Scope and Contents Approximately 130 documents from the Biswell family of Randolph and Linn Counties in Missouri. It includes letters, financial documents, and military papers from the early 1800s, and newspapers containing family obituaries. Of particular interest are the letters written by brothers Jonathan and Norvell Biswell on their way to, and while in, the California gold fields, 1850-1852. Of the six series, the Gold Rush letters, Series 1, are the most frequently used as they convey the story of a...