Collection context
Summary
- Title:
- George H. Lewis Diary, 1863 - 1866
- Dates:
- 1863-1866
- Abstract:
- A diary kept by George H. Lewis while a member of the crew of the sailing ships 'Susan Jane' and 'Sunrise' during the years 1863-1866.
- Extent:
- 1 folder
- Language:
- Languages represented in the collection: English
- Preferred citation:
-
George H. Lewis Diary, 1863 - 1866. The Society of California Pioneers.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
The diary contains a daily record kept by George H. Lewis while onboard two different ships. The beginning of the journal concerns the "Barque Susan Jane." Lewis departed New Bedford, MA in route to Cape Verde Islands in July of 1863. The ship then made its way from the Cape Verde Islands to the coast of Africa. Lewis returned to New Bedford from the Cape Verde Islands aboard the "Susan Jane" in December 1863. At the end of the entries for this voyage Lewis provides a list and descriptions of Telegraph Flags. The Diary continues with entries made while on board the ship "Sunrise", commanded by R. Luce. The "Sunrise" sailed from New York on February 11, 1864 arriving in San Francisco on July 24, 1864. The return voyage on the "Sunrise" departed San Francisco on August 8, 1864 and arrived in Callao, Peru on October 15, 1864. Following this voyage there is a log of quantities of guano loaded onto the ship commencing November 23, 1864 at the Chincha Islands off the coast of Peru. Final installment of the journal covers another voyage on the "Sunrise" on June 25, 1865 departing from Spithead, England and arriving in Hamburg, Germany on July 3, 1865. The majority of the entries provide details about the course of the ship, the wind direction and weather encountered and the ways in which certain sails were trimmed. Towards the end of the journal there are entries out of order with the date 1866 that note names of stevedores hired in New York and a list of members of the crews from the various voyages logged by G.H. Lewis. The last of these lists notes that George H. Lewis was the third officer on 'The Sunrise' during the 1864 voyage.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Date Event 1863/1866 George H. Lewis Diary, 1863 - 1866 - Physical location:
- Stored on-site at the Society of California Pioneers
- Rules or conventions:
- Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard
- Bibliography:
- History of shipbuilding on North river, Plymouth county, Massachusetts by Lloyd Vernon Briggs (1889), p322The Richmond Times Daily Dispatch, August 21, 1863 (http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2006.05.0840%3Aarticle%3Dpos%3D4)
Indexed terms
- Subjects:
- Pioneers - California
Sailing Ships - Names:
- Lewis, George H.
About this collection guide
- Date Prepared:
- © 2010
- Date Encoded:
- Machine-readable finding aid created by Kris Casler. Machine-readable finding aid derived from MS Word. Date of source: March 3, 2010.
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Collection is open by appointment for research.
- Terms of access:
-
Property rights reside with The Society of California Pioneers. All requests for permission to reproduce or publish must be submitted in writing to the Librarian.
- Preferred citation:
-
George H. Lewis Diary, 1863 - 1866. The Society of California Pioneers.
- Location of this collection:
-
300 Fourth StreetSan Francisco, CA 94107, US
- Contact:
- (415) 957-1849 ext. 160