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Guide to the Faxon Dean Atherton Papers, 1831-1932, Vault MS
5
Vault MS
5
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Table of contents
Title: Faxon Dean Atherton Papers
Collection Identifier: Vault MS
5
Date (inclusive): 1831-1932
Creator:
Atherton, Faxon Dean, 1815-1877
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 and Spanish.
CHS is not taking appointments for research at this time. Please check the Library's website updates:
https://californiahistoricalsociety.org/collections/north-baker-research-library/
Existence and Location of Copies
Atherton's California diary was published by the California Historical Society in
1964 as
The California diary of Faxon Dean Atherton,
1836-1839
, edited by Doyce B. Nunis, Jr. A copy of this book is
available in the library (Kemble F856.1.A40).
Copyright has not been assigned to The North Baker Research Library. All requests for
permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the
Library Director. Permission for publication is given on behalf of The North Baker
Research Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include
or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the
reader.
[Identification of item], Faxon Dean Atherton Papers. MS 5 (Vault), The California
Historical Society, North Baker Research Library.
Two maps of Bolsa de San Cayetano Ranch in Monterey County, dated June 1881, have
been transferred to the Map Collection.
Related materials may be found in the Faxon Dean Atherton family papers, MS 4129.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The collection was donated by Edward Engle Eyre and Dean Atherton Eyre in 1964.
The collection is arranged in chronological order and divided into two series:
Business and personal papers, 1831-1876, and Estate and genealogical papers,
1877-1932. Folder titles and scope and content notes have been supplied to
facilitate access.
A native of Dedham, Massachusetts, Atherton first came to the Pacific coast around
1834 to work for a ship chandlery firm in Valparaiso, Chile. He settled in
Valparaiso in 1840 and became a successful merchant dealing in hides and tallow,
foodstuffs, and other commodities. Eventually he became one of the wealthiest men on
the Pacific coast.
From 1836 to 1838, Atherton worked as a clerk for Alpheus B. Thompson, a merchant
engaged in the hides and tallow trade on the California coast. During this period,
Atherton penned his California diary and formed friendships with many prominent
Californians, including Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo and Thomas O. Larkin (with whom he
was to be associated in several real estate and commercial ventures). Around 1860,
Atherton returned to California to settle permanently, liquidating his assets in
Valparaiso and reinvesting his money in the new state. Atherton's real estate
purchases included Valparaiso Park in San Mateo County; the land now forms much of
present-day Atherton. He also served on the Board of Trustees of the Lick Trust and
played an instrumental role in the construction of a railroad to Hayward.
Atherton married Dominga Goñi, daughter of a prominent Chileno family. They had seven
children, among them George H. B. Atherton, who later married Gertrude Franklin
Horn, one of California's most important authors.
The collection comprises business records and correspondence documenting Atherton's
mercantile relationships and activities in Boston, California, Hawaii, and
Valparaiso; correspondence, deeds, and other documents relating to Atherton's real
estate investments in California, including Las Milpitas Ranch and Bolsa de San
Cayetano Ranch in Monterey County, San Lorenzo Ranch in Alameda County, Los Putos
Ranch in Solano County, and Valparaiso Park in San Mateo County; and legal documents
and other papers concerning Atherton's estate after his death. Proclamations and
correspondence in English and Spanish (1845-1848) document escalating tensions
between the United States and Mexico in California in the 1840s, culminating in the
Mexican War. The collection also contains Atherton's diary for the years 1836 to
1839, which he kept while he lived in California, as well as business letters and
receipts created by Atherton's sons, George H. B. Atherton and Faxon D. Atherton,
Jr., and letters concerning the Atherton family genealogy.
Correspondents include Thomas O. Larkin, José Castro, Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo,
Alpheus B. Thompson, Nathan Spear, George Henry Bowen (Atherton's friend and
business partner in Valparaiso), and Alexander B. Grogan (Atherton's California
business agent and executor of his estate).
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Atherton, Faxon Dean, 1815-1877--Estate.
Atherton, Faxon Dean, Jr.
Atherton, George H. B.
Bowen, George Henry
Castro, José , 1810-1860
Grogan, Alexander B.
Larkin, Thomas Oliver, 1802-1858
Spear, Nathan
Thompson, Alpheus B.
Vallejo, Mariano Guadalupe, 1808-1890
Businessmen--California.
Coats of arms.
Diaries.
Hides and skins--California.
Land surveys.
Letter books.
Mexican War, 1846-1848.
Pioneers--California--Diaries.
Real estate investment--California.
San Lorenzo Ranch (Alameda Co., Calif.)
Tallow.
Valparaiso Park (San Mateo Co., Calif.)