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Gold rush collection, 1840-1867.
MANUSCRIPT SMCII Box 16 Folders 1-3
Collection Overview
Title:
Gold rush collection, 1840-1867Moses Thorpe gold rush collection, 1840-1867
Creator/Contributor:
Thorpe, Moses, 1816-1903, creatorAbstract:
A collection of fifteen items associated with Moses Thorpe. A journal which served as a ship's log was kept by Alden Powers
during 1840 and 1841; Moses Thorp was listed as among the crew. Two voyages are recorded: in 1840 the Brig Ann Smith to Demerara
(Guyana) and return to New Haven and 1840/41 the Brig Ann Smith to Puerto Rico and return to New Haven. The first half of
the book has been used as a scrapbook for newspaper clippings, rather eclectic, some humorous, some political, etc., with
the last several pages devoted to articles about the California gold rush.
A letter dated Aug. 21 1849(?) from New Haven is signed N. Peck and addressed to Capt. Moses Thorpe, North Haven, Ct. "We
are about having some Carpenters & Caulkers to work on the New Haven & would like to know what Carpenter work you think the
Don Juan requires. We may load her early for Perto Rico with Shook(?) or it is possible we may fit her & load with Lumber
for San Francisco." Moses Thorpe sailed to California on the Don Juan, leaving from New Haven on Nov. 4, 1849 and arriving
in San Francisco on June 6, 1850.
An account book covering the years 1851 - 1855, 1858 - 1863 is a record of Thorpe's financial transactions. It includes information
about his business activities, as a partner in the schooner Two Brothers, as a miner with various mining associates and as
a blacksmith. Listed primarily are expenditures -- for food, mining supplies, hired labor, etc. -- although there are a few
references to earnings from mining activities.
Miscellaneous items include a document recording mining claims from Foremans Mining District, Calaveras County, May 9, 1863,
signed by I. H. Bachman, County Recorder -- with a U. S. revenue stamp for $5 affixed. There were 11 claims in the "Salt Pond"
lode issued to: Moses Thorp, Horace E. Thorp, Henry M. Thorp, I. W. Snoddy, Wm. Wortman, George Gillispie, I. F. Toon, D.
C. Stannard, Charles Brown, Thomas Keo and Wm. I. R. Robertson. Other items include tax receipts for property in Calaveras
County dated 1854 (2), 1857, 1859, 1860, and 1867 and four bills/receipts seemingly used as scratch paper for financial notations.
A copy print of an undated photograph of the Thorpe family, with Moses, his wife, Mary, and daughter, Mary Melissa.
Date:
1840 (issued)Contents:
Folder 1: Account book, documentation. -- Folder 2: Letter, misc. items, photograph. -- Folder 3: Logbook/scrapbook
Subject:
n-us-caThorpe, Moses -- 1816-1903
Thorpe, Moses -- 1816-1903 -- Portraits
Gold miners -- California -- Calaveras County
Pioneers -- California -- Calaveras County
Gold mines and mining -- California -- Calaveras County
Mining claims -- California -- Calaveras County
Revenue stamps -- United States -- Specimens
Calaveras County (Calif.) -- History
Logbooks
Note:
Moses Thorpe was born in Massachusetts on Nov. 6, 1816. He became a seaman, sailing to the West Indies, until late in 1849
when he took passage to California on the Don Juan, arriving in June of 1850. He worked briefly in Benicia as a dock worker
but soon left for the Southern mines. He established himself in Calaveras County and became a pioneer settler of the area
where he mined and ranched. Active in community affairs, Moses was also a founding member of Calaveras Lodge No. 78 of the
Masonic Order. He was married to Mary Rowley in 1836 and they had three children, Mary Melissa, Horace Edson, and Henry M.
Moses died on March 5, 1903.
Moses Thorpe gold rush collection, 1840-1867.
Unrestricted. Please credit California State Library.
Type:
Account books.Scrapbooks.
Physical Description:
print
15 items : port.
Language:
English
Identifier:
MANUSCRIPT SMCII Box 16 Folders 1-3
Origin:
CaliforniaCopyright Note:
Unrestricted. Please credit California State Library.