The collection consists of the personal and business papers of Los Angeles businessman Henry Workman Keller (1869-1958) and is comprised of approximately 7985 pieces. Many of the papers are bound together in files so that one item may contain up to 500 or more letters. It includes papers related to land in California and Mexico, agriculture (including materials on the prune and rice industries, irrigation and flood control) in Colusa County, California, and mining (including copper, lead and zinc mines) in Mexico. There are also materials related to the citrus fruit industry, the Automobile Club of Southern California, and the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920). Correspondents represented in the collection include: Harry Chandler, John Page Crutcher, Edward Fletcher, Llewellyn A. Luce, John G. Mott, Epes Randolph, Ygnacio Sepúlveda, Henry H. Timken, and William L. Valentine. Businesses with which Henry Workman Keller (1869-1958) was association which are represented in the collection include: the San Isidro Ranch Company, the Thousand Acre Ranch Company, and the San Manuel Mines Company and its subsidiaries.

Henry Workman Keller, Los Angeles financier, was born on April 15, 1869, the son of Matthew Keller (q.v.) and Eliza Agnes (Christie) Keller. His father had been born in Ireland, emigrated to the United States in 1832, then went to Mexico for about 12 years. He returned to the United States and in 1851 settled in Los Angeles, becoming one of its pioneer vintners and businessmen. When ten years old, Henry Keller was sent to school in France; two years later his father passed away. At the age of thirteen he became the ward to Isaias W. Hellman, long a friend of his father's and president of the Farmers & Merchants Bank. Henry inherited the Malibu Ranch and at the age of eighteen entered the cattle business. In 1891 he sold the Malibu Ranch to Frederick K. Rindge and retained only a small section in Solstice Canyon for himself. In 1894 he married Mary Adelaine Boehme, daughter of George Boehme of Santa Monica. They had eight children: Ruth FitzGerald, Donald Keller, Frederick Keller, Kenneth Andrew Keller, John Mathew Keller, Katherine O'Brien, Marian Francis, and Marjorie Cannell.

22 Linear Feet (46 boxes, 20 volumes, 1 roll)

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