AFRICAN AMERICANS ON THE FRONTIER
#97
[Accounting ledger, 1843]
Leidesdorff, William
Alexander, 1810-1848
Personal accounting ledger, 1843-1844, William A.
Leidesdorff (1810-1848): 19th Century African-American Entrepreneur; U.S. Vice
Consul to Mexican-California; San Francisco City Treasurer; First
African-American U.S. Diplomat
Paper, ink
[20] leaves ; 34 x 21 cm.
[In box, 37 x 23.5 cm., with supplied title]
William J. Leidesdorff was
born in St. Croix, Virgin Islands, to a Danish father and an African mother. He
was a merchant captain first in New York, then New Orleans, and by 1841 in
California. This account book lists the expenses he incurred on his schooner
Julia Ann from 1843 to 1844. Most of the expenses were for food and drink:
smoked and fresh salmon, fresh vegetables, beef, gin, and grog. Other expenses
were for salaries, ship’s maintenance, and clothing. The ship docked
primarily at the west coast cities of Monterey, San Francisco, Santa Barbara,
and “the pueblo of Los Angeles.” Leidesdorff was granted 35,500 acres
in San Francisco and was appointed American vice-consul to California in 1845.
#98
[Book, 1856]
Beckwourth, James Pierson, 1798-1866
Boner, T.D. (Thomas D.) Camp, Charles Lewis, 1893-
The life and
adventures of James P. Beckwourth, mountaineer, scout, and pioneer, and Chief
of the Crow Nation of Indians / written from his own dictation, by T. D.
Bonner. – New York: Harper & Brothers, 1856. – xii, [13]-537 p. :
ill. ; 20.5 x 14 cm.
[Frontispiece: “James P. Beckwourth in
hunter’s costume.” – PREFACE: p. [iii-v]. – CONTENTS: p.
[vii]-xii. – “Among the many men who have distinguished themselves as
mountaineers, traders, chiefs of great Indian nations, and as early pioneers in
the settlement of our Pacific coast, is James P. Beckwourth, whose varied and
startling personal adventures would have found no record but for the accident
of meeting with a wanderer in the mountains of California...” : p. [iii]
– Stamped cloth binding]
#99
[Photograph, 1864]
Brown, Grafton Tyler, 1841-1918
Virginia City, N.T.
Photograph of original lithograph
19.5 x
23.5 cm.
Grafton Tyler Brown was born free, apparently to free parents, in
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in 1841. Brown joined the lithography firm of Kuchel
and Dresel in San Francisco in 1861 where he produced a series of views of
California cities and mining towns. By 1867, he bought the business and renamed
it G.T. Brown and Co. Brown turned to landscape painting in 1872 and traveled
as far north as Victoria, British Columbia, to capture the picturesque
qualities of the Northwest. His sales were limited, however, and in 1896 he
went to St. Paul, where he was employed by the city, and was a draftsman for
the United States Engineers.
#100
[Ambrotype, ca. 1850-60]
[Kansas City family?:
mother, father, three children]
Cased image
14 x 10 cm.
#101
[Photograph, 1870-80?]
[Black U.S. Marshall with
surveyors in the Oklahoma Territories]
Platinum print
10.5 x 16.5
cm.
#102
[Stock certificate, 1875]
Number 500: San
Francisco: 187 -: This certifies that ––- is entitled to
––– shares of the capital stock of the People’s Ice
Company: 300,000 capital dollars, 3,000 shares, $100 each.
Paper,
ink
10.5 x 25 cm.
#103
[Letter, 1878]
Pico, Pio, 1801-1894
[Letter
from Pio Pico to his nephew, D. Francisco (Pancho) Pico, regarding papers for a
horse, dated Sep. 16, 1878, San Fran.co]
Paper, ink
25.5 x 20.5 cm.
[Pio Pico was the last Governor of California under the Mexican
authorities. His birth record lists his mother as having been of African
descent]
#104
[Book, 1912]
Henson, Matthew Alexander, 1866-1955
A Negro explorer at the North Pole / by Matthew A. Henson; with a
foreward by Robert E. Peary [1856-1920]; and an introduction by Booker T.
Washington. – New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1912. – xx, 200
p. : ill.; 19.5 x 13.5 cm.
[Frontispiece: portrait of Matthew A. Henson.
– FORWARD: p. v-viii. – CONTENTS: p. ix-xii. – LIST OF
ILLUSTRATION: p. [xiii]. – INTRODUCTION: p. xv-xx. – APPENDIX I:
Notes on the Esquimos, p. 189-195. – APPENDIX II: List of Smith Sound
Esquimos, p. 196-200. – “... Matthew Henson, next to Commander Peary,
held and still holds the place of honor in the history of the expedition that
finally located the position of the [North] Pole, because he was the best man
for the place.” – p. xvi. – Stamped cloth binding with
photograph of Henson. – Henson, a native of Charles County, Missouri, went
to sea at the age of twelve. Lt. Robert Peary hired him to accompany him on a
survey trip through Nicaragua and then on the first expedition to the North
Pole in 1909. Even with the publication of his autobiography in 1912,
Henson’s contribution to the historic adventure went unrecognized for
years after].
Matthew A. Henson was a Charles County native who went to sea
at the age of twelve. Lt. Robert Peary hired Henson to accompany him on a
survey trip through Nicaragua and then on the first expedition to the North
Pole in 1909. Henson’s contribution to the historic adventure went
unrecognized for years in spite of this 1912 autobiography. The Baltimorean
Herbert Frisby later was later responsible for drawing attention to
Henson’s accomplishments.
SLAVE SONGS & AMERICAN MUSIC
#105
[Book, 1857]
Christy’s Negro songster:
containing the most popular melodies as sung by Christy, Wood, White, Buckley
and other Negro minstrels. – New-York: Richard Marsh, 138 William
Street, 1857. – 248, i.e., [249], [i]-iv p.: ill.; 12 x 8 cm.
[INDEX:
p. [i]-vii. – Pressed cloth binding].
#106
[Book, ca. 1860]
Old Uncle Ned songster.
– Philadelphia; New York; Boston; Baltimore: Fisher & Brothers, No. 8
South Sixth Street; 74 Chatham Street; 71 Court St.; 64 Baltimore St., [ca.
1860] – 41-121, [250] p. : ill.; 11 x 7.5 cm.
[CONTENTS: p. [249-250].
# 107 |
[Book, ca. 1860]
Pop goes the weasel songster.
– Philadelphia; New York; Boston; Baltimore: Fisher & Brothers, No. 8
South Sixth Street; 74 Chatham Street; 71 Court St.; 64 Baltimore St., [ca.
1860] – 167-221, 42-[46] p. : ill.; 11 x 7.5 cm.
[CONTENTS: p.
[44-46]. – Adv. on back cover] |
#108
[Book, ca. 1860]
Uncle True songster. –
Philadelphia; New York; Boston; Baltimore: Fisher & Brothers, No. 8 South
Sixth Street; 74 Chatham Street; 71 Court St.; 64 Baltimore St., [ca. 1860]
– 131–148, 62-[103] p. : ill.; 11 x 7.5 cm.
[CONTENTS: p. [103]
#109
[Sculpture, 1864]
YDELY
[Musician playing
drum, Virginia]
wood
37.5 x 15 x 15 cm.
#110
[Book, 1867]
Allen, William Francis, 1830-1889
Slave songs of the United States / [William Francis Allen, Charles
Pickard Ware, Lucy McKim Garrison]. – New York: A. Simpson & Co.,
1867. – xliv, 115 i.e., [119] p.: 23.5 x 16 cm.
[“The greater
part of the music here presented has been taken down by the editors from the
lips of the colored people themselves...”: p. iii. – “It will be
noticed that we have spoken chiefly of the negroes of the Port Royal Islands,
where most of our observations were made, and most of our materials
collected.”: p. xxiii. – CONTENTS: p. [xxxiv]-xlii. – DIRECTIONS
FOR SINGING: p. xliii. – EDITORS’ NOTE: p. 114-115. – INDEX TO
THE SONGS: p. [119] – Pressed paper binding]
#111
[Book, 1877]
Marsh, J.B.T.
The story of the
Jubilee Singers: with their songs / by J.B.T. Marsh. – 7th ed. –
London: Hodder and Stoughton, 27, Paternoster Row, 1877. – vi, 248 p. :
ill. ; 19.5 x 14 cm
[“...the story of a little company [The Jubilee
Singers] of emancipated slaves who set out to secure, by their singing, the
fabulous sum of $20,000 for the impoverished school [Fisk University,
Nashville, Tennessee] in which they were students”– p. 2. –
Seventh Edition, completing fifty-fourth thousand: – on T-p. –
Frontispiece: original Albumen photograph of [The Jubilee Singers]: M. Porter,
E.W. Watkins, H.D. Alexander, F.J. Loudin, T. Rutlin, Jennie Jackson, Mabel
Lewis, Ella Sheppard, Maggie Carnes, America W. Robinson.– “Jubilee
Songs”: p. [121]-243. – “The Jubilee Singers in the
Netherlands”: p. [244]-248. – Stamped cloth binding]
#112
[Book, 1880]
Marsh, J.B.T.
The story of the
Jubilee Singers: with their songs / by J.B.T. Marsh. – Rev. ed. –
Boston: Houghton, Osgood, 1880. – viii, 243 p. : ill. ;19.5 x 13 cm.
[“...the story of a little company [The Jubilee Singers] of
emancipated slaves who set out to secure, by their singing, the fabulous sum of
$20,000 for the impoverished school [Fisk University, Nashville, Tennessee] in
which they were students”: p. 1. – “Revised Edition, fifty-ninth
thousand” – on T-p. – Frontispiece: [photo of the Jubilee
Singers]: F.J. Loudin, Maggie L. Porter, Jennie Jackson, Mabel R. Lewis, R.A.
Hall, Geroge E. Barrett, Ella Sheppard, Patti Malone. – “Jubilee
Songs”: p. [121]-243. – “Note: This volume is in part an
abridgment of the two Jubilee Histories which were written by the Rev. G.D.
Pike .... The personal histories have been more fully written out, and a large
number of new songs have been added, including several of the most popular
pieces ever given in the Jubilee concerts” – Stamped cloth binding]
#113
[Book, 1880?]
Marsh, J.B.T.
The story of the
Jubilee Singers: with their songs / by J.B.T. Marsh. – Rev. ed. –
Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, [1880?] viii, 265 p. : ill. ;19.5 x 13
cm.
[“...the story of a little company [The Jubilee Singers] of
emancipated slaves who set out to secure, by their singing, the fabulous sum of
$20,000 for the impoverished school [Fisk University, Nashville, Tennessee] in
which they were students”: p. 1. – “Revised Edition,
seventy-fifth thousand” – on T-p. – Frontispiece: The Jubilee
Singers: Geo. E. Barrett, Chas. W. Payne, F.J. Loudin, B.W. Thomas, Patti
Malone, Mattie L. Lawrence, Mabel R. Lewis, Jennie Jackson, Ella Sheppard,
Maggie L. Porter, Laura Wells. – “Jubilee Songs”: p. [121]-265.
– “Note: This volume is in part an abridgment of the two Jubilee
Histories which were written by the Rev. G.D. Pike .... The personal histories
have been more fully written out, and a large number of new songs have been
added, including several of the most popular pieces ever given in the Jubilee
concerts” – “Fist University’s Great Necessity” –
p. [iv]. – Stamped cloth binding]
#114
[Book, 1905]
Coleridge-Taylor, Samuel, 1875-1912
Washington, Booker T., 1856-1915
Twenty-four Negro melodies: Op. 59
/ transcribed for the piano by S. Coleridge-Taylor; with a preface by
Booker T. Washington. – Boston; New York; Chicago; Philadelphia: Oliver
Ditson Company; Chas. H. Ditson & Co.; Lyon & Healy; J. E. Ditson &
Co., 1905. – [xiii], 127 p.: ill.; 32.5 x 24 cm. – (The Musicians
Library: no. 17)
[Photographic portrait of the author: p. [vi]. –
“The Negro Melodies ... have been amplified, harmonized and altered in
other respects to suit the purpose of the book”: p. [xiii]. – The
original melody precedes each transcription. – CONTENTS: Southeast Africa.
– South Africa. – West Africa. – West Indies. – America]
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