Nov 21 at 12:00 PM - Sale 2687 -

Sale 2687 - Lot 52

Estimate: $ 800 - $ 1,200
(CALIFORNIA.) Group of manuscript legal briefs in the Wilson v. Brannan case involving the California Central Rail Road. 3 manuscript documents, 22, [15] and [12] manuscript pages, each about 13 x 8 inches; folds, minimal wear. [Sacramento, CA], circa April 1864
Request Condition Report Set Alert for Similar Items

Additional Details

A substantial legal dispute between two important California pioneers.

Charles Lincoln Wilson was the founding president in 1852 of the Sacramento Valley Railroad, the first railroad company incorporated in the state. His next project was a line from Folsom to Marysville dubbed the California Central Rail Road. He took a $85,000 loan from Samuel Brannan, a Mormon newspaper publisher and one of the state's wealthiest men. The project ran into trouble, and Brannan sued to get control of the company's assets, a case which went to the California Supreme Court. That's the short version. If you want the long version, this lot is for you.

Included are a "Reply to Respondent's Brief" submitted by appellant's attorney Theodore Hittell, 22 manuscript pages on 6 folding leaves; "Brief for Appellant," 15 manuscript pages on the verso of printed legal waste paper; and an untitled brief which begins "In reply to the voluminous brief and points of the plaintiff," 12 manuscript pages, also on the verso of printed legal waste paper.

Also in This Catalogue