1874 SUPER, ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT DIARY OF AN EXTENDED VOYAGE AND EVENTUAL RESETTLEMENT OF AN AMESBURY MASSACHUSETTS MAN AND HIS FAMILY TO THE GOLD FIELDS OF CALIFORNIA

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On offer is an outstanding journal of an adventurous voyage in the 1870s. Measuring 8.25 inches by 6.25 inches, it contains 46 pages. It is about 76% complete. The handwriting is c lear and legible. The spine of the hardbound book has broken and the covers are loosely attached but all pages are intact and in good condition. Albion Sanborn was a 35 year old married man living in West Amesbury, MA in the later 1860s/early 1870s. He decides to leave his wife Maria and their child to go to California to seek his fortune and then return home at some unspecified time in the future. Casual research has not produced any further biographical information. He makes his way to New York City where, on March 14th, 1874, he boards the Pacific Mail Steamship Company's SS Henry Chauncey. The Chauncey had an interesting history. She was launched October 1864 for the Pacific Mail Steamship Company and entered the New York to Aspinwall service on November 1, 1865 and remained on this route until 1869. She burned at sea on August 16, 1871 off the Carolina Coast while on passage from New York to Kingston, Jamaica and Aspinwall with no loss of life. The hull was rebuilt and she continued on this route until she was eventually scrapped in 1877. He writes in detail about the ships journey through the Panama Canal mentioning conditions in the various ports of call en route. Such as what it's like in such places as Kingston, Jamaica, Tobago Islands, Panama, Aspinwall (Colon) Panama and Punta Arenes, Costa Rica, among other destinations. "The island of Jamaica seems to be all mountains and pretty high ones at that. It seems quite nice. ... After the vessel had been made fast, a young man by the name of Robinson and myself went on shore and hired a carriage of the one-horse persuasion to give us a ride around town and and show us the sights. ... By the way, we feel the heat here to our hearts content. It seems like five or six fourths of July boiled down into one. ... [Mar 21] ... I should say that the principal business of the place (Aspinwall) was selling rum, whisky and other spirituous liquors. And gambling. In the evening there are tables along the sidewalks for the purpose of gambling. What the game is called, I don't know. But one thing I noticed was that most of all who were foolish enough to risk their money in it lost it. ... [Mar 24] He writes about people both on board and in villages along their route. He speaks often about the Sabbath Day and he is a church-goer. There are many ladies on board and many men that look pale and sick going to seek a more healthy climate ... [Mar 15] The consumption of dress goods among the native women cannot be very alarming and it is a very common thing to see children without any covering at all which must save an immense amount of wear and tear. ... [Mar 25] When he arrives in California, he describes landmarks, towns and people that he encounters. He writes briefly about the mines and prospectors. The boom years of the California Gold Rush had passed but growth in the state continued to be strong. Sanborn disembarked in San Francisco on April 25th. After several days, he leaves for North Valley, CA. Without any reference to how he found work, his entry for May 4th states: Went to shop and worked some in the forenoon. ... {May 4] The remaining entries mostly concern his working in 'the shop' and include references to people he meets and gets to know as well as social activities. He refers several times to letters he receives from his wife Maria. His journal ends simply on June 14 with an entry about attending church. Following the journal section there is a 6 page section entitled Quotations. In it, he has copied a number of passages from various sources that obviously had meaning for him. This is an excellent first-hand account of a journey that had been taken by tens of thousands of Americans who went west to seek their fortune. In its own way, it too is a goldmine - of direct observations, impressions and reflections of someone who was there to record his part of the experience. Historians would find this a solid piece of primary-source information as would geographers. For social historians, this is an excellent window into one of the most dynamic population movements in 19th century America.; Manuscript; 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall; KEYWORDS: HISTORY OF, ALBION SANBORN; PACIFIC MAIL STEAMSHIP COMPANY; SS HENRY CHAUNCEY; CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH; SAN FRANCISCO; ASPINWALL; PANAMA CANAL, NORTH FIELD CA, WESTBURY MASSACHUSETTS, MARIA SANBORN, GOLD MINING, PANNING FOR GOLD, AMERICANA, HANDWRITTEN, MANUSCRIPT, DOCUMENT, LETTER, AUTOGRAPH, WRITER, HAND WRITTEN, DOCUMENTS, SIGNED, LETTERS, MANUSCRIPTS, DIARY, DIARIES, JOURNALS, PERSONAL HISTORY, SOCIAL HISTORY, HISTORICAL, HOLOGRAPH, WRITERS, AUTOGRAPHS, PERSONAL, MEMOIR, MEMORIAL, ANTIQUITÉ, CONTRAT, VÉLIN, DOCUMENT, MANUSCRIT, PAPIER ANTIKE, BRIEF, PERGAMENT, DOKUMENT, MANUSKRIPT, PAPIER OGGETTO D'ANTIQUARIATO, ATTO, VELINA, DOCUMENTO, MANOSCRITTO, CARTA ANTIGÜEDAD, HECHO, VITELA, DOCUMENTO, MANUSCRITO, PAPEL Show more