Collection context
Summary
- Title:
- James Otey Bradford Papers
- Dates:
- 1869-1919
- Creators:
- Bradford, James Otey
- Extent:
- 3 Linear Feet (6 boxes)
- Language:
- English .
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item] James Otey Bradford Papers, M046, Dept. of Special Collections, Stanford Libraries, Stanford, Calif.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
The Bradford papers contain James Otey Bradford's correspondence from 1888-1919. Much of it is correspondence pertaining to his duties with the Wells, Fargo & Co. There are also typescripts of historical writings (possibly copied from printed sources) and copies of newspaper articles pertaining to the early days of stage coaching, the men involved and the crimes committed against stages. Biographical material pertaining to stage robbers, as well as drivers are in the collection.
An important part of the collection are the numerous pictures of employees of Wells, Fargo and the coaches, as well as pictures of sailing vessels and related transportation media.
The papers of Henry Chester Ward, an early employee of the company are included in the collection. Among Ward's papers are his diary for a short period of 1869-1870.
- Biographical / historical:
-
James Otey Bradford (d 1919?] was born in Virginia and served as a lieutenant in the Confederate Navy. After the war he worked for various English shipping lines. He began his employ with Wells, Fargo in New York City. In this position he was in charge of freight and travel requests for tourists. He left Wells, Fargo and moved to San Francisco where he was employed by the Palace Hotel. He shortly returned to the employ of Wells, Fargo and remained with them until retirement. In his later years he served as the director of the Wells, Fargo historical exhibit at the Columbian Exhibition of 1893. Later he was placed in charge of all Wells, Fargo historical exhibits. He retired after forty years service with the company. Much of the present collection represents Mr. Bradford's interest in the history of Wells, Fargo.
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Indexed terms
- Subjects:
- Coaching (Transportation) -- History
Pony express - Names:
- Wells, Fargo & Company.
About this collection guide
- Date Encoded:
- This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2025-05-07 10:39:45 -0700 .
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Open for research. Note that material must be requested at least 36 hours in advance of intended use. Audiovisual materials are not available in original format, and must be reformatted to a digital use copy.
- Terms of access:
-
These materials are believed to be in the public domain. There are no restrictions on use of public domain materials.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item] James Otey Bradford Papers, M046, Dept. of Special Collections, Stanford Libraries, Stanford, Calif.
- Location of this collection:
-
Department of Special Collections, Green Library557 Escondido MallStanford, CA 94305-6004, US
- Contact:
- (650) 725-1022