Jun 12 at 12:00 PM - Sale 2708 -

Sale 2708 - Lot 38

Estimate: $ 1,200 - $ 1,800
(CALIFORNIA.) Charles C. Donnell. Letters from an early Gold Rush emigrant describing San Francisco and Sacramento. 9 items: 6 Autograph Letters Signed to his parents and sister; 2 related letters; and one manuscript memorandum. San Francisco and Sacramento, CA, 1850-1863
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"Here are gathered together all nations, but they mingle together without discord."

Charles C. Donnell (1826-1910) left Newburyport, MA late in 1849 and arrived in San Francisco in May 1850. His first letter is dated 9 May 1850: "There was a large fire a few days before our arrival, which destroyed 5 millions of property. It had hardly done burning one end before they begun to build the other. Carpenter's wages are 10 dollars a day. . . . It is a good country to make money in if a man is steady and industrious. Gambling is carried on here on a great scale, with its usual accompaniment, drinking. Here are gathered together all nations, but they mingle together without discord. . . . Emily thinks I had better remain in the city and not go to the mines, but from what I can learn, I think it more healthy there than in the city. I think I shall try them a spell. . . . I think of going to the mines tomorrow, with some of my fellow passengers." This is followed by a memorandum in a different hand explaining that Donnell "started in company with several of his companions for Sacramento City by steamer Hartford on their way to the mines of the north. . . . Mr. D. weighs 180 lbs and looks in fine health. He stands as good chance as any one to get his pile from the banks of California."

The other 5 Donnell letters are from Sacramento, 1851-1854. On 12 October 1851, he reports that "I am doing very well. I am still engaged in teaming in the city, as I have been for some time back. . . . You think there is 'some risk in keeping money in this place, there are so many thieves and fires,' but I think the former have received some lessons that they will not soon forget, and we must do our best with the latter." On 29 September 1853 he reported: "Our city is rapidly improving in appearance. Brick buildings are being erected, and no one looking at it now would think that less than a year ago, it was a heap of ruins. . . . Next winter I think we can bid the floods defiance."

In addition to the 6 letters by Donnell, we find one addressed to "dear brother John" by William S. Smart. The recipient was likely Donnell's cousin John T. Bayley, with whom Donnell lived in Sacramento. This letter is dated San Francisco, 31 May 1855. Another is addressed to Donnell from a friend named H.K.R. Hunn(?) of Sacramento, 4 May 1863, not long after Donnell had returned to Newburyport.

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