Access
Publication Rights
Preferred Citation
Related Collections
System of Arrangement
Processing Information
Biographical Information
Scope and Contents
Title: Faxon Dean
Atherton
family papers
Date: 1852-1910
Collection Identifier: MS
4129
Creator:
Atherton
, Faxon Dean, 1815-1877
Extent:
2 boxes,
1 volume
(1.5 linear feet)
Contributing Institution:
California Historical Society
678 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA, 94105-4014
(415) 357-1848
reference@calhist.org
URL: http://www.californiahistoricalsociety.org/
Location of Materials: Collection is stored onsite.
Language of Materials: Collections materials are mostly
in English, with some papers in Spanish.
Access
Publication Rights
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from or otherwise use collection materials
must be submitted in writing to the Director of the Library and Archives, North
Baker Research Library, California Historical Society, 678 Mission Street, San
Francisco, CA 94105. Consent is given on behalf of the California Historical Society
as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply
permission from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the
copyright owner. Restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original
materials. Use of digital files is restricted to research and educational
purposes.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Faxon Dean
Atherton
family papers, MS 4129, California
Historical Society.
Related Collections
Related materials may be found in the Faxon Dean
Atherton
papers, Vault MS 5.
System of Arrangement
The collection is arranged in seven series: 1) Correspondence; 2) Personalia and
ephemera; 3) Business records; 4) Legal records; 5) Real estate records; 6) Income,
state, and county tax records; and 7) James Lick Trust records. Papers are arranged
in rough chronological order within series.
Processing Information
Processed by Marie Silva in 2011.
Biographical Information
Faxon Dean
Atherton
was born in Dedham, Massachusetts, in 1815. He began his
commercial career in 1830 as an apprentice to his brother-in-law, Boston merchant
Charles T. Ward, and started his own hauling business in Boston in 1832.
Atherton
first came to the Pacific Coast in 1833, securing a position with Loring & Co.
at their ship chandlery firm in Valparaiso, Chile, the following year. Around 1835,
he met George Henry Bowen, who would become his business partner and lifelong
friend.
From 1836 to 1838,
Atherton
worked as a clerk for Alpheus B. Thompson, a merchant
engaged in the hides and tallow trade on the California coast. During this period,
Atherton
penned his California diary and formed friendships with many prominent
Californians, including Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo and Thomas O. Larkin (with whom he
was to be associated in several real estate and commercial ventures).
Scope and Contents
Correspondence (1852-1896) documents Faxon Dean
Atherton
’s family life, as well as
his commercial and real estate ventures in Chile and California. Family
correspondence includes letters written to Faxon Dean
Atherton
by his sister and
brother-in-law, Amanda and Charles T. Ward; wife Dominga Goñi de
Atherton
(in
Spanish); children, George
Atherton
, Faxon Dean
Atherton
, Jr., Florence
Atherton
,
and Isabel Edwards; and son-in-law Enrique Edwards. Letters written by
Atherton
’s
friends and business associates document
Atherton
’s business activities in
Valparaiso in the 1850s; the business activities and disputes of other New England
merchants in Chile, including Loring & Co. and Samuel Crane & Co.; and
Atherton
’s commercial and real estate investments in California in the 1850s, 1860s,
and 1870s, especially as recorded by his attorney James W. Thrift.
Business records (1852-1910) include accounts, receipts, invoices, and other
documents created or collected by Faxon Dean
Atherton
, his San Francisco agent
Alexander B. Grogan, and Dominga Goñi de
Atherton
, in Valparaiso and California.
These include billheads for a variety of mid-nineteenth-century Valparaiso and
California businesses, including Loring & Co. Other business records include
records for Dry Creek Tunnel & Fluming Co. in Shasta County and Fair Oaks Farm
Dairy, owned and operated by
Atherton
’s son-in-law Percival W. Selby.
Real estate records (1859-1882) include surveys, deeds, indentures, accounts, and
leases for California lands purchased by Faxon Dean
Atherton
, including San
Cayetano, Corralitos, and Sal Si Puedes ranches in Santa Cruz County; San Lorenzo
Ranch and Hayward lots in Alameda County; and Milpitas Ranch in Monterey County.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Atherton
family.
Billheads.
Businessmen--California.
Deeds.
Letters.
Merchants--California.
Merchants--Chile--Valparaíso.
Real estate investment--California.
Real property--California--Alameda County.
Real property--California--Contra Costa County.
Real property--California--Monterey County.
Real property--California--Santa Cruz County.
Receipts (financial records).