Collection Guide
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Guide to the Peter H. Burnett Papers, 1849-1885
BANC MSS C-B 345
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Table of contents
Collection Title: Peter H. Burnett papers,
Date (inclusive): 1849-1885
Collection Number: BANC MSS C-B 345
Creator:
Burnett, Peter H. (Peter Hardeman), 1807-1895
Extent:
Number of containers: 1 box and 1 oversize folder
Repository: The
Bancroft Library
Berkeley, California 94720-6000
Physical Location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Languages Represented:
English
Collection is open for research.
Copyright has not been assigned to The Bancroft Library. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts
must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services. Permission for publication is given on behalf of The Bancroft
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.
[Identifcation of item], Peter H. Burnett papers, BANC MSS C-B 345, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley
These papers, mainly reflecting Burnett's governorship, were assembled from various sources. In Part I there are items from
the T. W. Norris Collection, purchased from John Howell, and from other sources noted on the folders. Items in Part II were
from the Boutwell Dunlap Collection, purchased from W. Wreden in 1954.
Trader and lawyer in Missouri and Tennessee, Peter Hardeman Burnett came to Oregon in 1843. In 1848 he joined the miners in
California where he acted as agent for Sutter. He was active in urging California to form a state government and was elected
first constitutional governor of California in 1849. He resigned his governorship in 1851 to return to law practice, becoming
supreme judge in 1857. From 1863 until 1880 he was president of the Pacific Bank of San Francisco.
Mainly documents and letters to and from Burnett as Governor of California, regarding sale of municipal lands in San Francisco
and appointments. Contains many petitions, some relating to Collectors of licences to foreign miners, with signatures of members
of the Constitutional Convention 1849, and of the first California Legislature. Also includes legal papers, concerning property
in Santa Clara County, chiefly in the city of Alviso, 1849-1857.