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Jonathan Warner papers

 Collection
Call Number: WA MSS S-2925

Scope and Contents

Papers of Jonathan Warner and his family from Jefferson, Ashtabula County, Ohio, 1836-1887. Correspondence documents the activities of Warner's immediate and extended family, including their opinions on sectionalism and slavery. The collection includes letters written by his brother, George Washington Warner, which document his emigration to California in 1852, as well as his activities in Washington Territory and Idaho Territory until 1865. Business records in the collection chiefly consist of deeds, contracts, and other legal instruments related to real estate transactions in Ashtabula County, as well as property tax assessments.

The collection includes a letter from Jonathan Warner's cousin Matthew Griswold Warner in January 1852, which discusses the activities of another cousin, Jonathan Trumbull Warner, also known as Juan Jose Warner, in Agua Caliente, California. The letter details conflict with American Indians led by a Cupeño Indian, Antonio Garra, during the Yuma War, 1850-1853.

Letters by George Washington Warner describe his voyage to California via Panama in March-April 1852, as well as a subsequent visit with Juan José Warner. His later correspondence discusses gold mining in California at Gold Hill in Nevada County, as well as near Trinidad and near the Klamath River in Humboldt County. Realia in the collection includes a small gold nugget, presumably mined by Warner. In letters from 1863 to 1865, Warner discusses his work driving mule teams between Walla Walla, Washington Territory, and Boise, Idaho Territory.

A group of correspondence with extended family and others, 1884-1886, relate to efforts by the Warner family to receive spoliation claim money from the French related to their capture of the brig Matilda during the Quasi-War between the United States and France.

Dates

  • 1836-1887

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

The materials are open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

The Jonathan Warner Papers is the physical property of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, consult the appropriate curator.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Purchased from William Reese Company (Cowan's Auctions' sale, 2009 December 9, lot 349) on the William Robertson Coe Fund No. 3, 2010.

Arrangement

Organized into three series: I. Correspondence, 1836-1887. II. Business and Property Records, 1840-1887. III. Realia, circa 1860-circa 1870.

Extent

1.34 Linear Feet (5 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Catalog Record

A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog

Persistent URL

https://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/beinecke.warnerjonathan

Abstract

Papers of Jonathan Warner and his family of Jefferson in Ashtabula County, Ohio, 1836-1887. Correspondence documents the activities of Warner's immediate and extended family, and documents their opinions on sectionalism and slavery. The collection includes letters written by his brother, George Washington Warner, which document his emigration to California in 1852, as well as his activities in Washington Territory and Idaho Territory until 1865. Business records in the collection chiefly consist of deeds, contracts, and other legal instruments related to real estate transactions in Ashtabula County, as well as property tax assessments.

Jonathan Warner, IV (1812-1888)

Jonathan Warner, IV, also known as Jonathan Warner, Jr., was a farmer and landowner in Jefferson, Ohio. He was the son of Nancy Frethy Warner (1789-1881) and Jonathan Warner, III (1782-1862), who was the recorder of deeds (1815-1822) and treasurer (1825) for Ashtabula County, as well as a member of the the Ohio House of Representatives in 1831 and an Associate Judge of the Court of Common Pleas from 1839 to 1846. Warner had ten siblings, including a brother with the same name who died in infancy: Nancy Warner Holman (1808-1885), Phebe Warner King (1815-1893), Adeline Lovina Warner Ranney (1818-1900), Jane Warner Starr (1820-1892), Louisa Warner Simonds (1823-1899), George Washington Warner (1825-1877), Isabelle "Bell" Warner Moore Ducro (1828-1913), Francis H. Warner (1831-1904), and Charles Ely Warner (1834-1906).

In 1839, Warner married Lydia Allen Warner (1815-1843). After the death of his first wife, he married Catherine Krum Warner (1821-1885) in 1848, and they had three children: Flora Isabel Warner Ives (1850-1942), Lena Evelyn Warner Pritchard (1858-1938), and Howard Jonathan Warner (1860-1940).

George Washington Warner (1825-1877)

George Washington Warner was a brother of Jonathan Warner, Jr. He worked in gold mines near the Klamath River in northern California and around Walla Walla, Washington. He eventually operated a farm and raised livestock in Wallula, Washington. In 1872, he married Matilda Ann Burdett Warner (1849-1930), and they had two children, Jessie Louise Warner Kuhlenecamp (1873-1954) and George Washington Warner, Jr. (1875-1963). He died from a gunshot wound while hunting.

Processing Information

Collections are processed to a variety of levels, depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived research value, the availability of staff, competing priorities, and whether or not further accruals are expected. The library attempts to provide a basic level of preservation and access for all collections, and does more extensive processing of higher priority collections as time and resources permit.

Title
Guide to the Jonathan Warner Papers
Author
by Matthew Daniel Mason
Date
2014
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English.

Part of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library Repository

Contact:
P. O. Box 208330
New Haven CT 06520-8330 US
(203) 432-2977

Location

121 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06511

Opening Hours

Access Information

The Beinecke Library is open to all Yale University students and faculty, and visiting researchers whose work requires use of its special collections. You will need to bring appropriate photo ID the first time you register. Beinecke is a non-circulating, closed stack library. Paging is done by library staff during business hours. You can request collection material online at least two business days in advance of your visit, using the request links in Archives at Yale. For more information, please see Planning Your Research Visit and consult the Reading Room Policies prior to visiting the library.