Includes: Five pencil manuscript leaves from Davis' memoir, Seventy-Five Years in California. * Mansuscript promissary note for $600, payable to Thomas McCune, signed by Davis, 1856. * 4-page ink autograph letter from Davis to a J.B. Metcalfe, initialed by Davis (perhaps a retained copy, with his pencil docketing), regarding the transfer of power of attorney, and a lawsuite in the Court of Claims. March 30, 1885. * Four manuscript receiptes from the 1850's made out to Davis. * A.L.s. from Binghamton, N.Y., literary agent John Heath to William Heath Davis, regarding the marketing in the east of his book "Sixty Years in California." With envelope. 1889. * Four pencil manuscripts by Davis, each approx. 3 pages on lined yellow legal paper, relating to the California counties of Trinity, Kern, Siskiyou, and Glenn. * Ink manuscript note signed by H.L. Dodge, secretary of the San Francisco Town Council, giving notice of a meeting of the Council, with Dodge signing for Davis as president of the Council. 1850. * Bank note for a loan of $85, signed by Davis. 1888. * A.L.s. from California pioneer John Bidwell to William Heath Davis, ralating that he is "pleased to learn that your labor on your history is verging to a close. But I am pained to have to confess my financial inability..." With envelope. 1899. * And other items. Housed in mylar sleeves, in three-ring binder.
Interesting and historically valuable archive of material by and relating to one of the early American residents and merchants of California. William Heath Davis, 1822-1909, born in Hawaii to a Boston merchant family, settled in California in 1838, working as a clerk in his uncle's store in Monterey. He was instrumental in the development of both San Francisco and San Diego, and became prominent in commerce and shipping. His autobiography is one of the prime sources for California history.