John T. Mason diaries, 1849-1888

Thirteen volumes, some signed or stamped with Mason's name, containing holograph diaries for 1858, 1861, 1863-1865, 1872-1874, 1876, 1878, 1880-1881, and 1887-1888; and a volume containing holograph accounts, listing Mason's expenses while living in Sacramento, 1857-1860. The volume of accounts also contains a holograph diary, apparently a copy transcribed by Mason, of his journey to California, describing his departure from St. Louis, Missouri, in Apr, 1854; travel on the California Trail; and arrival in Sacramento in Jun, 1855. Several of the diaries for 1858-1888 are written in printed diary volumes, including volumes published by A. L. Bancroft & Company, San Francisco, and by Kiggins & Kellogg and L. & E. Edwards, New York City. These diaries contain very brief entries, usually listing expenses and noting news of his work, such as arrivals and departures of river boats, 1858-1861, and news of farm, livestock, and other ranch work, 1861-1888

Also briefly noted is work done by ranch employees, including Chinese workers. Mason was married in 1861; many diary entries refer to friends and family members, including Liz, Mabel, and Maud, who apparently were his wife and children. Laid in and accompanying the diaries are several receipts for purchases made by Mason, 1870s; a court summons issued to him concerning payment of an employee's wages, 1878; and printed programs for a ball held at Princeton, California, 1873, and for Cooper Medical College commencement, 1898. An additional volume contains an account of a trip to California, Mar-Oct, 1849, written in manuscript by two unidentified emigrants. This account begins with travel from New York to Missouri; describes travel on the California Trail, including brief references to the effects of cholera; and ends during the writers' crossing of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Also present are a cased tintype of an unidentified man and a cased ambrotype of an unidentified woman, both undated