Title:

Gold rush letters, 1849

Francis Hanford Russel gold rush letters, 1849

Creator/Contributor:

Russel, Francis Hanford, 1825-1898, creator

Four letters and a diary-type notebook. The first letter is dated March 4, 1849 and was written en route to California on the Brig Osceola. It is addressed to Brother A [Abrm for Abraham?; also a brother named Alexander] and gives a detailed account of life at sea, including a gale encountered and a visiting exhange of passengers with another ship near the equator. He sums up the trip thusly: "Pretty hard living on this rout but we can get along if our teeth hold out (I have lost one of mine)." Enclosed in this letter was a copy of the same addressed to Russel's future wife, Justine Danner.

The third letter was dated Aug. 5th in San Francisco and continued on Aug. 12th in Sacramento City. It was addressed to Danner and contained Russel's impressions of San Francisco -- "... no trees to be seen as far as your eyes can carry." He is in Sacramento City to dispose of his goods and go off to the mines. Russel evidentally had friends in high places -- the fourth letter is a letter of introduction to General Persifor F. Smith of the U.S. Army recommending Russel as " ... a gentleman of correct moral deportment & good habits for whose success in life I feel much interest" signed by then ex-president, James Buchanan.

The diary is a commercially published entry book purchased in Philadelphia. It has been dated 1854. There are scattered lists of accounts and addresses; the only diary entries are for Russel's wedding date and the few days following when he and his new wife went to New York to embark on the return journey to California.

Date:

1849 (issued)

Subject:

n-us-ca

Russel, Francis Hanford -- 1825-1898 -- Correspondence

Buchanan, James -- 1791-1868 -- Correspondence

Voyages to the Pacific coast

Pioneers -- California -- Correspondence

Francis Hanford Russel was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, on July 11, 1825. In January of 1849 he sailed from Philadelphia with nine others from Lancaster on the 'Brig Osceola' bound for California via Cape Horn. Upon his arrival, Russel left San Francisco for Sacramento, bound from there for the mines. By 1852, he was established in the town of Nicolaus in Sutter County where he served as Postmaster. The following year, 1853, he also served as Treasurer for Sutter County. In 1854, he returned to Lancaster and was married to Justine E. Danner. The Russels immediately returned to California, sailing from New York via Panama. They had four children: Marge, Carrie, Mary and Benjamin. Francis farmed and was later established as a druggist in Sacramento where he also continued in public service, serving as a Public Administrator for the County of Sacramento in 1885. Francis died in Sacramento on August 22, 1898.

Francis Hanford Russel gold rush letters, 1849

Unrestricted. Please credit California State Library.

Type:

biography

print

5 items

English

MANUSCRIPT SMCII Box 12 Folder 4

Origin:

California

Unrestricted. Please credit California State Library.