The collection consists of family letters and a few photographs related to Charles Penniman Daniell's experiences and life in San Francisco, California (1850-53).

Born in South Milford, Massachusetts, in September 1828, Charles Daniell (1828-1861) was the eldest son of Josiah Daniell, a drygoods retailer in Boston, and Sarah Hutchinson Penniman Daniell. Charles P. Daniell sailed from Boston to San Francisco around the Horn in 1849-50. While in San Francisco he took part in a sequence of business arrangements to retail hardware, including operating other proprietors’ stores and managing his own. For a brief period of time, he worked at the U.S. Customs House. He also made at least one excursion into mining territory to “see the Elephant." Daniell returned to Boston in 1854 and again in the late 1850s, where he married Henrietta Spring, a close friend of his sister Lucetta, in 1860. They returned to California, but he died May 1861 at the age of 33. Subsequently, his brother William traveled to California to take care of his affairs. Charles’ only daughter, born posthumously, died as an infant.

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