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Milton B. Stevens Correspondence: Finding Aid
mssHM 59471-59532
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Title: Milton B. Stevens Correspondence
Dates (inclusive): 1849-1954
Bulk dates: 1849-1864
Collection Number: mssHM 59471-59532
Creator:
Stevens, Milton B.
Extent:
62 items in 2 boxes
Repository:
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
Manuscripts Department
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2129
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
Abstract: This collection contains 62 letters from twenty-six different authors in mining camps and cities
throughout Northern California illustrating aspects of the Gold Rush experience, chiefly from 1849-1864.
Language: English.
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader
Services.
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material,
nor does it charge fees for such activities.
The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the
researcher.
[Identification of item]. Milton B. Stevens Correspondence, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Purchased at auction from Butterfield & Butterfield, Sale #6959Z, May 1999.
Biographical Note of Milton B. Stevens
Milton B. Stevens left his family and
home in Shushan, New York to come to California on the ship
Morrison,
which departed from New York City on February 14, 1849. While in
California, Stevens searched for gold at several mining towns throughout Northern
California, including Salmon Falls, Pilot Hill, Oregon Bar, Independence, and Weber Creek.
He left California and returned to New York in 1851. In 1852, he married Ann Maria Lyman of
Salem, New York.
This collection contains 62 letters from twenty-six different authors, including Milton B. Stevens, C. K. Dixon and Byron
Whitcomb, in mining camps and cities
throughout Northern California illustrating aspects of the Gold Rush experience, chiefly from 1849-1864.
Milton B. Stevens is the most prolific figure in this collection, as he wrote fifteen of
the letters in the collection and was the addressee of twenty. There are, however,
twenty-five other authors in these letters, including four women, two of them writing from
California. Other significant authors in this collection are: Abbey Stevens (5 letters),
Byron Whitcomb (7 letters), and C. K. Dixon (9 letters). The letters mention various mining
camps throughout Northern California, such as Fosters Bar, Galena Hill, Murderers Bar, Pilot
Hill, Salmon Falls, Weber Creek, and the Klamath River Valley mines. The letters illustrate
several aspects of the Gold Rush experience: the journey to California through South
America; life in California and the gold camps; gold discoveries, or the lack thereof; the
techniques and equipment used in mining; loneliness and longing for home. The letters from
Milton B. Stevens' mother tell of the experience of the miners' families back at home in the
East. The letter dated 1954 was written by Stephen C. Lyon, who at one time owned the
collection. Eighteen of the letters have handwritten or typed transcripts.
Benicia (Calif.)
- 1858, June 4, Mary A. Gun letter to "Dear Friends." (HM 59523)
California--Politics/Elections
- [1859 or 1860], July 10, Byron Whitcomb letter to J. Baker Whitcomb. (HM 59524)
Coyote Creek (Calif.)
- 1853, Mar. 26, Ceralem Mathers letter to Milton B. Stevens. (HM 59514 )
Galena Hill (Calif.)
- [1859 or 1860], July 10, Byron Whitcomb letter to J. Baker Whitcomb. (HM 59524 )
Mining Corporations
- 1851, June 1, Andrew Wampler letter to "Sir." (HM 59499)
Monterey (Calif.)
- [1850], C. K. Dixon letter to Elizabeth Dixon. (HM 59487)
Panama (Panama)
- 1851, Apr. 29, C. R. Hawley letter to Milton B. Stevens. (HM 59496)
Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)
- 1849, May 4, Milton B. Stevens letter to Abbey Stevens. (HM 59473)
Sacramento (Calif.)
- 1852, Mar. 15, Henry A. Sharp letter to Milton B. Stevens. (HM 59510 )
Salmon Falls (Calif.)
- 1850, Feb. 3, Milton B. Stevens letter to Abbey Stevens. (HM 59475)
San Francisco (Calif.)
- 1851, Nov. 28, Milton B. Stevens letter to Abbey Stevens. (HM 59508)
Stockton (Calif.)
- 1856, Mar. 9, S. L. Grow letter to "Friend Bryant." (HM 59519)
Violence in the Mines -
- 1851, Feb. 23, Henry A. Sharp letter to Milton B. Stevens. (HM 59490)
- 1851, Apr. 20-23, Milton B. Stevens letter to Abbey Stevens. (HM 59494)
- 1851, June 1, Andrew Wampler letter to "Sir." (HM 59499)
- [1859 or 1860], Dec. 22, Byron Whitcomb letter to J. Baker Whitcomb. (HM 59525)
- 1860, June 5, William Loutenheiser to "Dear Sir." (HM 59528 )
Voyages to the Pacific Coast -
- 1849, Jan., Milton B. Stevens letter to Abbey Stevens. (HM 59472)
- 1849, Mar. 14, Milton B. Stevens letter to Abbey Stevens. (HM 59473)
- 1853, May 8, G. W. Warner letter to Milton B. Stevens. (HM 59515)
Weber Creek (Calif.)
- 1853, Mar. 13, Alexander King letter to Milton B. Stevens. (HM 59513)
Women in California
- 1858, June 4, Mary A. Gun letter to "Dear Friends." (HM 59523)
Arrangement
Arranged chronologically.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
Huntington Library's Online Catalog.
Stevens, Milton B.
Frontier and pioneer life -- California.
Gold dredging -- California.
Gold miners -- California -- Correspondence.
Gold mines and mining -- California.
Mines and mineral resources -- California.
Mining camps -- California.
Mining corporations -- California.
Voyages to the Pacific coast.
Women -- California.
Benicia (Calif.) -- History -- 19th century -- Sources.
California -- Description and travel.
California -- Gold discoveries -- Personal narratives.
Klamath River Valley (Or. and Calif.) -- History -- 19th century -- Sources.
Panama (Panama) -- Description and travel.
Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) -- Description and travel.
Sacramento (Calif.) -- History -- 19th century -- Sources.
San Francisco (Calif.) -- History -- 19th century -- Sources.
San Jose (Calif.) -- History -- 19th century -- Sources.
Shushan (N.Y.) -- History -- 19th century -- Sources.
Stockton (Calif.) -- History -- 19th century -- Sources.
Letters (correspondence) California.
Dixon, C. K.
Whitcomb, Byron.