Autograph letters signed J.S. Alemany. In ink. Each on 4-page lettersheet of lined paper, 27x21.5 cm (10½x8½"). Includes:

• One page. March 14, 1874. 
• Two pages. April 9, 1874.

The head of the Catholic Archdiocese in San Francisco writes respectfully to the banker and financier W.C. Ralston about plans to build a small cemetery "half a mile to one mile from your residence," to which Ralston objected, fearing infringement on his privacy and  pollution of his water sources. In the April 9 letter Bishop Alemany writes: "...the situation seemed to me about half a mile from your residence - a distance rather considerable, it being [the] question of a small country graveyard. I could not see how your residence is supplied with water from the little stream passing through the land in question, while I was informed that your water is supplied from other sources... I may not know all correctly or perfectly, but so far I could not ascertain that the place... would cause a real injury. I would certainly feel grateful if you would put me in possession of information showing I am misinformed..."