Clark family correspondence and financial documents concerning California, 1850-1872

Letters to Wilson Hart Clark chiefly from his older brother, Warren Vester Clark, and his younger brother, Rodney Clark that include information about their experiences in northeastern California, 1850-1868, as well as related enclosures of promissory notes, drafts, and receipts. Other correspondence includes an 1850 letter from William J. Smith that describes his ocean journey from New Haven, Connecticut, around Cape Horn to San Francisco, California, 1849-1850

Letters from Warren Vester Clark to his brother include a request for Wilson to purchase Warren's passage to California via the Isthmus of Panama in March 1850, as well as his perceptions of California after his arrival and his poor health in August 1850. Other letters describe his canal and lumber operations in Calaveras County, as well as his legal and financial issues with Charles A. Candes over debts incurred in California and his disagreements with their brother, Rodney Clark. He also mentions their maternal relatives Burr Higgins and Sylvester Noyes Higgins of Erie County, Ohio, in relation to financial issues

Letters from Rodney Clark describe his emigration to California, 1858-1863, as well as opportunities for selling marble in California from his older brother's quarry in Connecticut