Charles Penniman Daniell Papers

Finding aid prepared by David P. Levitus.

The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens

Manuscripts Department

1151 Oxford Road

San Marino, California 91108

Phone: (626) 405-2129

Email: reference@huntington.org

URL: http://www.huntington.org

Descriptive Summary

Title: Charles Penniman Daniell Papers

Dates: 1844-1853,

Date: 1861

Collection Number: mssHM 70463-70510

Creator: Daniell, Charles Penniman, 1828-1861.

Extent: 59 items

Repository: The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. Manuscripts Department

1151 Oxford Road

San Marino, California 91108

Phone: (626) 405-2191

Email: reference@huntington.org

URL: http://www.huntington.org

Abstract: 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).

Language of Material: The records are in English.

Access

Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.

Administrative Information

Publication Rights

The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Charles Penniman Daniell Papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Acquisition Information

The collection was given to the Huntington Library by Mrs. Austin Jenison (nee Margaret Daniell) on October 13, 1967.

Biography

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.

Scope and Content

The collection consists of letters and a few photographs related to Daniell's experiences and life in San Francisco (1850-53). Charles is the author of all the letters and the only addressees are his sister Lucetta, his mother Sarah, and his father Josiah. The letters, generally one to four pages in length, are arranged chronologically. Several of the letters are duplicated in typewritten format. Charles wrote the bulk of the letters from the city of San Francisco, but there are also letters from Boston, where he helped with his father's dry goods business and from the ship “Marcia Cleaves" as he sailed around the Horn to California.

A seemingly amiable and optimistic young man, Charles appears to wrestle with the challenges of making his own way in the world and the longing for the familiar. The letters rarely go into great detail, but they allude to a great variety of topics such as home-sickness for his family and New England, the importance of “Steamer Day" when mail arrives, the weather, his health and well-being and that of his compatriots, the importance of social relationships to business success, the difficulty of business success without sufficient capital, the diversity of nationalities/ethnicities on ship and in town, party politics, the Vigilance Committee, church attendance, anecdotes about music, his food and lodging conditions, the outbreak of fires and cholera in town, and the occurrence of marriages at home in Massachusetts and in California.

Photographic material includes a photograph of the Daniell family, four copy prints of daguerreotypes and four negatives of copy prints of Daniell family members, the family's house in Roxbury, and William standing next to his brother's grave in California.

Subjects include: the ship Marcia Cleaves, Voyages “around the Horn", ocean travel, Valparaiso, (Chile), San Jose (California), life in San Francisco, and business enterprises there, the city’s U.S. Custom House, city politics—especially the Vigilance committee, church attendance, the building of a Unitarian church, relationships between men and women, ethnic relations, anecdotes about music, and descriptions of fruit purchases.

Indexing Terms

Personal Names

Daniell, Charles Penniman, 1828-1861.

Corporate Names

Marcia Cleaves (Ship)

Subjects

Business enterprises -- California -- San Francisco.

Businessmen -- California -- San Francisco -- Correspondence.

Church attendance.

Ethnic relations.

Family-owned business enterprises -- United States.

Fires -- California -- San Francisco.

Man-woman relationships.

Music -- Anecdotes.

Ocean travel.

Unitarian church buildings.

Vigilance committees -- California -- San Francisco.

Voyages around the Horn.

Geographic Areas

California -- Gold discoveries -- Personal narratives.

San Francisco (Calif.) -- Description and travel.

San Francisco (Calif.) -- Politics and government.

San Francisco (Calif.) -- Social life and customs -- 19th century.

San Jose (Calif.) -- Description and travel.

Valparaíso (Chile) -- Description and travel.

Genre

Letters (correspondence) California 19th century.

Photographs California 19th century.

Box 1

mssHM 70463-70510

Daniell, Charles Penniman, 1828-1861. 1 letter to Sarah Hutchinson Penniman Daniell 1844, Aug. 22 HM 70463

Daniell, Charles Penniman, 1828-1861. 1 letter to Sarah Hutchinson Penniman Daniell. 1847, June 21 HM 70464.

Daniell, Charles Penniman, 1828-1861. 1 letter to Sarah Hutchinson Penniman Daniell. 1847, June 25 HM 70465.

Daniell, Charles Penniman, 1828-1861. 1 letter to Sarah Hutchinson Penniman Daniell. 1848, June 6 HM 70466.

Daniell, Charles Penniman, 1828-1861. 1 letter to Sarah Hutchinson Penniman Daniell. 1848, July 5 HM 70467.

Daniell, Charles Penniman, 1828-1861. 1 letter to Sarah Hutchinson Penniman Daniell. 1850, Jan. 14-29 HM 70468.

Daniell, Charles Penniman, 1828-1861. 1 letter to Sarah Hutchinson Penniman Daniell. 1850, Mar. 30 HM 70469.

Daniell, Charles Penniman, 1828-1861. 1 letter to Lucetta Daniell. 1850, Apr. 2-3 HM 70470.

Daniell, Charles Penniman 1828-1861. 1 letter to Josiah Daniell. 1850, June 17 HM 70471.

Daniell, Charles Penniman, 1828-1861. 1 letter to Sarah Hutchinson Penniman Daniell. 1850, July 29-30 HM 70472.

Daniell, Charles Penniman, 1828-1861. 1 letter to Josiah Daniell. 1850, Aug. 28 HM 70473.

Daniell, Charles Penniman, 1828-1861. 1 letter to Lucetta Daniell. 1850, Aug. 30 HM 70474.

Daniell, Charles Penniman, 1828-1861. 1 letter to Josiah Daniell. 1850, Oct. 26 HM 70475.

Daniell, Charles Penniman, 1828-1861. 1 letter to Josiah Daniell. 1850, Nov. 1 HM 70476. Fragment. In fragile condition.

Daniell, Charles Penniman, 1828-1861. 1 letter to Sarah Hutchinson Penniman Daniell. 1850, Dec. 9-14 HM 70477.

Daniell, Charles Penniman, 1828-1861. 1 letter to Lucetta Daniell. 1851, Jan. 1 HM 70478.

Daniell, Charles Penniman, 1828-1861. 1 letter to Josiah Daniell. 1851, Jan. 14 HM 70479.

Daniell, Charles Penniman, 1828-1861. 1 letter to Josiah Daniell. 1851, Jan. 31 HM 70480.

Daniell, Charles Penniman, 1828-1861. 1 letter to Sarah Hutchinson Penniman Daniell. 1851, Mar. 15 HM 70481.

Daniell, Charles Penniman, 1828-1861. 1 letter to Lucetta Daniell. 1851, Mar. 31 HM 70482.

Daniell, Charles Penniman, 1828-1861. 1 letter to Sarah Hutchinson Penniman Daniell. 1851, Apr. 30 HM 70483.

Daniell, Charles Penniman, 1828-1861. 1 letter to Sarah Hutchinson Penniman Daniell. 1851, June 14 HM 70484.

Daniell, Charles Penniman, 1828-1861. 1 letter to Sarah Hutchinson Penniman Daniell. 1851, June 29 HM 70485.

Daniell, Charles Penniman, 1828-1861. 1 letter to Sarah Hutchinson Penniman Daniell. 1851, July 14 HM 70486.

Daniell, Charles Penniman, 1828-1861. 1 letter to Sarah Hutchinson Penniman Daniell. 1851, July 31 HM 70487.

Daniell, Charles Penniman, 1828-1861. 1 letter to Sarah Hutchinson Penniman Daniell. 1851, Sep. 15 HM 70488.

Daniell, Charles Penniman, 1828-1861. 1 letter to Lucetta Daniell. 1851, Sep. 30 HM 70489.

Daniell, Charles Penniman, 1828-1861. 1 letter to Lucetta Daniell. 1851, Dec. 15 HM 70490.

Daniell, Charles Penniman, 1828-1861. 1 letter to Lucetta Daniell. 1851, Dec. 31 HM 70491.

Daniell, Charles Penniman, 1828-1861. 1 letter to Josiah Daniell. Letter is ripped. 1852, May 31 HM 70492.

Daniell, Charles Penniman, 1828-1861. 1 letter to Lucetta Daniell. 1852, June 15 HM 70493.

Daniell, Charles Penniman, 1828-1861. 1 letter to Lucetta Daniell. 1852, June 30 HM 70494. Letter is torn.

Daniell, Charles Penniman, 1828-1861. 1 letter to Josiah Daniell. 1852, July 14 HM 70495.

Daniell, Charles Penniman, 1828-1861. 1 letter to Josiah Daniell. 1852, July 30 HM 70496.

Daniell, Charles Penniman, 1828-1861. 1 letter to Sarah Hutchinson Penniman Daniell. 1852, Aug. 31 HM 70497.

Daniell, Charles Penniman, 1828-1861. 1 letter to Sarah Hutchinson Penniman Daniell. 1852, Nov. 15 HM 70498.

Daniell, Charles Penniman, 1828-1861. 1 letter to Sarah Hutchinson Penniman Daniell. 1853, Jan. 14 HM 70499.

Daniell, Charles Penniman, 1828-1861. 1 letter to Sarah Hutchinson Penniman Daniell. 1853, Apr. 16 HM 70500.

Daniell, Charles Penniman, 1828-1861. 1 letter to Josiah Daniell. 1853, Apr. 29 HM 70501. Paper very fragile and torn in a few places.

Daniell, Charles Penniman, 1828-1861. 1 letter to Josiah Daniell. 1853, May 15 HM 70502.

Daniell, Charles Penniman, 1828-1861. 1 letter to Sarah Hutchinson Penniman Daniell. Letter is ripped into several pieces. 1853, May 31 HM 70503.

Daniell, Charles Penniman, 1828-1861. 1 letter to Josiah Daniell. 1853, June 15 HM 70504.

Daniell, Charles Penniman, 1828-1861. 1 letter to Sarah Hutchinson Penniman Daniell. 1853, June 30 HM 70505.

Daniell, Charles Penniman, 1828-1861. 1 letter to Josiah Daniell. 1853, July 15 HM 70506.

Daniell, Charles Penniman, 1828-1861. 1 letter to Sarah Hutchinson Penniman Daniell. 1853, Aug 15 HM 70507.

Daniell, Charles Penniman, 1828-1861. 1 letter to Josiah Daniell. 1853, Sep. 14 HM 70508.

Daniell, Charles Penniman, 1828-1861. 1 letter to Sarah Hutchinson Penniman Daniell. 1853, Nov. 15 HM 70509.

Daniell, Charles Penniman, 1828-1861. 1 letter to Sarah Hutchinson Penniman Daniell. 1853, Dec. 15 HM 70510.