http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf8199n9np No online items Finding Aid to the J.N. Bowman papers, circa 1890-1965 (bulk 1933-1965) Processed by The Bancroft Library staff The Bancroft Library. University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, California, 94720-6000 Phone: (510) 642-6481 Fax: (510) 642-7589 Email: [email protected] URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu © 1997, 2013 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved. Finding Aid to the J.N. Bowman BANC MSS C-R 18 1 papers, circa 1890-1965 (bulk 1933-1965) Finding Aid to the J.N. Bowman Papers, circa 1890-1965 (bulk 1933-1965) Collection number: BANC MSS C-R 18 The Bancroft Library University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, California Contact Information: The Bancroft Library. University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, California, 94720-6000 Phone: (510) 642-6481 Fax: (510) 642-7589 Email: [email protected] URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu Processed by: The Bancroft Library staff Encoded by: Xiuzhi Zhou Revised and re-encoded by: Lara Michels © 1997, 2013 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved. Collection Summary Collection Title: J.N. Bowman Papers, Date (inclusive): circa 1933-1965 Date (inclusive): (bulk 1933-1965) Collection Number: BANC MSS C-R 18 Creator: Bowman, J. N. (Jacob Neibert), 1875-1968 Extent: Number of containers: 7 cartons, 5 oversize folders, 1 volume, 1 porfolio (9.5 linear feet) Repository: The Bancroft Library Berkeley, California 94720-6000 Physical Location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog. Abstract: Correspondence, California history subject files, and personalia of Jacob N. Bowman, historian and creator of an important index to the California land grant and land case records. Languages Represented: English Access Collection is open for research. Publication Rights Finding Aid to the J.N. Bowman BANC MSS C-R 18 2 papers, circa 1890-1965 (bulk 1933-1965) All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 94720-6000. Consent is given on behalf of The Bancroft Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner. See: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html. Restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to research and educational purposes.Materials in this collection may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction of some materials may be restricted by terms of University of California gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions, privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user. All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley 94720-6000. See: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html . Preferred Citation [Identification of item], J.N. Bowman papers, BANC MSS C-R 18, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. Photographs of J.J. Vioget's grave transferred to the Pictorial Collections of The Bancroft Library Related collection: Index of the Spanish-Mexican private land grant records and cases of California (BANC MSS C-R 17). Related collection: Indices to California land cases (BANC MSS C-R 16). Related collection: Indices to California land grants (BANC MSS C-R 15). Related collection: Index to witnesses in United States District Court (Northern District) third party private land grant cases (BANC MSS 67/130 c). Associated collection: Spanish land grant files (or Bowman files) (California State Archives 79-30). Alternate Forms Available There are no alternate forms of this collection. Indexing Terms The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog. Bowman, J. N. (Jacob Neibert), 1875-1968--Archives. Missions--California--History Land grants--California--HIstory Land tenure--California--HIstory Building, Adobe--California--History Weights and measures--California--History Agriculture--California--History Archives--California California--History California--Biography California--History--Sources San Francisco (Calif.)--History Accruals No additions are expected. Processing Information Additional processing Bancroft Library staff in January 2013. Biographical Information Jacob N. Bowman (1875-1968) was born near Greenville, Ohio. He graduated from Heidelberg College in Tiffin, Ohio in 1896 and then traveled abroad to study history at Heidelberg University and Leipzig University in Germany from 1896 to 1900. Bowman taught history at Western Washington College, the University of California, Berkeley, and Washington University. From 1948 until 1955, he served as Historian at the California State Archives in Sacramento. In the late 1920s, Bowman became interested in California's private land grant cases. Difficulty researching in the land grant records prompted Finding Aid to the J.N. Bowman BANC MSS C-R 18 3 papers, circa 1890-1965 (bulk 1933-1965) Bowman to undertake the task of updating and revising the index in Judge Ogden Hoffman's 1862 reports on the California land cases, up until then the main tool for researching these records. The completion of Bowman's more comprehensive index required that he conduct a complete study of the widely scattered land grant papers. At the time, the land case files from the Board of Land Commissioner's hearings were in the possession of the U.S. District Court in San Francisco. The original Spanish and Mexican government land records were in the office of the Surveyor General in San Francisco and then in Glendale in 1932. In 1937, these original Spanish records were ordered to be sent to the National Archives for repair of the fire damage they had suffered in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. They never returned to California (though a set of certified copies and translations exists at the State Archives in Sacramento). Bowman always maintained that the accessioning of these records into the National Archives in Washington was made despite that fact that the District Court judges in San Francisco had requisitioned them to be placed with the land cases in the court's custody. The land case files from the Board of Land Commissioner's hearings are now on permanent deposit at the Bancroft Library. In addition to his index, Bowman wrote extensively on many areas of California history. Scope and Content of Collection The collection consists of correspondence dating from circa 1933 until 1965, California history subject files, and personalia and other papers. The correspondence includes general correspondence as well as a small amount of correspondence (and other material) relating to the California State Archives and some responses to reference queries Bowman received in his position as Historian at the State Archives. The subject files, by far the bulk of the collection, consist of files on a wide range of California history subjects. These subject files might include manuscripts of articles and essays written by Bowman, notes, and correspondence. Of particular note among these subject files are manuscripts, correspondence, and notes documenting Bowman's investigations into the land records of California. Among the personalia are reminiscences and other writings and course diaries, diplomas and other materials relating to Bowman's student days in Germany. Series 1: Correspondence. circa 1933-1958 Physical Description: Carton 1, folder 1-16 Carton 1, Folder General Correspondence, circa 1933-1958 14 Carton 1, Folder California State Archives correspondence and other items, circa 1945-1955 15 Carton 1, Folder Assorted responses to reference queries, circa 1945-1955 16 Series 2: California History Subject Files. circa 1940-1965 Physical Description: Carton 1, folder 17-26; carton 2-6; carton 7, folder 1-31 Carton 1, Folder California private land grants (manuscripts, notes, and correspondence) circa 17-26, Carton 2, 1945-1955 Folder 1-21, Scope and Content Note Oversize Folder 5 Includes manuscripts of Bowman's The California Private Land Granting and Land Grants and Bowman's Index to Witnesses in the California Private Land Grant Cases as well as notes on land grants and cases. There are also other files on land grants and land grant records scattered throughout this series of subject files. See for example, carton 4, folders 22-23, 36; carton 5, folders 14, 24; and carton 6, folders 1, 3, and 16 for manuscripts, notes and correspondence that illuminate Bowman's investigations into the land records of California. Carton 2, Folder Burial of Antonio del Valle in 1841 (correspondence) 22 Carton 2, Folder Expediente 311(correspondence) 23 Carton 2, Folder Parochial Books of the California missions (manuscripts, correspondence, notes) 24-25 Carton 2, Folder Cattle brand used at Mission La Purisima Conception (correspondence) 26 Finding Aid to the J.N. Bowman BANC MSS C-R 18 4 papers,