Collection context
Summary
- Title:
- Wells Drury Papers,
- Dates:
- 1871-1932
- Creators:
- Drury, Wells, 1851-1932
- Abstract:
- Correspondence, articles and stories by Drury, and newspaper clippings including obituaries.
- Extent:
- 1.25 linear feet (1 carton)
- Language:
- English and English
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Wells Drury Papers, BANC MSS 86/36 c, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
Wells Drury, pioneer newspaperman and member of the Nevada House of Representatives, was born September 16, 1851 in New Boston, Illinois. Orphaned while crossing the Oregon Trail in 1852, he was adopted and brought up in Oregon on a Indian reservation on Puget Sound. Drury arrived in San Francisco in 1873. Successful investments in mining concerns in the Comstock in Nevada convinced him to move to Virginia City, where he became one of the editors of the Virginia City Chronicle, the Territorial Enterprise, the Gold Hill News, and the Bodie Daily Miner. As a reporter in the Comstock, Drury knew Mark Twain and Bret Harte and later, in San Francisco, met Robert Louis Stevenson. In 1882 Drury became deputy secretary of the state of Nevada and in 1887 became a member and speaker pro tem of the Nevada House of Representatives.
Drury returned to California in 1888. He was at different times managing editor of the San Francisco Call, city editor of the San Francisco Examiner, a news editor of the San Francisco Chronicle, news editor of the Sacramento Union, managing editor of the Los Angeles Record, and on the staff of the Oakland Tribune. In addition, Drury was one of the first presidents of the San Francisco Press Club. Beginning in 1908, he was for fifteen years managing director, and later president, of the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce. When Drury died in 1931, he was known as a politician, newspaperman, and publicist.
While the collection covers all aspects of his life, the material primarily concerns his activities as a newspaperman in the Comstock, including articles and stories written during that time or about his experiences there. The collection includes correspondence with Dan de Quille as well as typed copies of articles by de Quille; photostats and clippings of articles by Bret Harte; and tear sheets, notes and clippings by and about Mark Twain. A small group of correspondence, including some with family members, is found at the beginning of the carton and concerns primarily newspaper business.
- Acquisition information:
- The Wells Drury papers were given to The Bancroft Library in September 1976 by Newton B. Drury.
- Physical location:
- For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Indexed terms
- Names:
- Drury, Wells, 1851-1932
About this collection guide
- Date Encoded:
- This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2018-01-02 11:23:55 -0800 .
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Collection is open for research.
- Terms of access:
-
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 the Manuscripts Division. 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.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Wells Drury Papers, BANC MSS 86/36 c, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
- Location of this collection:
-
University of California, Berkeley, The Bancroft LibraryBerkeley, CA 94720-6000, US
- Contact:
- 510-642-6481