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Abel Stearns Papers
Finding aid prepared by Huntington Staff in 1938. The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens Manuscripts Department The Huntington Library 1151 Oxford Road San Marino, California 91108 Phone: (626) 405-2191 Email: [email protected] URL: http://www.huntington.org © 2014 The Huntington Library. All rights reserved.
Abel Stearns Papers mssStearns papers 1 Descriptive Summary Title: Abel Stearns Papers Dates: 1821-1935 Collection Call Number: mssStearns papers Creator: Stearns, Abel, 1798-1871 Extent: 97 boxes Repository: The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. Manuscripts Department 1151 Oxford Road San Marino, California 91108 Phone: (626) 405-2191 Email: [email protected] URL: http://www.huntington.org Abstract: This collection contains the professional and personal papers of Southern California businessman and political Abel Stearns (1798-1871). The materials in the collection deal with life in California during the Mexican and early statehood periods, including the cattle industry, ranching, real estate, political and social life, and the gold discoveries in Southern California in 1842. Language of Material: The records are in English and Spanish. Access Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader Services. Publication Rights The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher. Preferred Citation [Identification of item]. Abel Stearns Papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California. Provenance Purchased from Mrs. Margaret Gaffey Kilroy, February 1937. Biographical Note Abel Stearns (1798-1871) was born in Lunenberg, Massachusetts. As a young man he spent some years at sea, taking part in the trade with South America and China. In about 1826 he reached Mexico and during his residence there became a naturalized citizen. In about 1833, Stearns settled in Los Angeles, joined Juan Bandini in the trading business and married Bandini's daughter Arcadia. He became involved in almost every type of business and held minor political offices. In 1849 he represented the Los Angeles district at the constitutional convention in Monterey, and later was a member of the state assembly. By 1858, he had become the wealthiest man in Los Angeles County. After the drought of 1863-1864, he became bankrupt and had to sell a great deal of his property. He died in San Francisco in 1871. • Abel Stearns Papers: Addenda 1, 1821-1879 (bulk 1821-1831) (Call number: mssHM 48988-49068) • Abel Stearns Papers: Addenda 2, 1817-1878 (Call number: mssHM 57166-57209) Scope and Content Professional and personal papers of Abel Stearns, including correspondence, business records, legal documents, and other manuscripts. The materials in the collection deal with life in California during the Mexican and early statehood periods, including the cattle industry, ranching, real estate, political and social life, and the gold discoveries in Southern California in 1842. Correspondents include Juan Bandini, Cave Johnson Couts, Tomas Eleuterio Estenaga, John Forster, Thomas Oliver Larkin, Perfecto Hugo Reid, Alfred Robinson, and others. Also included are diaries kept in 1879-1905 by Juan Bautista Bandini, son of Juan Bandini, who lived in the Santa Monica area. The collection also contains a group of papers accumulated by John Tracy Gaffey, third husband of Mrs. Abel Stearns. The Gaffey papers contain correspondence, including letters from Stephen Mallory White, papers relating to San Pedro, California and historical sketches.
Abel Stearns Papers mssStearns papers 2 Indexing Terms The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Huntington Library's Online Catalog. Personal Names Stearns, Abel, 1798-1871 Subjects Couts, Cave Johnson,1821-1874--Correspondence Forster, John, 1814-1882--Correspondence Larkin, Thomas Oliver, 1802-1858--Correspondence Reid, Hugo,1811?-1853--Correspondence Robinson, Alfred, 1806-1895--Correspondence White, Stephen Mallory, 1853-1901--Correspondence Businessmen--California--Archives> Cattle trade--California Politicians--California--Archives Ranching--California Real property--California California--Gold discoveries--Sources California--History--1821-1848--Sources California--History--1846-1850--Sources California--History--1850-1950--Sources> California, Southern--History--Sources Los Angeles (Calif.)--History--Sources Bandini, Juan,1800-1859 Bandini, Juan Bautista Couts, Cave Johnson, 1821-1874 Estenaga, Tomas Eleuterio Forster, John,1814-1882 Gaffey, John Tracy Larkin, Thomas Oliver, 1802-1858 Reid, Hugo, 1811?-1853 Robinson, Alfred, 1806-1895 White, Stephen Mallory, 1853-1901 Genre Business records--California--19th century Diaries--California, Southern Family papers--California Letters (correspondence)--United States Legal documents--California Personal papers--California Professional papers--California Property records--California
Box 1 Abella-Arenas 75 folders
Box 2 Arguello, Jose A.-Arguello, Jose R. 60 folders
Abel Stearns Papers mssStearns papers 3 Collection Contents
Box 3 Aruello, Luis A.-Avila, Antonio 61 folders
Box 4 Avila, Enrique-Banning 59 folders
Box 5 Bandini, Juan, Sr. 1837-1842 66 folders
Box 6 Bandini, Juan, Sr. 1843-1849 53 folders
Box 7 Bandini, Juan, Sr. 1850-1859 74 folders
Box 8 Bandini, Juan B. 1858-1862 74 folders
Box 9 Bandini, Juan B. 1863-1873 44 folders
Box 10 Barron-Booraem 60 folders
Box 11 Botello-Brown 48 folders
Box 12 Bruce-Butts 51 folders
Box 13 Caballero-Carrillo 56 folders
Box 14 Carrillo, Estefana-Carrillo, Vicente 59 folders
Box 15 Carsley-Celis 69 folders
Box 16 Chapin-Colson 70 folders
Box 17 Conant-Cullen 60 folders
Box 18 Couts, Cave J. 1851-1859 48 folders
Box 19 Couts, Cave J. 1861-1870 42 folders
Box 20 Dalton-Dent 58 folders
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Box 21 Dentler-Dent 47 folders
Box 22 Edwards-Everett 47 folders
Box 23 Estenaga, Thomas E. 1830-1841 52 folders
Box 24 Estenaga, Thomas E. 1842-1847 55 folders
Box 25 Fairchild-Fisher 59 folders
Box 26 Fitch, Henry D. 45 folders
Box 27 Fitzgerald-Goller 78 folders
Box 28 Forbes, Charles H. 83 folders
Box 29 Forster, John 83 folders
Box 30 Giraudeau, Marcelin 92 folders
Box 31 Gonzalez, Miguel 55 folders
Box 32 Gonzalez, Ramon-Green 56 folders
Box 33 Greenwade-Hartman 73 folders
Box 34 Hartnell-Howard, Volney 57 folders
Box 35 Howard, William-Johnson 65 folders
Box 36 Johnson, Charles R. 1851, February-1862, September 66 folders
Box 37 Johnson, Charles R. 1862, October-1871, February 52 folders
Box 38 Jones-Lee 72 folders
Abel Stearns Papers mssStearns papers 5 Collection Contents
Box 39 Larkin, Thomas Oliver 1833-1844 43 folders
Box 40 Larkin, Thomas Oliver 1845-1858 50 folders
Box 41 Leese-Lyon 84 folders
Box 42 McAllister-Manning 72 folders
Box 43 Manriquez-Mireles 66 folders
Box 44 Mix-Moraga 88 folders
Box 45 More-Nye 79 folders
Box 46 Ocampo-Otis 73 folders
Box 47 Pacheco-Parrott 84 folders
Box 48 Parsons-Peralta 64 folders
Box 49 Perez-Pico 80 folders
Box 50 Polhemus-Quintana 75 folders
Box 51 Raho-Rogers 93 folders
Box 52 Reid, Perfecto H. 1836-1842 57 folders
Box 53 Reid, Perfecto H. before 1843-1852 59 folders
Box 54 Robinson, Alfred 1833-1858 69 folders
Box 55 Robinson, Alfred 1859-1869 70 folders
Box 56 Robinson, Alfred 1870-1873 81 folders
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Box 57 Roldan, Florencio-Roldan, Mariano 59 folders
Box 58 Rolfe-Ryerson 55 folders
Box 59 Sabichi-Shaw 95 folders
Box 60 Shore-Stanley 73 folders
Box 61 Stearns, Abel 1830-1845 85 folders
Box 62 Stearns, Abel 1846-1871 86 folders
Box 63 Stearns, E.-Stribling 81 folders
Box 64 Strobel-Teschemacher 69 folders
Box 65 Thompson, Alpheus B. 73 folders
Box 66 Thompson, Joseph P. 57 folders
Box 67 Thompson-Vignes 61 folders
Box 68 Villa-Warren 63 folders
Box 69 Waters-Yndart 63 folders
Box 70 Yorba-Zamorano 70 folders
Box 71 Miscellaneous business and legal papers 1829-1837 Household and personal accounts
Box 72 Miscellaneous business and legal papers 1838-1840 Household and personal accounts
Box 73 Miscellaneous business and legal papers 1841-1847 Household and personal accounts
Box 74 Miscellaneous business and legal papers 1848-1855 Household and personal accounts
Abel Stearns Papers mssStearns papers 7 Collection Contents
Box 75 Miscellaneous business and legal papers 1856-1858 Household and personal accounts
Box 76 Miscellaneous business and legal papers 1859-1860 Household and personal accounts
Box 77 Miscellaneous business and legal papers 1861-1862 Household and personal accounts
Box 78 Miscellaneous business and legal papers 1863-1869 Household and personal accounts
Box 79 Miscellaneous business and legal papers 1870-1876 Household and personal accounts
Box 80 Miscellaneous business and legal papers [undated] Household and personal accounts
Box 81 Papers relating to San Pedro, California 1831-1837 Box 82 Papers relating to San Pedro, California 1838-1840 Box 83 Papers relating to San Pedro, California 1841-1870 Box 84 Rancho Los Alamitos 1839-1865 Box 85 Ranchos-Upper California Azusa (Dalton), Bautista, Boca de Santa Monica, La Bolsa Chica, Las Bolsas, La Brea, La Canada, Canada de Los Vaqueros, Canon De Santa Ana, and Los Coyotes.
Box 86 Rancho La Laguna 1844-1873, 1912 Box 87 Ranchos Jurupa, Mission Dolores-Lands, Palos Verdes, Del Paso, Paso De Bartolo, San Antonio (L.A. Co.), San Jose De Buenos Aires, San Juan Cajon De Santa Ana, San Pedro, Santa Ana Del Chino, Santa Gertrudis, Santa Rosa Island, Santiago De Santa Ana, Sespe, La Sierra, Sobrante De San Jacinto. Box 88 Various ranchos of Upper California Rancho Temecula, Rancho Temescal, Various Mines, Eagle Mills.
Box 89 Oversize Los Coyotes-Testimony...etc. Ranchos-Lower California: Ensenada De Todos Santos, Guadalupe, San Antonio, Santa Rosa, Tecate, Tijuana, Valle De San Rafael, Los Vallecitos, various ranches...
Box 90 Papers relating to Abel Stearns and Pierre Domec. Papers relating to Abel Stearns and John Parrott. Miscellaneous papers relating to land. Printed matter. Box 91 Gaffey Papers A-W
Box 92 Gaffey Papers White, S.M.
Box 93 Gaffey Papers San Pedro, California
Box 94 Bandini, Juan Bautista: Diaries 1883-1892 Volumes 2-4
Box 94A Bandini, Juan Bautista: Diary 1879-1883 Volume 1
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Box 95 Bandini, Juan Bautista: Diaries 1892-1905 Volumes 5-7
Box 96 Bandini, Juan Bautista: Diaries 1879-1888 Volumes 1-3; English translation
Box 97 Bandini, Juan Bautista: Diaries 1888-1905 Volumes 4-7; English translation
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