailed entries reminiscent of his
father's diaries. A predominant concern throughout George's journals was water and water rights.
The agricultural and business records of both Charles and George Polhemus, found in Series 3, 4, 5, and
6, give in even further detail an accounting of their activities in Santa Clara County.
Boxes 1-2
SERIES 1: CORRESPONDENCE (OUTGOING) IN LETTERPRESS COPYBOOKS, 1864-1897.
Scope and Content Note
Six volumes of letterpress copybooks, chronologically arranged. Contains copies of personal,
family, and business letters sent by Charles B. Polhemus and written from San Mateo, Santa
Clara, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Mt. Holly, New Jersey. The last volume contains many
letters written from College Park, the site of the former College of the Pacific, located within
the current boundaries of San Jose. A number of letters are in Spanish and were sent from
Polhemus in his capacity as Consul of Chile in San Francisco. Some volumes are indexed.
Box 1, folder 1
Sept. 22, 1864-Feb. 22, 1871
folder 2
March 1, 1871-Sept. 13, 1874
folder 3
Oct. 4, 1874-April 21, 1878
folder 4
April 26, 1878-Aug. 7, 1882
Box 2, folder 1
April 20, 1888-[May 8, 1892]
folder 2
March 26, 1894-July 20, 1897
Box 3
SERIES 2: DIARIES, 1873-1878.
Scope and Content Note
Yearly journals, in which daily entries record weather and personal, family, and business
activities, including dealings with prominent business and political figures, both in California
and in Washington, D.C. The 1876 volume includes an account of his visit to Centennial Hall in
Philadelphia. Printed prefatory pages in some volumes provide a schedule of San Francisco fire
alarms and hack fare, as well as an almanac.
Box 4, folders 1-6
SERIES 3: AGRICULTURAL BUSINESS RECORDS, 1868-1897.
Scope and Content Note
Arrangement
Arranged chronologically.
Account and record books, primarily concerning horses and cattle. Includes records of animals
bought and sold, registry applications and breeding, births, deaths, shoeing, pasturage and
stabling accounts, and expenses for hay, grain, and farm supplies, as well as entries for the
county fair. There is one ledger of employees for the years 1868-1889.
Box 4, folder 1
Labor: ledger of employees
1868-1889
folder 2
C. B. Polhemus: horse stable accounts and record of
cows bred
1871-1885
folder 3
Horses and Cattle: accounts
1873-1887
folder 4
Registry applications and breeding records for cattle
1884-1894
folder 5
C. B. Polhemus: bull services
1886-1890
folder 6
Pasturage: records of accounts paid; record of
breeding and hay bought
1892-1897
Box 4, folders 7-8
SERIES 4: LAND RECORDS, 1864-1891.
Scope and Content Note
Includes two miscellaneous items: abstract of title of land belonging to Charles B. Polhemus and
later, a schedule of prices and terms for tracts sold.
Box 4, folder 7
Abstract of title to tracts of land belonging to C. B. Polhemus, Esq., in the
Pulgas Rancho, as recorded in the city and county of San Francisco
Dec. 15, 1864
folder 8
Schedule of prices and terms, Hyde Park Lots, C. B. Polhemus; also, Fair Oaks
Station, Menlo Park Tract
Sept. 1889; June 27, 1891
Cartons 1-2, folders 1-8
SERIES 5: FINANCIAL RECORDS, 1858-1901.
Scope and Content Note
Personal, family, and business account records, including cash books, day books, a journal
ledger, and miscellaneous records of accounts for properties.
folder 4
January 1888-October 1889
Ctn. 2, folder 6
September 1858-December 1898
Ctn. 2, folder 7
Letterpress book of statements of accounts for properties & stables
1863-1883
folder 8
Piojo Ranch Account
Oct.1865-Jan.1876
Box 5, Carton 2, folder 9-11
SERIES 6: GEORGE B. POLHEMUS PAPERS, 1895-1905.
Scope and Content Note
Arranged in sub-series by format, and then chronologically. Includes diaries, farming journals,
and financial records. The two early diaries briefly record his daily activities and appear to
be continued and replaced by the farming journals that begin in 1899. In these are found the
daily record of weather and work done on his ranches (complete with subject categorization in
the margins), including crops and livestock raised, supplies bought, workers hired, visitors,
and travels. The financial records are an incomplete set of cash and day books.
FARMING JOURNALS, 1899-1905
Farming and Crops, Coyote, Cal.:
Box 5, folder 3
Book No. 2, May 14, 1899-Sept. 5, 1900
1899-1900
folder 4
Book No. 3, Sept. 5, 1900-April 23, 1902
1900-1902
folder 5
Book No. 4, April 23, 1902-Sept. 8, 1902
1902
folder 6
Book No. 5,
Holstein Freesian Herd, Sept.
8, 1902-March 24, 1903
1902-1903
folder 7
Book No. 6,
Labor Diary, April 1,
1903-April 24, 1905
1903-1905
folder 8
Book No. 7, May 4, 1905-Oct. 8, 1905
1905
FINANCIAL RECORDS, 1887-1916
Ctn. 2, folder 9
January 1887-October 1894
folder 10
November 1894-May 1898 (p. 1-49:
closed); (p. 50- ) is used as 1916 check record
book
Carton 2, folder 12
SERIES 7: MISCELLANEOUS, undated
Scope and Content Note
Contains clippings and notes, loose and removed from volumes.
Ctn. 2, folder 12
Clippings and notes, loose and removed from volumes
