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Johanna Mayer Hirschfelder letter, 1856.
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Title:
Johanna Mayer Hirschfelder letter, 1856Creator/Contributor:
Hirschfelder, Johanna Mayer, 1831-1869, creatorCreator/Contributor:
Judah L. Magnes Museum, WJHC 2000.015.Creator/Contributor:
Bancroft Library, Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life.Abstract:
Collection consists of an 1856 letter written by Johanna Mayer Hirschfelder from her Downieville home to her family in Europe
describing in detail her journey by ship and train to California via the Isthmus of Panama. In the letter, Johanna comments
on everything from the steamer's passengers and "Negro" staff to the weather and passing islands. She discusses her stop in
Kingston, Jamaica (commenting on the large number of local "Israelites" and pointing out that she was shown a local synagogue).
She also describes her journey across the Isthmus of Panama; her impressions of Mexico; and her initial impressions of entering
through the Golden Gate (through a thick fog) and seeing San Francisco. She stayed in San Francisco for ten days before heading
to Downieville. The folder also contains a transcription of the German letter, a translation of the letter into English and
a Mayer family tree compiled by an unknown individual.
Date:
1856 (issued)Subject:
nwjm--- -- e-gx--- -- n-mx--- -- ncpn--- -- n-us-ny -- n-us-caImmigrants -- California -- Correspondence
Jews -- California -- Sierra County
Synagogues -- Jamaica -- Kingston
Immigrants
Jews
Synagogues
Travel
California -- Description and travel
Downieville (Calif.) -- Description and travel
Mexico -- Description and travel
Panama -- Description and travel
Karlsruhe (Germany)
Californie -- Descriptions et voyages
Mexique -- Descriptions et voyages
Panamá -- Descriptions et voyages
California
California -- Downieville
California -- Sierra County
Germany -- Karlsruhe
Jamaica -- Kingston
Mexico
Panama
Hirschfelder, Johanna Mayer -- 1831-1869 -- Archives
. ca. 1824 -- Hirschfelder, Emanuel
Note:
Formerly: Judah L. Magnes Museum Collection Number WJHC 2000.015.
Transfer; Judah L. Magnes Museum; 2010.
Associated item: Portrait of Amalie Ettinger Mayer (The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life; 73.9 b).
Associated item: Portrait of Eduard Mayer (The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life; 73.9 a).
Johanna Mayer was born circa 1831 in Karlsruhe, Baden, Germany to Eduard (or Edmund) Mayer and Amalie Ettinger. She had five
brothers: Bernhard (b. 1835), Henry (b. 1836), Maximilien Edward (b. 1840), Leopold Nathan (b. 1841), and Fritz (b. 1842).
In the mid-1850s, Johanna married Emanuel Hirshfelder (b. 1824 in Stuttgart) and moved to Downieville, California. Emanuel
Hirshfelder operated a dry goods and fancy goods store serving the miners of the California Gold Rush. The couple had three
children, Fannie, Emma, and Edward. Johanna died in 1869 at the age of 32. She is buried at the Jewish Cemetery in Marysville,
California.
Preferred citation: Johanna Meyer Hirschfelder letter, BANC MSS 2010/718, The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, The
Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
In German, with translation into English.
Type:
Archives.Personal correspondence.
Physical Description:
print
1 oversize folder
Language:
German
English
Identifier:
2008574695