Guide to the Isaias W. Hellman Papers, 1865-1929
MS 0981
Finding aid prepared by California Historical Society staff; revised by Mary Morganti
California Historical Society
678 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA, 94105
415-357-1848
reference@calhist.org
2001, 2009
Collection Summary
Collection Title: Isaias W. Hellman papers
Dates: 1865-1929
Collection Number: MS 0981
Creator:
Hellman, Isaias William, 1843-1920
Physical Description:
Extent: 49 boxes [includes 52 v. in Boxes 27-46 and 49]
(20.75 Linear feet)
Repository:
California Historical Society
678 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA, 94105
415-357-1848
reference@calhist.org
URL: http://www.californiahistoricalsociety.org/
Physical Location: Collection is stored onsite.
Language of Materials: Collection materials are in English.
Abstract: Business papers, chiefly correspondence, pertaining to Hellman's activities in banking, electric and cable railway transportation,
and real estate investment, particularly in southern California and San Francisco. Correspondence is with and about the banks
and financial institutions with which Hellman was affiliated, and reflects his interests in southern Calif. electric railroad
lines, Market Street Railway in San Francisco, Union Oil and Associated Oil Companies, the Redondo Improvement Company, the
Los Alamitos Land Company, the San Gabriel and other wineries, and other agricultural concerns. Includes papers of Hellman's
son, Isaias W. Hellman, Jr., in his capacities as president of Union Trust Company and Wells Fargo Nevada National Bank, vice
president of Farmers and Merchants National Bank of Los Angeles, chairman of Columbus Savings and Loan Society, and a member
of the Relief Committee of 50 that assumed control of San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake and fire. Also reflects his
activities with the Panama-Pacific International Exposition of 1915.
Information for Researchers
Access
Collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Copyright has not been assigned to the California Historical Society. 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], Isaias W. Hellman Papers, MS 981. California Historical Society.
Related Collection
Isaiah W. Hellman Papers: Additions, 1847-1964, MS 981 A
Separated Materials
Printed materials have been transferred to the book and ephemera collections.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Columbus Savings and Loan Society.
Farmers and Merchants National Bank of Los Angeles.
Hellman, Isaias W. (Isaias William), 1842-1920--Archives.
Hellman, Isaias W., 1871-1920--Archives.
Market Street Railway.
Nevada National Bank.
Union Trust Company of San Francisco.
Wells Fargo Nevada National Bank
Bankers--California-San Francisco
Banks and banking--California.
Letter books.
Panama-Pacific International Exposition (1915 : San Francisco, Calif.)
Real estate investment--California.
Street-railroads--California, Southern.
List of Correspondents
Following is a partial list of correspondents in the collection, and the number of letters written to or by them:
Ainsworth, John V. (7 letters)
Alvord, William (1 letter)
Banning, William (2 letters)
Bard, Thomas R. (2 letters)
Bicknell, John Dustin (14 letters)
Bixby, Fred Hathaway (13 letters)
Bixby, George H. (33 letters)
Bixby, John W. (1 letter)
Burr, Ephraim Willard (3 letters)
Chandler, Harry (3 letters)
Childs, Ozro W. (3 letters)
Borel, Antoine (11 letters)
Crocker, George (1 letter)
Crocker, William H. (2 letters)
De Guigne, Christian (12 letters)
Denis, George J. (6 letters)
Doheny, Edward L. (6 letters)
Downey, John G. (16 letters)
Duque, Thomas L. (16 letters)
Faymonville, Bernard (2 letters)
Fleishman, Henry J. (49 letters)
Flint, George C. (30 letters)
Flood, James Leary (1 letter)
Gage, Henry T. (3 letters)
Gerstle, Lewis (1 letter)
Gird, Richard (3 letters)
Grant, Adam (1 letter)
Garvey, Richard (18 letters)
Graves, Jackson Alpheus (338 letters)
Griffin, John Strother (2 letters)
Guasti, Secondo (1 letter)
Hanna, Mark (1 letter)
Harriman, Edward H. (5 letters)
Hearst, Phoebe Apperson (2 letters)
Hearst, William Randolph (1 letter)
Heller, Emanuel H. (24 letters)
Hellman, Herman W. (257 letters)
Hellman, Maurice S. (9 letters)
Herrin, William F. (4 letters)
Hill, Andrew P. (1 letter)
Hopkins, Timothy (1 letter)
Huntington, Collis P. (4 letters)
Huntington, Henry Edwards (81 letters)
Irwin, William G. (2 letters)
Jones, E. E. (19 letters)
Jordan, David Starr (1 letter)
Kahn, Julius (2 letters)
Kearney, M. Theodore (2 letters)
Keith, William (1 letter)
Keller, Matthew (19 letters)
Kerckhoff, William G. (61 letters)
Kinney, Abbot (1 letter)
Kohn, Kaspare (2 letters)
Lankershim, J. B. (2 letters)
Le Breton, Edward J. (1 letter)
Lubin, David (1 letter)
McAdoo, William Gibbs (2 letters)
MacKay, John William (16 letters)
Markham, Henry H. (4 letters)
Marye, George, T. (1 letter)
Meyer, Eugene (1 letter)
Milner, John M. (86 letters)
Mulholland, William (7 letters)
Newmark, Maurice (1 letter)
Nuttall, J. R. K. (5 letters)
O'Melveny, Henry W. (15 letters)
Otis, Harrison Gray (43 letters)
Patton, George (51 letters)
Pardee, George C. (4 letters)
Perkins, George C. (5 letters)
Plater, John E. (8 letters)
Reese, Michael (1 letter)
Rindage, Frederick H. (3 letters)
Robinson, Alfred (1 letter)
Rose, Leonard J. (2 letters)
Ross, Erskine Mayo (7 letters)
Ryland, Cassius T. (1 letter)
Sanderson, George W. (1 letter)
Sartori, Joseph Francis (34 letters)
Schiff, Jacob H. (2 letters)
Schwab, Charles M. (1 letter)
Shankland, J. J. (1 letter)
Shorb, James de Barth (6 letters)
Shortridge, Charles M. (1 letter)
Shortridge, Samuel W. (2 letters)
Sloss, Louis (1 letter)
Spreckels, Adolph B. (1 letter)
Spreckels, Claus (2 letters)
Spreckels, Rudolph (2 letters)
Stanford, Jane Lathrop (11 letters)
Stewart, Lyman (14 letters)
Strauss, Levi (2 letters)
Tevis, Lloyd (1 letter)
Truman, Ben C. (2 letters)
Valle, Reginaldo F. del (2 letters)
Van Nuys, Isaac N. (2 letters)
Wangenheim, Julius (6 letters)
Wheeler, Benjamin Ide (13 letters)
White, Lovell (6 letters)
White, Stephen Mallory (35 letters)
Widney, Richard MaClay (1 letter)
Wilson, Mrs. Benjamin D. (1 letter)
Workman, William H. (13 letters)
Administrative Information
Acquisition Information
The Isaias W. Hellman Papers were given to the California Historical Society by I. W. Hellman III in 1967.
Processing Information
Processed by California Historical Society staff.
System of Arrangement
Organized into the following series: Series 1: Correspondence, 1865-1920 [these are further divided into two sub-series: San
Francisco Office and Los Angeles Office]; Series 2: Financial Records, 1910-1924; Series 3: Real Estate Title Abstracts and
Deeds, 1883-1929; Series IV: Business Correspondence Letterpress Copy Books, 1879-1920; Series V: Bank Statements of Assets
and Liabilities, 1915-1919.
Scope and Contents
Business papers, chiefly correspondence, pertaining to Hellman's activities in banking, electric and cable railway transportation,
and real estate investment, particularly in southern California and San Francisco. Correspondence is with and about the banks
and financial institutions with which Hellman was affiliated, and reflects his interests in southern Calif. electric railroad
lines, Market Street Railway in San Francisco, Union Oil and Associated Oil Companies, the Redondo Improvement Company, the
Los Alamitos Land Company, the San Gabriel and other wineries, and other agricultural concerns. Correspondents include Harry
Chandler, John G. Downey, Henry J. Fleishman, Jackson A. Graves, Herman W. Hellman, Henry E. Huntington, William Mulholland,
Harrison G. Otis, George Patton, George C. Perkins, Claus Spreckles, Benjamin I. Wheeler, Stephen M. White, and others. Includes
some personal correspondence with family members. Other papers include financial records for Wells Fargo Nevada National Bank,
Union Trust Company, Columbus Savings and Loan Society, Farmers and Merchants National Bank of Los Angeles, United States
National Bank of Los Angeles, and other banks.
Interfiled with these are papers of Hellman's son, Isaias W. Hellman, Jr., in his capacities as president of Union Trust Company
and Wells Fargo Nevada National Bank, vice president of Farmers and Merchants National Bank of Los Angeles, chairman of Columbus
Savings and Loan Society, and a member of the Relief Committee of 50 that assumed control of San Francisco after the 1906
earthquake and fire. Also reflects his activities with the Panama-Pacific International Exposition of 1915.
Biographical Information
I. W. Hellman was a banker and prominent financial figure of California and Oregon. He served as president of Farmers and
Merchants National Bank of Los Angeles, Nevada National Bank, and Wells Fargo Nevada National Bank. He also served as chairman
of the board of directors of Union Trust Company of San Francisco, and director of the United States National Bank of Portland
and the Security Trust and Savings Bank of Los Angeles.
Series 1
Correspondence
1865-1920
Physical Description:
Boxes 1-20
Arrangement
Arranged in two sub-series: Boxes 1-15, San Francisco Office; Boxes 16-20, Los Angeles Office
Series 2
Financial Records
1910-1924
Physical Description:
Boxes 21-24; Box 49, volume 52
Box 24, Folder 169
Property sales cards
1921-1923
Box 24, Folder 170
Checkbook, Wells Fargo Nevada National Bank
1920
Box 49, Volume 52
Scrapbook of Tax Receipts,1907/1908 - 1909/1910 [for] County of Los Angeles and City of Los Angeles, Orange County, San Bernardino
County, City and County of San Francisco, El Dorado County, Placer County, and City of Azusa
1907-1910
Series 3
Real Estate Title Abstracts and Deeds
1883-1929
Physical Description:
Boxes 25-26
Box 25, Folder 171
Main Street Lots, Beach and Water Lot, No. 301
1888,
1909-1919
Box 25, Folder 172
Beach and Water Lots Nos. 604 & 605, and Rules of Procedure covering accounting system … for Dunham Carrigan & Hayden Co.
1894,
1904
Box 25, Folder 173
Beale Street Lot No. 302
1909
Box 25, Folder 175
Party wall agreements
1883-1907
Box 26, Folder 177
Party wall, Beale and Main Streets
1929
Box 26, Folder 178
Beale and Main Streets, Northside Main Street
1910,
1917
Series 4
Business Correspondence Letterpress Copy Books
1879-1920
Physical Description:
Boxes 27-46
Scope and Content Note
Unless otherwise noted, letters are from IWH.
Box 27, Volume 1-4
1879 June 13-1885 February 4
Box 28, Volume 5-6
1885 October 13-1887 October 17
Box 30, Volume 10-12
1890 August 1-1891 December 1
Box 31, Volume 13-14
1891 January 27-1893 February 18
Box 32, Folder 15-16
1893 February 20-1894 May 9
Box 33, Volume 17-18
1894 March 9-1895 April 26
Box 34, Volume 19-20
1895 April 27-1896 November 13
Box 35, Volume 21-22
1896 November 14-1897 December 27
Box 36, Volume 23-24
1897 December 27-1899 April 25
Box 37, Volume 25-26
1899 April 22-1900 December 31
Box 38, Volume 27
1901 January 2-October 21
Box 38, Volume 28
Letters from Henry Fleischman to IWH
1889 April 20-1896 August 22
Box 39, Volume 29
1901 April 22-1902 January
Box 39, Volume 30
1905 October 30-1906 November 28
Box 39, Folder 31
1905 August 2-1907 November 2
Box 40, Volume 32
Letters regarding Spring Valley Water Co. 4% Bond Syndicate
1906 August 1-1908 January 8
Box 40, Volume 33
1906 November 30-1907 December 28
Box 40, Volume 34
1907 November 4-1911 December 9
Letters to Farmers & Merchants Bank and officers
Box 41, Volume 35-37
1907 December 30-1910 October 28
Box 42, Volume 38-41
1909 October 16-1912 March 5
Box 43, Volume 42-45
1912 March 5-1914 June 30
Box 44, Volume 46
1911 July 11-1915 October 1
Box 44, Volume 47
1911 December 11-1915 September 25
Letters to Farmers & Merchants Bank and officers
Box 44, Volume 48
1915 October 1-1917 February 5
Box 45, Volume 49
1916 October-1919 October 10
Letters to Farmers & Merchants Bank and officers
Box 45, Volume 50
1917 February 5-1918 March 7
Box 46, Volume 51
1918 March 28-1920 April 6
Series 5
Bank Statements of Assets and Liabilities
1915-1919
Physical Description:
Boxes 47-48
Box 47, Folder 179-184
Union Trust Company of San Francisco
1915 June 10-1919 March 20
Box 47, Folder 185-189
United States National Bank, Los Angeles
1915 September 28-1917 December 4
Box 48, Folder 190-192
United States National Bank, Los Angeles
1918 January 23-1919 August 5
Box 48, Folder 193
Wells Fargo Nevada National Bank
1918 May 14
Box 48, Folder 194-196
Farmers & Merchants National Bank
1917 February 6-1919 July 10
Box 48, Folder 197-202
Columbus Savings & Loan Society
1915 August 31-1919 June 19
