Letter from Fordyce Benjamin to Franklin Burr, April 1850, about life in Napa California

Dublin Core

Identifier

2024-163

Title

Letter from Fordyce Benjamin to Franklin Burr, April 1850, about life in Napa California

Subject

Historic Event

Description

3-page letter address to Frankin Burr from Fordyce J. Benjamin (1826-1896) describing life in Napa, California, three years after his arrival in 1847. He was 24 years old at the time and had come to Calafornia [sic] in 1847 as part of an American military expedition into the territory. He describes in fair detail the number of changes that had occurred between 1847 and 1850. Benjamin notes his intention to marry which he did, not long after this letter was mailed. His wife, Mary Ann Morgan was 15 and had come from Missouri.
They eventually had six children and moved north to Lassen County. Benjamin was born in Albany NY but had a strong connection to his many relatives in Worthington. California became a state in September 1850 and Fordyce and his bride appear in the first census and are considered California pioneers.

Type

Document

Format

Handwritten letter, address visible, 8 x 10 folded in half. Also a transcription.

Creator

Fordyce J. Benjamin

Date

1850-04-10

Publisher

Andy Burr

Date Available

2024-11-12

Is Part Of

Burr family materials

Medium

Paper

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