Access
Publication Rights
Preferred Citation
Related Collections
Biography
Scope and Contents
Indexing Terms
Bibliography
Title: William Hartnell papers
Date: 1815-[183?]
Collection Identifier: MS Vault
28
Creator:
Hartnell, William E. P. (William Edward Petty),
1798-1854
Extent:
1 oversize volume, 2 volumes in slipcases
Contributing Institution:
California Historical Society
678 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA, 94105-4014
(415) 357-1848
reference@calhist.org
Abstract: Documenting educational and commercial life in
California in the 1820s and 1830s, the collection consists of a treatise on algebra
(183?),
Tratado sobre el Algebra, written by P.
Nicholson and translated into Spanish by Hartnell; and a daybook (1823-1827) and
account book (1815-1816, 1826-1828), maintained by Hartnell, containing financial
accounts for various missions, government offices, commercial houses, ships, and
individuals with whom Hartnell conducted business in California.
Physical Location: Collection is stored onsite.
Language of Material: The algebra textbook is in Spanish; the daybook and account book are in English and Spanish, with English
predominating.
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], William Hartnell papers, MS Vault 28, California Historical
Society.
Related Collections
Materials related to William Hartnell and his school, Casa de Educacion y Pupilage,
may be found in the William Hartnell miscellany, Vault MS 71.
A John C. Frémont letter translated into Spanish by Hartnell can be found in Letters
from Thomas O. Larkin and the Sub-prefect regarding John C. Frémont, MS 943.
Biography
Born in England in 1798, William Edward Petty Hartnell, also known as Guillermo
Eduardo Hartnell, came to California in 1822 after spending several years in South
America in the employ of Lima's John Begg and Co. Beginning in 1823, Hartnell, with
his partner Hugh McCulloch, conducted an extensive trade with the California
missions, exchanging hides and tallow, foodstuffs, and other goods. Hartnell
converted to Catholicism in 1824, married María Teresa de la Guerra in 1825, and
became a Mexican citizen in 1830. In 1834, Hartnell was granted the Alisal Ranch
near Monterey, where he founded a school, the Casa de Educacion y Pupilage, which
would be attended by his children and other students. He also held offices under the
Mexican and United States governments of California, serving as visitador-general of
missions (1839-1840), and official interpreter for United States (1847-1850).
Hartnell died in 1854.
Scope and Contents
Documenting educational and commercial life in California in the 1820s and 1830s, the
collection comprises a treatise on algebra (183?),
Tratado
sobre el Algebra
, written by P. Nicholson and translated into Spanish by
William Hartnell; and Hartnell's business records, consisting of a daybook
(1823-1827) and account book (1815-1816, 1826-1828).
Kept in Monterey, the daybook records purchases of foodstuffs and other goods by
various individuals and organizations in California with whom Hartnell traded,
including and especially the missions, between 1823 and 1827.
The account book contains financial accounts for various missions, government
offices, commercial houses (including the William E. P. Hartnell House), and
individuals in California, as well as records for ships arriving in California, for
the years 1826 to 1828. Records for the years 1815 and 1816 (pages 405-406),
concerning trade with Mathew Carter of New York, are scanty. Endpapers are inscribed
in Spanish by José M. Herrera, "habilitado provisionalmente por la Republica Mexican
por los años de 1826 y 1827 en el Territorio de Californias," or provisional
paymaster of the Mexican Republic in California.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
library's online public access catalog:
Hartnell, William E. P. (William Edward Petty),
1798-1854 -- Archives
Algebra--Textbooks.
Businessmen--California.
California--Commerce.
Daybooks.
Hides and skins--California.
Journals (accounts).
Missions--California--History.
Produce trade--California.
Tallow.
Bibliography
Sources consulted for Biography note:
Bancroft, Hubert Howe.
The works of Hubert Howe Bancroft,
Volume XIX: History of California, Volume II, 1801-1824
. Santa Barbara:
Wallace Hebberd, 1966.
Bancroft, Hubert Howe.
The works of Hubert Howe Bancroft,
Volume XX: History of California, Volume III, 1825-1840
. Santa Barbara:
Wallace Hebberd, 1966.