Description
This folder contains 1 letter of correspondence, 2 pages from a scrapbook, an 1881 receipt, an 1893 bond for $100,000 for
his appointment as the Superintendent of the U.S. Mint in San Francisco, and several documents relating to the murder of Robert
Craig by James Moran in 1854.
Background
Daggett and his brother David came to California in 1852, though David later died on the return journey. John became the Postmaster
of the mining town Sawyers Bar, in what is now the Marble Mountain Wilderness Area. In 1854 he was living near Klamath, Siskyou
County, California he somehow became involved in the murder of Robert Craig by James Moran. Moran was latter hanged by an
Irish mob. It is unclear how Daggett was involved with the murder – possibly as a witness in the bar where Craig was stabbed
by Moran with a butcher’s knife or as a witness to his body after he was hanged. Daggett ran a mine on and off through the
years after the Civil War. He had eleven terms in the state legislature before becoming Lieutenant Governor from 1882-1888.
During that time he founded a town named after himself, just outside of Barstow, CA. Daggett was the Superintendent of the
United States Mint in San Francisco from 1893-1897. He married Alice Foree in 1870 and their three surviving children were
Ben Foree Daggett, Hallie Morse Daggett, and Leslie Wells Daggett.
Extent
1.0 folder
(9 items)
Restrictions
There are no restrictions on access.
Availability
Collection open for research.