July 14th, 2011
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 7/14/2011
Pair of Autograph Letters Signed sent from New York to 49’ers in California, includes: ALS “Rebecca Barnard” 3pp. quarto, West Farms, August 6, 1849, with integral leaf addressed to Mr. Thomas Barnard, San Francisco, with “PAID” , “NEW YORK AUG 27” and circular “40” hand-stamps, it reads in part: “...I cannot tell you how delighted we all were to receive your letter and hear of your safe arrival in San Francisco likewise to hear that you were not disappointed regarding prospects. We read such conflicting accounts in the newspapers about the climate, the mines, and the inhabitants, that it is hard to tell what to believe...Sis is very anxious about the lump of gold you promised her. You can imagine my disappointment when I tell you the youngest is a boy, he is a very fine child, was born on the 30th of June in the afternoon which I believe is about the time you arrived in San Francisco...Dr. Elder attended me and Mrs. Seeman Mary’s nurse was here for a couple of weeks, everything was done to make me comfortable, they are wanting to call him Francisco he having made his debut into this world of trouble about the time you arrived in that City, but I shall wait until I can reap some benefit from this great El Dorado...” More near fine condition....plus; ALS “George S. Stephenson” 3pp. quarto, New York, October 15, 1849, with integral leaf addressed to his brother Edward H. Stephenson, San Francisco, California, with “NEW YORK” cds and circular “40”, as well as manuscript “Ohio & U.S. mail” , it reads in part: “...We were all glad enough to hear from you yesterday up to the 25 August dated at ‘Stephenson’s Rancho’ on the Stamslaus River & that you are in good spirits & also in good health...Eben is much disappointed & I presume he has scolded you about it enough already at not hearing from the gold that you sent (you say) by Express. It ought to be here but we are all in the dark about where it is or where it can be...we presume the gold you sent is lost & your hard earnings are gone to the winds. I trust if you send any more you will be sure that it is properly shipped & a bill of lading taken of it or else you had better get a draft in Hurland & Aspinwall or some other god house by good drawers at San Francisco...I think you have done well to dig so much as we understand it you had on hand the 25 August $1100 & you sent about $700 which makes about $1800 that you had dug altogether since you had been there...” More. Very good condition. (2 items) The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) began slowly on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill, in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, Sandwich Islands, (Hawaii), Mexico, Peru and Chile and they were the first to start flocking to the state in late 1848. The gold-seekers, called "Forty-niners" (as a reference to 1849, which is the year President James Polk declared a gold rush), often faced substantial hardships on the trip. While most of the newly arrived were Americans, the Gold Rush attracted tens of thousands from Latin America, Europe, Australia, and eventually China. At first, the prospectors retrieved the gold from streams and riverbeds using simple techniques, such as panning. More sophisticated methods of gold recovery developed which were later adopted around the world. At its peak, technological advances reached a point where significant financing was required, increasing the proportion of gold companies to individual miners. Gold worth tens of billions of today's dollars was recovered, which led to great wealth for a few. However, many returned home with little more than they had started with.
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