San Francisco Custom House records

The San Francisco Custom House Records, housed in 5 boxes and comprising 4.14 linear feet, consist of four series: Appraiser's Reports,Coasting Manifests,Merchandise Entry Papers, and Other Documents. The collection, which spans the dates 1850-1861, consists of printed forms accomplished in manuscript detailing ship names, captains, ports and dates of departure, cargo, worth of cargo, date of entry into the port of San Francisco, and memos written by appraisers and collectors. The cargo includes foodstuffs, clothing, liquor, lumber and other building supplies, and leisure articles. The ships carrying the cargo hail from parts of the United States and Europe, South America, Asia, the Pacific Islands, and Australia.

Series I, Appraiser's Reports (1851-1861), housed in box 1, consists of appraisals of cargo entering the port of San Francisco, predominantly in 1851 and 1853. Appraisals were done in the absence of an invoice for goods or when the cargo had been damaged. Included are original invoices, and printed oaths signed by captains or owners swearing that there is no invoice for the goods shipped. The reports are arranged in chronological order.

Series II, Coasting Manifests (1851-1853), housed in box 2, consists of over 100 manifests for cargo laden at the Port of San Francisco, and destined for domestic points along the west coast, including San Diego, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Sacramento, Stockton, Benicia, Astoria, and Portland. Over half of the manifests are dated August 1851. Cargo includes foodstuffs, clothing, ballast [on ships outbound from San Francisco], liquor, and building materials. The series is organized into manifests for ships bound from San Francisco and bound to San Francisco. Within these subseries, they are arranged chronologically.

Series III, Merchandise Entry Papers (1850-1858), housed in box 3, is organized in two subseries: Import Entries and Warehouse Entries. Each subseries is arranged chronologically by date of entry. Import Entries consists of over 100 certificates, predominantly from 1851, documenting the declaration and taxation of cargo shipments from foreign ports. Oaths signed by the owner or consignee are printed on the verso. Entry documents for domestically produced merchandise returning from abroad are also present. Warehouse Entries consists of seven entry certificates documenting the deposit of imported goods, mostly liquors and foodstuffs, into warehouses in 1850 and 1851. The entries include details about the valuation of merchandise upon withdrawal.

Series IV, Other Documents (1851-1860), housed in box 4, includes inspectors' returns, various kinds of manifests, passenger returns, receipts, vessel certificates, and other documents. The series is arranged alphabetically by type of material, and most documents are dated 1850 and 1851. Also present is a carte-de-visite photograph of an unidentified man, a document granting power of attorney to N. M. Roberts for the shipping firm of Falkner, Bell & Co., and an earlier description of the Custom House Records which outlines the collection's potential for social and economic research. Oaths, certificates and invoices which have become detached from their parent documents are housed as fragments (folder 43).

Oversize contains material from Series I-IV, and is organized in box order.