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McPherson family papers and photographs
MS.R.006
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Contributing Institution:
Special Collections and Archives, University of California, Irvine Libraries
Title: McPherson family papers and photographs
Creator:
McPherson, George W.
Creator:
McPherson, Lulu (Lucinda Edna)
Creator:
McPherson, William
Creator:
McPherson, Vincent (Stephen Vincent)
Creator:
McPherson, Jennie Ella
Creator:
McPherson, Robert
Creator:
McPherson, Stephen
Identifier/Call Number: MS.R.006
Physical Description:
18.5 Linear Feet
(43 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1846-1964
Abstract: This collection, measuring 18.5 linear feet, comprises the personal and professional papers of the McPherson family of Orange,
California, 1846-1964. The collection primarily documents the professional and family life of teacher and farmer Stephen McPherson
(1839-1917), his wife Jennie, their three children, Vincent, William, and Lulu, and members of Stephen's immediate family
living in Southern California, New York State, and New Hampshire. Included are the papers of William McPherson who became
a respected local historian that amassed a great collection of Californiana. The collection also documents the McPherson Bros.,
an agricultural business enterprise started by brothers Stephen and Robert McPherson, that became a prosperous viticulture
business until the Anaheim grape blight destroyed grape crops throughout Southern California in the late 1880s. Materials
in this collection include correspondence, diaries, notebooks, photographs, writings, business records, ledgers, account books,
receipts, genealogies, legal documents, deeds, and ephemera.
Language of Material:
English
.
The collection is open for research.
Property rights reside with the University of California. Copyrights are retained by the creators of the records and their
heirs. For permission to reproduce or to publish, please contact the Head of Special Collections and Archives.
McPherson family papers and photographs. MS-R006. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California.
Date accessed.
For the benefit of current and future researchers, please cite any additional information about sources consulted in this
collection, including permanent URLs, item or folder descriptions, and box/folder locations.
This collection was originally acquired by gift or purchase from Don Meadows, between 1966 and 1996. A large part of the materials
acquired from Don Meadows became the Don Meadows papers (MS-R001), while several regional history collections were identified
and became unique collections. Don Meadows acquired the McPherson family papers and photographs following the death of William
McPherson in 1962. As a longtime friend of William McPherson, Meadows was charged with salvaging materials from the McPherson
family home, located in Orange, California, which had fallen into extreme disrepair in the last years of McPherson's life.
The McPherson family papers and photographs were originally acquired as a part of the Don Meadows Papers (MS-R001). Preliminary
processing of the Don Meadows papers was conducted by Special Collections and Archives staff, from 1996 to 1998, at which
time the McPherson family papers and photographs were identified. In 2001, Phil Brigandi partially processed the collection.
It should also be noted that it is presumed that Don Meadows had also spent time arranging materials in the collection while
they were in his possession. A minimal collection-level record was created by Carole McEwan in 2012. Final processing and
description was completed by Patricia Glowinski, 2012.
The collection was processed and described with support from the Raymond L. Watson Library Fund.
The McPherson family lived in what is now the city of Orange located in Orange County, California and became established farmers
in the Southern California. Having migrated west from Chaumont, New York in the 1860s, brothers Stephen and Robert McPherson
established McPherson Bros., circa 1872, and planted some of the first raisin vineyards in the region. They built a thriving
viticulture business that became so successful that they established the town of McPherson, California (now part of the city
of Orange).
The McPherson family of Orange, California where descendants of Scottish immigrants who left Scotland for America, circa 1730,
and established themselves in the colony of New Hampshire. William McPherson (b. 1797), born in Deering, New Hampshire, moved
to Chaumont, New York in the early 19th century where he became a successful farmer. He married Jane Forsythe and they had
at least five children, including Stephen, Robert, Mary Jane, Naomi (sometimes spelled Naome), and Chiles (sometimes written
as Childs). Several of the children of William and Jane McPherson migrated to California in the 1860s.
Stephen McPherson (1839-1917), born in Chaumont, New York in 1839, attended the Belleville Academy and the Jefferson County
Institute in Watertown, New York. By his late teens, he was already teaching school and next enrolled at Bryant & Stratton
Commercial College, located in Buffalo, New York, from which he graduated. Stephen then went to Ohio where he taught school
for two years. In 1862, he travelled to California, where a few family members were already living and settled in Santa Clara
County. In 1872, Stephen moved to Los Angeles County and settled in the Westminster colony (now the city of Westminster) which
his relative, William G. McPherson, was one of the founders. While in Los Angeles County, Stephen also worked as a teacher.
Also in 1872, Stephen and his brother Robert bought 220 acres of land, a tract of land east of Santiago Creek, in what is
now part of Orange, California. After clearing the land of brush and cactus, they planted one of the first raisin vineyards
in Southern California. Within a few years, McPherson Bros. became a prosperous business, employing around 150 people. They
established the unincorporated town of McPherson which was still a town in 1921. When the Anaheim grape disease destroyed
their crops in late 1880s, the brothers continued in agriculture, this time growing oranges and other crops.
In 1881, Stephen built a two-story house on his property, returned to New York, and married Jennie Ella Vincent (d. 1935)
in 1882. Jennie was born in Cape Vincent, New York and was also a teacher. Once married, Jennie and Stephen returned to Southern
California. Between 1883 and 1887, Stephen and Jennie had three children--Stephen Vincent, William, and Lucinda Edna ("Lulu").
Stephen Vincent McPherson (1883-1962), or Vincent, worked for the Southern Pacific Railroad in San Pedro and Colton, California.
He later shared in the running of the McPherson family ranch with his mother and brother. In 1951, Vincent travelled to Europe.
He died in Orange, California in 1962.
William McPherson (1885-1964) became a renowned collector of Californiana and a respected local historian. In 1900, while
a teenager, William won an essay contest, the prize for which was a trip to Philadelphia and Kansas City to visit the Democratic
and Republican National Conventions. As a result of this journey, he took a renewed academic determination back to his local
high school. After graduating in 1904 from Santa Ana High School, he earned a teaching certificate and become an elementary
school teacher. He taught in San Juan Capistrano, California.
William first started collecting books and Californiana during the years he worked as a teacher. After teaching for a number
of years, in 1910, William enrolled first as an engineering student and later as a law student at the University of California.
While studying at Berkeley, his collecting continued and ultimately became a life-long passion.
Upon his return to Southern California, William continued assembling and organizing a unique collection of books and Southern
California ephemera. In 1923, he became a lecturer and an active member of the Orange County Historical Society, and in 1935
he was asked to become a consultant on Orange County for the Work Progress Administration (WPA). In addition to his collecting,
William kept a diary for over 40 years, documenting the events of 20th century Southern California. Concurrently, William
also shared the duties of running the McPherson ranch for most of his life. At William's instigation, the McPherson ranch
became one of the first farms to grow avocados alongside of oranges and other crops. William McPherson died in 1964.
Lucinda Edna, or Lulu, McPherson (b. 1887) married Walter L. Vieregg and lived in La Jolla, California, circa 1935, and in
Hollywood.
- McPherson family papers and photographs. MS-R006. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California.
- Armour, Samuel. History of Orange County, California: with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its earliest growth and development from the early days to the present ; Los Angeles: Historic Record Co., 1921.
- Meadows, Don. A California paisano; the life of William McPherson. Claremont, Calif.: Honnold Library Society, 1972.
Collection Scope and Content Summary
This collection, measuring 18.5 linear feet, comprises the personal and professional papers of the McPherson family of Orange,
California, 1846-1964. Materials include correspondence, diaries, notebooks, photographs (including tintypes and cyanotypes),
writings, business records, ledgers, account books, receipts, genealogies, legal documents, deeds, and ephemera.
The collection primarily documents the professional and family life of teacher and farmer Stephen McPherson (1839-1917), his
wife Jennie, their three children, Vincent, William, and Lulu, and members of Stephen's immediate family living in Southern
California, New York State, and New Hampshire. The bulk of the collection documents the migration, settlement, and establishment
of members of the family in Southern California, as well as the family's long distant relationship between California and
New York. This is best represented in the extensive correspondence between family members, circa 1846-1964. The financial
and business records provide insight into Stephen and Robert McPherson's prosperous grape farming business that was located
in was is now Orange, California, as the records document periods of success and decline. The photographs offer a snapshot
of people and places in Southern California during the 19th and 20th centuries. Finally, the collection focuses on the professional
and personal lives of Vincent and William McPherson, first generation Californians, who took over the family ranch and agricultural
business. Of much interest are the writings, notebooks, and correspondence relating to William McPherson, who became a respected
local historian that amassed a great collection of Californiana.
This collection is arranged in seven series:
- Series 1. Correspondence, 1846-1964, 8 linear feet
- Series 2. Diaries and notebooks, 1853-1957, 2 linear feet
- Series 3. Photographs, circa 1850-1961, 2.6 linear feet
- Series 4. William McPherson writings and research, 1923-1944 and undated, .4 linear foot
- Series 5. Financial and business records, 1859-1961, 3 linear feet
- Series 6. Subject files, 1870-1962, 1 linear foot
- Series 7. Ephemera and artifacts, circa 1870-1961, 1.5 linear feet
Related material can be found in the following collection:
- McPherson postcard collection. MS-R007. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California. A guide to this collection is available through the Online Archive of California at http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt9000159p
- William McPherson Collection. Special Collections, Claremont Colleges Library. http://libraries.claremont.edu/sc/collections/mcpherson.html
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Cyanotypes -- 20th century.
Tintypes -- 19th century.
Families -- New York (State) -- Jefferson County
Ephemera
Families -- California -- Orange County
Account books -- 19th century.
Agriculture -- California -- Orange County.
Portrait photographs
Diaries
Financial records -- 19th century.
Photographic prints -- 20th century.
Photographic prints -- 19th century.
Notebooks
Time books
Financial records -- 20th century.
Manuscripts
Visiting cards
Maps -- California.
Postal cards
Postcards -- 20th century.
Fruit growers -- California -- Orange County -- 20th century
Fruit growers -- California -- Orange County -- 19th century
Artifacts
Cartes-de-visite (card photographs)
Cabinet photographs -- 19th century.
Cabinet photographs -- 20th century.
Correspondence
McPherson, George W.
McPherson, William
McPherson, Lulu (Lucinda Edna)
McPherson, Jennie Ella
McPherson, Robert
McPherson, Stephen
McPherson, Vincent (Stephen Vincent)