Collection context
Summary
- Creators:
- Burnett, Peter H. (Peter Hardeman), 1807-1895
- Extent:
- Number of containers: 1 box and 1 oversize folder
- Language:
- English
Background
- Scope and content:
-
Mainly documents and letters to and from Burnett as Governor of California, regarding sale of municipal lands in San Francisco and appointments. Contains many petitions, some relating to Collectors of licences to foreign miners, with signatures of members of the Constitutional Convention 1849, and of the first California Legislature. Also includes legal papers, concerning property in Santa Clara County, chiefly in the city of Alviso, 1849-1857.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Trader and lawyer in Missouri and Tennessee, Peter Hardeman Burnett came to Oregon in 1843. In 1848 he joined the miners in California where he acted as agent for Sutter. He was active in urging California to form a state government and was elected first constitutional governor of California in 1849. He resigned his governorship in 1851 to return to law practice, becoming supreme judge in 1857. From 1863 until 1880 he was president of the Pacific Bank of San Francisco.
- Acquisition information:
- These papers, mainly reflecting Burnett's governorship, were assembled from various sources. In Part I there are items from the T. W. Norris Collection, purchased from John Howell, and from other sources noted on the folders. Items in Part II were from the Boutwell Dunlap Collection, purchased from W. Wreden in 1954.
- Physical location:
- For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Access and use
- Location of this collection:
-
University of California, Berkeley, The Bancroft LibraryBerkeley, CA 94720-6000, US
- Contact:
- 510-642-6481