The collection of American businessman and author William Heath Davis. The collection includes correspondence, bills, receipts, documents, and printed material; also included is material related to Davis' book on early California.

William Heath Davis (1822-1909) was an American businessman and author. He was born at Honolulu, Hawaii, the son of a Boston ship-master and early trader to the North American coast. Davis visited California as a boy, then returned in 1838, to work as a clerk in the Monterey store of his uncle, Nathan Spear; Davis established his own store in San Francisco in 1845. He married María de Jesús Estudillo in 1847 and was associated with many prominent early California families. Davis was instrumental in the founding of Oakland and San Diego, California, and he owned property in both cities. His memoirs of the early days in California were published as Sixty years in California (1889), and a later enlarged version, Seventy-five years in California (1929) was edited by John Howell.

8 Linear Feet (10 boxes)

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