Title:
Gold rush letters, 1849
Francis Hanford Russel gold rush letters, 1849
Creator/Contributor:
Russel, Francis Hanford, 1825-1898, creator
Abstract:
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
Note:
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
Physical Description:
print
5 items
Language:
English
Identifier:
MANUSCRIPT SMCII Box 12 Folder 4
Origin:
California
Copyright Note:
Unrestricted. Please credit California State Library.