Elisha Cotton Winchell Letters
Scope and Contents
The core of this collection consists of 64 letters from Elisha Cotton Winchell to his parents and siblings in Missouri. Winchell moved to California from Missouri during the "Gold Rush" to establish his law practice while others were seeking riches in the gold fields. The first was written to his mother as he was making preparations to leave Missouri and the final one was to his sister shortly before his death, over 60 years later. Over half of the letters were written during his first few years in Sacramento and describe the citizens, society and culture of the new city as well as the climate and scenery of the Sacramento Valley. Additional materials in the collection include three engravings depicting the region clipped from an 1850s magazine as well as drafts of Mr. Pfaff's thesis. The collection also contains Winchell's photos of Tulare County and San Francisco.
Dates
- Creation: 1849-1912
Creator
- Winchell, Elisha Cotton, 1826-1913 (Person)
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Biographical Note
Elisha Cotton Winchell (1826-1913), son of Elias and Fanny (Ely) Winchell, was a young attorney who moved to California from Missouri to establish his law practice while thousands of others were attempting to make their fortunes in the gold fields during the "Gold Rush." After completing his legal training in Palmyra, Mo. in 1848, Elisha opened a law office in Paris, Mo. but closed it in April 1850 for the move west. He arrived in September, two days before California joined the Union as the 31st state, and settled in Sacramento. He eventually became a well-respected attorney and judge and one of the leading businessmen of Fresno.
Extent
0.2 linear feet
Language of Materials
English
Arrangement
This collection is organized into four series.
- Series 0: Administrative, undated
- Series I: Correspondence, Elisha Cotton Winchell to Family Members in Missouri, 1849-1912
- Series II: Engravings and Photographs, 1851-1906
- Series III: Robert Marvin Pfaff's Master's Thesis: Original Experiences of Missourians in the Gold Rush during the Years of 1849 and 1850, 1950
Custodial History
Winchell's letters were found in an old house in Palmyra, Missouri (possibly the home of his sister, Fanny Winchell Anderson) in the late 1940s and given to Palmyra native Dr. Pauline Knobbs, a member of Northeast Missouri State Teachers College (now Truman State University) faculty. She loaned them to graduate student Robert M. Pfaff along with transcripts of gold rush letters from Pickler Memorial Library's "Biswell Family Papers," as source material for the Master's Thesis he was researching at the time. After a long and successful career as a history instructor specializing in the American west, Mr. Pfaff returned the collection to the library in the fall of 2008.
Additional materials in the collection include three engravings depicting the region clipped from an 1850s magazine as well as drafts of Mr. Pfaff's thesis. Winchell's photos of Tulare County and San Francisco, also a part of the collection, remained with the library and were not loaned to Mr. Pfaff.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Winchell's letters were given to Palmyra native Dr. Pauline Knobbs, a member of Northeast Missouri State Teachers College (now Truman State University) faculty in the late 1940s. She loaned them to graduate student Robert M. Pfaff and Mr. Pfaff returned the collection to the library in the fall of 2008.
Existence and Location of Copies
The Winchell gold rush letters have been digitized and are available to view in our digital library.
- Title
- Elisha Cotton Winchell papers, 1849-1912
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by Elaine Doak.
- Date
- [1993-2010].
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Truman State University, Pickler Memorial Library, Special Collections Manuscripts Repository