Finding aid of the George H. Lewis Diary, 1863 - 1866

Kris Casler
The Society of California Pioneers
300 Fourth Street
San Francisco, CA 94107-1272
Phone: (415) 957-1849
Fax: (415) 957-9858
Email: pkeats@californiapioneers.org
URL: http://www.californiapioneers.org
© 2010
The Society of California Pioneers. All rights reserved.

Finding aid of the George H. Lewis Diary, 1863 - 1866

Collection number:

The Society of California Pioneers

San Francisco, California
Processed by:
Kris Casler
Date Completed:
March 3, 2010
Encoded by:
Kris Casler
© 2010 The Society of California Pioneers. All rights reserved.

Descriptive Summary

Title: George H. Lewis Diary, 1863 - 1866
Dates: 1863-1866
Collection Size: 1 folder
Repository: The Society of California Pioneers.
San Francisco, California 94107-1272
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.
Physical location: Stored on-site at the Society of California Pioneers
Languages: Languages represented in the collection: English

Access

Collection is open by appointment for research.

Publication Rights

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.

Chronology

1863/1866 George H. Lewis Diary, 1863 - 1866

Scope and Content of Collection

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.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Pioneers - California
Sailing Ships
Lewis, George H.

History of shipbuilding on North river, Plymouth county, Massachusetts by Lloyd Vernon Briggs (1889), p322
The Richmond Times Daily Dispatch, August 21, 1863 (http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2006.05.0840%3Aarticle%3Dpos%3D4)