The Larkin Papers, Volume IX, 1851-1853: For the History of California

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1963.

• Language: English
• Publisher: University of California Press
• Release date: Sep 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9780520326415

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The Larkin Papers

The Reverend WILLIAM M. ROGERS of Boston, Larkin’s cousin. Until his death in 18551, Rogers was Larkin’s chief business agent in the East.

Courtesy of Miss Frances Moleera

THE

Larkin Papers

Personal, Business, and Official Correspondence

of Thomas Oliver Larkin, Merchant and United

States Consul in California Edited by George

P. Hammond, Director of the Bancroft Library

VOLUME IX

1851-1853

Published for the Bancroft Library by the

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS

BERKELEY AND LOS ANGELES

1963

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS

BERKELEY AND LOS ANGELES

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS

LONDON, ENGLAND

COPYRIGHT, 1963, BY

THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

PREFACE

BY MAY OF 1851, when this volume begins, the first flush of the Gold Rush ‘ had subsided. Lawyers and doctors, merchants and professional men had for the most part given up the back-breaking, ague-ridden labor of digging for gold in the streams and creeks of the mountains and had returned to the towns and cities to coin wealth in more prosaic ways—to capture it second hand, so to speak. Men like Belden, Brannan, Green, Larkin, Leese, Melius, Howard—and thousands of others—old settlers and newcomers alike, went into business and agriculture, while another horde, rushing in from all parts of the world, continued the search for the glittering, tantalizing metal. The harvest was great, judging by the thousands of ounces of gold shipped East via the new steamers of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company that had begun to ply the waters of the Pacific, in 1849, ncws duty reported in the newspapers.

There was no let-up in the vast, unending search for wealth. Men still gambled their lives for the pawn that would send them home rich; yet untold numbers succumbed to illness or deserted the mines and took up new careers in various hamlets and villages of California and built such rural crossroads or other stopping places into thriving towns almost overnight. These places spawned great cities, such as San Francisco and Sacramento. Growth brought stability, or some semblance of it. Cities grew, burned down, and rose overnight into bigger and better ones. San Francisco burned repeatedly, 1849, I®5°, 1851. Sacramento was nearly wiped out in November, 1852; Marysville suffered the scourge several times; and so did Stockton. Or, if it was not fire, it was floods, from which the towns on the Sacramento and San Joaquin experienced almost the same fate. The result, in every instance, was immediate rebuilding on a better basis, more permanent structures, better city planning. These were the birth pangs of growth in the rowdy new commonwealth on the Pacific—golden California.

Corresponding to the growth of the cities came an increasing stream of immigrants who sought out choice spots for farms and homesites. Ignorant (or resentful) of die land grants made before the end of Mexican rule, they took root wherever the soil looked good or fancy dictated. Many selected tracts along the Sacramento river, much of which had been included in the vast, unmarked grants owned by such pioneers as Dye, Flügge, Frémont, Thomes, Larkin, Sutter, and many others under the Spanish-Mexican law. These newcomers acted on the frontiersman’s instinct of setding on free land, planting a cabin, scratching the surface and sowing a bit of grain, or raising catde. When they were told the land belonged to others, they protested, made an issue of it, and often determined to stay. Removing them was not easy, as they usually refused to leave. Moreover, they were a defense against marauding Indians, and helped to build up the country, so were not wholly undesirable. Squatterism, it was called by Larkin and other grantees, while to the people in question it was a simple right of pre-empting free land—as had been the custom back East, as the Indian frontier receded before the gun and plow of a westward moving society. The issue reached its climax in the period covered by Volume X of The Larkin Papers, when the most notable case of infringement on old land grants, Limantour’s claim to a major portion of San Francisco, came to a head— and was finally shown to be a fraud. Elsewhere, there were many compromises and out-of-court settlements by which the squatters stayed to become permanent residents. Larkin, evidently unwilling to fight these colonists, usually bought out intruders who had settled on his lands, while awaiting a good opportunity to sell some of his vast holdings.

Amid the wild scenes of speculation that characterized this period, some of the old Californians prospered, became enormously wealthy, while others, unable to match the race of progress (or possibly cut down by illness), fell behind. Job F. Dye went East to live, too ill to enjoy the fruits of his pioneering struggles in California. W. D. M. Howard, one of a half-dozen among the giants, early was seized by tuberculosis. Talbot H. Green, who ranked in achievement with the financial greats of the new California, was recognized as Paul Geddes, a bank official who had absconded in 1840 from his home in Pennsylvania with some company funds, had left wife and children, and made good in the new world of the West, where he had married a remarkable woman and gone straight. The story unfolds throughout Volumes IX and X. Faxon Dean Atherton remained at his post in Valparaiso, unable to follow closely the gigantic events of California, got only infrequent messages from his old friend Larkin, now too occupied with business to spend hours in writing letters in longhand to keep his friends up to date on the news. J. B. R. Cooper, the old

[vii]

sea captain of the 1820 s, stayed on top, kept his lands and goods, sent his boy, Rogerio, East to go to school, as did Larkin with his three—Oliver, Francis (often called Francisco), and Frederic. So too did Dr. E. T. Bale and Salvador Vallejo, among others. A decade earlier, boys were sent to the Sandwich Islands for training, but now, with their families among the wealthiest in the country, they had to be sent East, to the established centers of culture and learning. Indeed, Larkins relatives and friends on the Atlantic Coast induced him not only to send his boys to school there, but persuaded him to go to New York with the intention of making it his future home, in preference to the wild and untutored San Francisco. He bought a home in New York, 10th Street near Broadway, and invested in real estate there and in Brooklyn, and brought Mrs. Larkin to the great metropolis (1850-1853)—but the experiment was not a success. The West was in Larkin’s blood. Business called him back to California, and within a few years, his wife could tolerate the New York winters no more and returned to make the family home in San Francisco. These themes run throughout Volumes IX and X.

In this new West, promotion schemes multiplied on every hand. Every city wanted to become the site of the state capitol. From its original seat at Monterey, where the constitutional convention had met in 1849, movcd to San José, thence to Vallejo, Benicia, and finally, in 1854, to Sacramento, which had recovered from fire and flood to become a populous and progressive city.

There were schemes for railroads, for shipping lines, for colleges. The Benicia- Marysville Railroad, projected in 1852 with Larkin as one of its directors, aroused some interest, and it immediately set about the age-old device of getting a subvention from Congress to help it over the early years of costly construction. There were others, mostly paper roads. The Pacific Mail Steamship Company, incorporated in 1848 as something of a wild speculation, with William H. Aspinwall as the moving spirit, proved to be a golden bonanza, until too many other lines sprang up to cut into the enormous tourist traffic engendered by the Gold Rush and the growth of the Pacific Coast, a traffic that flowed in both directions—the newcomers heading westward, the old-timers, rich and poor, returning back home.

Nor was education ignored. By 1852, Charles M. Blake, supported by such leaders as the Reverend Samuel H. Willey and Captain John Paty, urged Larkin to contribute liberally to a Collegiate Institute, to be established at Benicia. Larkin had already been asked to give a tract of land for a suitable site.

While such promotions went on, many California schemes contemplated the sale of lands to hungry investors, American or English, especially. Some of these projects, like those of Larkin and Frémont, were gigantic. California’s reputation for wealth, and the hunger of the promoters and investors, combined to provide an ideal setting for such plans. Frémont, after rejecting offers of London financiers for his Las Mariposas estate, exploited its quartz mines, though he was to lose it later to clever competitors.

Larkin, who had several ranches on the upper Sacramento, including the Children’s, the Jimeno, and the Boga, the latter on the Feather River, launched a scheme to sell one of these, the Boga, thought to be rich in gold-bearing gravels, to London investors. Through agents in New York and London, his agent sought to sell it to an English syndicate, and many of the letters in The Larkin Papers concern this estate, its reputed wealth, and the huge sum it would bring its owner, about a million dollars. The plan ultimately failed, partly on account of the presence of squatters and Larkin’s inability to provide a clear title—and partly from fear that the speculation was too uncertain.

Confirmation of the Mexican land grants in California, especially those made immediately before the American conquest, soon became a major issue, since it was suspected that some had been granted illegally. Larkin, like other grantees, took every precaution to assure his titles, though the path to success was not without its stones. When he felt it necessary to substantiate by legal documents the naturalization of his children, born in California as Mexican subjects, and to assure their eligibility to hold land, he fell into the hands of one Colonel A. Juan Atocha of New York. Described as a "cunning and perfectly unscrupulous intriguer** by Justin H. Smith (War with Mexico, Vol. II, p. 123), Atocha had tried to negotiate a deal between President Polk and President Santa Anna of Mexico in 1847, by allowing the exiled Santa Anna, then in Cuba, to slip through the American blockade and get back to Mexico, where he would presumably bow to superior force and arrange a peace treaty satisfactory to the United States—at Mexico’s expense. Nothing came of it, of course, except that Santa Anna got back home and was able to lead the Mexican armies against the United States in the war that followed.

Atocha, in his deal with Larkin, was to go to Mexico City to obtain certifications of the legality of the naturalization of Larkin’s children and of their land grant, known as the Children’s Rancho. All this for a price, of course. He did so, but then, in a letter of October 28, 1852, he added a very confidential note to Larkin, stating that the Mexican government considered Micheltorena’s acts in his favor as null and of no value. Whatever the truth of this statement—and naturally it was not made public—the Board of Land Commissioners in California did uphold the validity of the Children’s grant.

Among the dramatic human-interest episodes of the time, none was more unexpected than the accusation that Talbot H. Green, who had risen from the position of one of Larkin’s clerks to a man of equal stature with Sam Brannan, W. D. M. Howard, Francis Melius, or Joseph P. Thompson, was really an embezzler. In April, 1851, Green, then a man of wealth, sailed from San Francisco for the East to clear himself of these charges, amid the cheers of his old friends, and disappeared, seemingly forever. Then, about August, 1853, Larkin was surprised to get a letter from him, from a hide-out in Tennessee, begging for money, and imploring Larkin never to reveal his place of hiding, a request he honored. The story of Green’s breakdown, and his eventual recovery, remains a major theme of Volumes IX and X of this series.

Ebenezer L. Childs, Larkin’s half-brother, holding a clerical position in the post office in Washington, D. C.—he never had enough courage to seek his fortune in California’s goldfields!—almost overwhelmed his brother with letters of news from the East. Indeed, after the Rev. Wm. M. Rogers died in 1851, Childs served as Larkin’s agent in numerous business matters, and finally two of the Larkin boys, Francis and Frederic, who had been in a private school near Boston, came to Washington to live with Eben and Sarah Childs while they continued their studies. Oliver, the oldest of the boys, remained at Cambridge, but he was not the intellectual type and returned to California to join the workmen on one of his father’s ranchos.

The Larkin children wrote frequently to their parents in San Francisco, typical children’s letters, most of which have been here omitted. Unfortunately, the other side of the correspondence—Mr. and Mrs. Larkin’s letters to the children—has not been preserved, so far as known, though Frederic told his father how he was carefully binding them, and admonished him to leave a sufficient margin on the left to permit of proper binding.

To bring this volume within reasonable limits, other papers deemed of lesser historical importance have also had to be left out, but I believe that the most significant have been included up to the end of the year 1853.

Once again I am indebted to Miss Frances Molera, granddaughter of John B. R. Cooper, for a photograph of a member of the family, the Reverend Wm. M. Rogers, Larkin’s cousin and business agent. He died in the summer of 1851, a comparatively young man.

CONTENTS

PREFACE

CONTENTS

VOLUME IX 1851-1853

THE LARKIN PAPERS

VOLUME IX

1851-1853

The Larkin Papers

May, 1851-December, 1853

[JOSIAH BELDEN TO THOMAS OLIVER LARKIN. VII: 291.]

San Jose, May 20th 1851 Mr. T. O. Larkin

Dear Sir

YOURS of 16th inst. has just come to hand. I have not seen Major Hensly about the butter but I send to Mrs Green ten pounds of fresh butter which I got from Mrs Jones, my wife’s mother. She says she can let Mrs Green have 8 or 10 lbs every week if she wants it She sell it at Ji per lb. here, and Mrs G. will have to pay the freight down.

I think the offer you talk of making Mr Potter will do verry well, if he make the whole of the lots on a perfect level with the proper grade of the streets. I presume the grading of Stevenson, Ecker and Anthony Streets is embraced within the grading of the lots. Will he not also include in that estimate our portion of the expense of grading Market Street. If he would do that I think the bargain would be a good one, but if you think it good enough without that, I have no objection to its being done so. I leave it pretty much to your discretion. Yours truly,

J. Belden

[WILLIAM H. ROGERS TO THOMAS OLIVER LARKIN. VII: 290.]

New York May 20th /51 T. O. Larkin Esq.

San Francisco, Cal.

My dear Cousin

I REACHED this city this morning, on my way to Washington, and found Rachel and the children really well. Alfred seemed cheerful and hearty. Oliver has gone to Newport, where Rogerio is, in good spirits and health. He wanted a boat, and I have allowed him one, a row-boat simply, cost $30, on certain conditions.

It is reported that Ward & Price¹ have failed, and that Price has gone quietly to California. I do not vouch for either. But I call’d on Roe Lockwood & Son and told him if the (500 was not paid you by Ward I sh. look to him for the money. I hope you got the money of Ward.

Howard & Son s affairs look to me worse and worse. He, the son, has collected $20,000 out of $37,000 due on the Bro. Jonathan, and taken it to pay his own claims, or rather had done before your left. Now he proposes to pass the lien for the balance over to Griffen and Le Rocque, at the same time that he says he does not think the lien good for any thing. When I claim’d a portion of the $20,000 he, by way of ofset, said there were claims against the projectors of the San Francisco for expenses in getting up moulds for her engines. Besides the Brother Jonathan was seriously injured 24 hours out, and her repairs are added to her cost. I expect nothing from that quarter.

Walker with Christie are trying to look up Gray’s note for the Santa Clara mine, and say they are ready to pay $12,000 for it. Price told me it was in California. Where is it?

I wrote the Sec. of the Treasury and he says he shall cut the Gov. claim on you out of the Mex. Award. I shall get what I can.

I have your letter introducing Mr. T. H. Green. He is yet in Havana. I will do what I can for him. I will write from Washington. Yours ever with respects to John and Mr. Eames,

Wm. M. Rogers [Rubric]

Baldwin has just come in, says it is possible that an offer may be made for your separate and individual interest in Gray’s note. It may be well enough to make them show their hand, but with the note in Cal. or not to be found, or possibly the basis of legal steps to repossess yourselves of the mine, I shall do nothing if they make an offer. You may not wish to seperate yourself from the other gendemen in the case. Many thanks to Mr. Eames for his letter.

[DAVID SPENCE TO THOMAS OLIVER LARKIN. VII: 292.]

Monterey 20th May 1851 My Dear Sir

JALCCORDING to your request in your letter dated on the 1 ith inst. I have made some enquirey about the quarries in this vecinity and find that the best stone for building is to be found in the parcel of land sold by Mr. Watson to Captain Jones who came from Valparaiso consigned to the House of Mr. Miller in San Francisco and according to Mr. Watson ’s information it was attached by a Mr. Wass, Miller’s agent who resides in San Francisco. Perhaps by your making a little enquiry you may find eather the one or the other.

The other quarries more emidiate to the town, although of perhaps an inferior quality, would just suit as well for foundations or filling in &c as the other. I will find out who they belonge to and let you know when I return from my farm.

Abrego informed me that Lazaro Soto’s farm had been sold a few days since for $500 to Mr. Randell of the Custome House. I have talked with Randell in a round about way about it. He sayes that he does not care abut selling but if he could get $2500 for it he would let it go. He sayes the title gives him the hilly and the low ground clear to the River with the condition that he shall never disturbe the Mision Indians who may have had posession, or have at any time fenced a part of it.

Recieve the good wishes of Your Comadre, el Compradre Chico, y de Su Affmo. Compradre,

D. Spence [Rubric]

[w. N. O’DWYER TO THOMAS OLIVER LARKIN. VII: 293.]

Marysville 21st May 1851 Dear Sir

You may perhaps have seen by this rime in the papers a notice of the death of my friend and partner, James B. Cushing. He was taken ill on the nth inst and died on the morning of the 18th, most unexpectedly to us all; he was buried on the following day. His disorder was eresipelas in the head which terminated suddenly and fatally.

His death has been a severe blow to his parents and I feel it deeply myself. Many of the plans we had formed for our future course together are by this sad calamity broken up. I have felt it incumbent upon me to write to you after the preliminary business arrangements made between yourself and us on your visit to Marysville. In respect to this I would merely inform you that although I am now, to my infinite regret, alone I shall still be ready to undertake the performance of your work on the Feather River to such extent as you may see fit to have it carried. I anticipate receiving in a few days the appointment of County Surveyor, to which I have been deputy for the last six months.

The proximity of your work to Marysville would enable me to attend to it without neglecting my duties here while the character of the work is such as I have several times been engaged in, and in which I take much interest. Expecting to receive intelligence from you shortly, I remain, Dear Sir, Very truly yours,

W. N. O’Dwyer

[ROE LOCKWOOD & SON TO THOMAS OLIVER LARKIN. VII: 294.]

New York May 24/51 Thomas O. Larkin Esqr

Dr Sir

ON the 19th inst. a Mr. Rodgers as your attorney called on us in relation to your draft in our favor on Gen. Villa jo, & informed us that Ward & Price (as he had been told) had failed, & that if they had not paid, or should fail to

pay to you the 500 dollars being your part of said draft, then he should look to us for the payment. We were at first not a little astonished at the information concerning W. & P. & also at the notice, inasmuch as the draft was given to W. & P. for collection in compliance with your own suggestion, & expressed wish; but our minds were soon relieved by his informing us, in answer to our inquiry, that he had rec’d no instructions from you on the subject.

As it regards Ward & Price, we have made inquiry at their office, & the clerk in charge says there is no truth whatever in the report of their failure. We inquired also at the office of the Jn. Ward & Co & Mr. Carryl, one of the partners said he was aware of the rumour, but he did not believe it, & that Mr. Price was a rich man. Still there may be difficulties in California which Mr. Carryl is ignorant of.

Our special object in writing now is to give you—as we do herewith—a duplicate of a letter we wrote you con-jointly,² i.e. on the same sheet, with one from Ward & Price, as by possibility that did not reach you. We suppose that in pursuance of our joint letters the business has been ere this settled between yourself and Mr. Ward.

We have indulged, & do indulge expectations of considerable sales of Spanish books to California through the influence of yourself & Gen. Villajo. We trust we do not presume in relying thus & so far on your kind offices. Very Respy, Yr. Obt. Svts.

Roe Lockwood & Son

[LORING & CO. TO THOMAS OLIVER LARKIN.³ VII: 296.]

Valparaiso May 25th 1851 T. O. Larkin, Esq.

San Francisco

Dear Larkin

As I see it stated in the newspapers from home you are about leaving for California, I send this in that direction. I suppose you are well, as well also as your family, having seen or heard nothing otherwise, and as you are in some

measure a public character, had anything happened it would soon have found its way into the papers.

I suppose Mrs. Larkin goes out with you, as she must have had enough of the cold weather there in N. York. The boys & little girl no doubt go with you. All I can say on the subject is good luck to you, and should you make up your mind to settle in California and affairs there ever become as they are in other parts of the world, I shall feel inclined to go there and keep you company. When at leisure write me fully on the subject, as I am at present in a very uncertain state of mind. I have heard some very unpleasant stories here relative to our friend Green. Should there be any truth in them I wish you would write me the particulars. I shall be extremely sorry to hear there is any good foundation for these stories, which I do not believe.

Real estate in San Francisco appears to be fast declining. How is it with our Benicia friends? Does the place improve at all? Some say that it does, others that it does not, and never will. As you are a disinterested party, please tell me the true state of affairs. How are our friends Spence, Watson &c in Monterey? Should you see them please remember me to them. I see Don Joaquin Gomes is dead; peace to his ashes. How are Howard Teschmacker, Thompson and others of our friends getting on? I see that Howard & Green have dissolved. I hope they have made money. What do you suppose Howard to be worth?

What is our friend W. Hobson about? I am afraid he has got through with a good deal of his money, although I hope not. How do our native California friends get on with the present state of affairs? I fear they will not be well pleased. What does Spence say? I see that Don Pablo [de la Guerra?] figures in the Senate, as well as steam. What is A. B. Thompson about? Vallejo I see has carried his project through. Success to him. What did your trip to the U. S. cost you? Mine cost about 3000$.

Business here is now suffering by the reaction of your over-stocked market. What a ruinous business must be doing in California. Poor shippers must suffer terribly. Barley is now about 3e p lb.[?]. Flour 8$4 p bag. Will soon be down to 6$ to 6$4 as the mills have been stopped but are to commence grinding in a few days.

Hoping to hear from you ere long, I remain, Your &c.

Loring & Co. [Rubric]

[L. A. RIDER AND THOMAS OLIVER LARKIN. AGREEMENT. VH: 298.]

[May 28,1851]

THIS Article of Agreement made and entered into this twenty eighth day of May A. D. one thousand eight hundred and fifty one, between L A. Rider of Benicia, State of California, of the first part, and Thomas O. Larkin of San Francisco, State aforesaid, of the second part, Witnesseth, That the said party of the first part has this day agreed, and by these presents doth agree, to build for the said party of the second part, a Wharf in front of lot eight (8) in block two (2) in the city of Benicia, and to furnish all the materials for the same according to the annexed plan and specifications marked A and AB4 of the same date, which we subscribe to as part of this contract, for the sum of eight thousand dollars. The said Wharf to be commenced on the tenth day of June, one thousand eight hundred and fifty one, and to be finished by the fifteenth day of July one thousand eight hundred and fifty one; each and every part of the said Wharf to be built in a workmanlike manner. And the said party of the second part hereby agrees to and with the said party of the first part to pay him, the said Rider, the sum of eight Thousand dollars for the above named Wharf in payments as follows, to wit:

On the tenth day of June 1851—two thousand dollars.

On the tenth day of July, 1851—two thousand dollars.

On the tenth day of August 1851—two thousand dollars.

On the tenth day of September 1851—two thousand dollars.

In Witness Whereof the said L. A. Rider and Thomas O. Larkin have hereunto set their hands and seals in San Francisco, the day and date first above written.

Signed, sealed and delivered in the presence of Thos. B. Park [Rubric]

L A. Rider [Seal] Thomas O. Larkin [Rubric] [Seal]

A

Specifications for building wharf in front of lot eight (8) in block two (2) City of Benicia, California.

First. The Wharf to be one hundred and sixty one (161) feet long and forty

(40) feet wide, with an ell fifty (50) feet long and forty (40) feet wide, to be of wood and constructed in the following manner—to wit—piles driven ten feet apart from centre to centre each way; which piles shall be well driven and to the satisfaction of the superintendant, Asa F. Bradley.

Second. They shall be capped with timber twelve (12) inches square, the caps to run across the dock or wharf. The tenons on top of the piles shall be three (3) inches thick, six (6) inches long and eight (8) inches wide, and the caps shall be draw bored and pinned on with an inch and a quarter oak pin. The whole to be covered over with floor joist 3x12 inches, of good timber, and laid eighteen (18) inches apart from centre to centre, and spotted down to ten inches with square shoulders to close fit on to the tops of the caps.

There shall be two twenty-penny nails toed into each bearing of the floor joist. On top of the floor joist shall be laid to close fit three (3) inch plank, well nailed down with at least two forty-penny nails in each plank, at each bearing.

Along the whole front of the dock shall be bolted a stick of square timber 12x12 inches, resting on the ends of the caps with a bolt of iron with head and nub and washer. The bolt to be inch diameter and one in each cap.

There shall be two snubbing posts, one at each end of the wharf to be secured by braces, corners tied with the caps and piles, to the satisfaction of the superintendant.

The whole to be done in a substantial and workmanlike manner and to the satisfaction of the superintendant. There shall be driven in front of the wharf ten piles of the largest size, for fenders, squared off at an equal height above the wharf.

We, the undersigned, recognise and adopt the foregoing specifications, as part of a contract for the building of a wharf bearing even date herewith.

In Witness Whereof we have hereunto set our hands and seals in San Francisco, this twenty eighth day of May, one thousand eight hundred and fifty one.

Signed, sealed and delivered in the presence of Thos. B. Park [Rubric]

L. A. Rider [Seal] Thomas O. Larkin [Rubric] [Seal]

[w. P. HUMPHREYS TO THOMAS OLIVER LARKIN. VITßOI.]

San Francisco May 29th [1851] Mr. Larkin

Sir

HAVING but recently returned from a survey in the County of Butte, I have understood that you wished your Rancho (called the Bocha [Boga] Rancho) situated on the Feather surveyed. I am acquainted with its locality, its latitude and longitude. I have also all instruments necessary for a careful and accurate survey. Have surveyed in this country 3 years, and have been on the U. S. Coast Survey for some 8 years. Can refer to James King of Wm., Capt Cutts U S Coast Survey, and many others. I [am] willing to make the survey for a moderate sum. Very Respectfully,

W. P. Humphreys

[DAVID SPENCE TO THOMAS OLIVER LARKIN. VII: 299.]

Monterey 29th May 1851 T. O. Larkin Esq.

San Francisco

Dear Compadre

T„r Mr. Miller that I aluded to in my last letter to you I was introduced to here yesterday. He is on his way to the south. He told me that he would dispose of the land purchased from Mr. Watson for $3000. It cost him $5.000.1 think he would let it go for $500 less. If he should not touch here on his way up no doubt you will se him in San Francisco. He is at present on some wild goose chase about mining.

I spoke to Lazaro Soto about his farm. He said he knew nothing about the sale, neather had he been notified before it tooke place. This I do not beleave. You know what sort of a man he is.

Monterey is entirley deserted. God only knows where all the people have gone to. It puts me in mind of the year 1837 when all the folks went to the south

with Alvarado, and I was told yesterday that the coyotes or foxes were comenc- ing there old tricks on the poultry.

Receive the good wishes of all this household. Yours very truly,

D. Spence [Rubric]

[CHARLES L. ROSS AND EMILY H. ROSS TO THOMAS OLIVER LARKIN. RECONVEYANCE,

vu:30o.]

[May 31, 1851]

Tus Indenture made and entered into this thirty first day of May in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and fifty one between Charles L Ross and Emily H. his wife of the first part and Thomas O. Larkin of the second part, Witnesseth: That whereas on the first day of December 1849 said Thomas O. Larkin and Rachel his wife, executed a certain deed conveying to the said Charles L. Ross certain property in the City of San Francisco, conditioned and dependant upon certain undertakings of the said Ross therein contained, which said deed was delivered to Howard & Green as an escrow to be delivered to the said Ross upon the fulfillment of the conditions pieced out aforesaid and whereas the said Ross has been unable to comply with the conditions precedent therein contained, and is willing to release any claim either legal or equitable that he may have acquired to the property aforesaid;

Now then, in consideration of the premises and also for the further consideration of five dollars in hand paid the parties of the first part by the party of the second part at and before the sealing and delivery of these presents, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, they, the parties of the first part, have granted and released and these presents do grant and release unto the party of the second part and his heirs forever, all right, title and interest, legal or equitable, that they may have in and to the following described premises being the same heretofore alluded to and contained in the Deed of Indenture aforesaid, viz.:

One lot of fifty Mexican varas square on the comer of Washington and Montgomery Streets, San Francisco, which was granted by the Mexican authorities to James A. Forbes in the year one thousand eight hundred and forty six and recorded in the original books of grants A in said San Francisco, page one hundred seventeen (117)» and by said Forbes granted to said Larkin and recorded in the archives of said San Francisco book B page one hundred sixteen (116). Also eight water lots in said San Francisco and lying between Clay and

Washington, Battery and Montgomery Streets, numbered on the map of said town and now in its archives one hundred nineteen (119) recorded on books BC page three hundred nineteen (319). Lot number one hundred twenty three (123) recorded on book B page fifty (50) granted by the authorities of said town of San Francisco to said Larkin.

Also lot number one hundred twenty (120) granted by the said authorities to George McDougal and Benjamin S. Lippincott and recorded on book B page seventy two (72); by said McDougal and Lippincott granted to Charles L. Ross, by said Ross to Simmons Hutchinson & Company, by said Simmons