Thomas Nelson letters from Oregon, 1851-1853

Letters documenting Thomas Nelson's voyage to, and life in, Oregon City, Oregon, where he served as an Oregon Territory Supreme Court judge, written to his wife Cornelia and their children in Peekskill, New York, from 1851 Mar 20 to 1853 Jul 16. Nelson describes his voyage from New York to Oregon City, via Panama, San Diego, San Francisco, Vancouver, and Astoria and Portland, Oregon, on board the steamships California and Columbia; his fellow passengers; meeting friends in San Francisco; and his introduction to life on the Oregon frontier

He comments on his social, religious, and leisure activities and that of others; his young brother-in-law Allen Seymour, a surveyor's assistant; his investment in commercial ventures; visits to San Francisco; the discovery of gold in Oregon; behavior and customs of American Indians of the region; and cases over which he presided, including those between whites and Natives. Nelson also describes the development of intense political debates between factions led by Orville C. Pratt and Governor John Pollard Gaines regarding the location of the Oregon Territory capital, which eventually resulted in Nelson's removal from office in 1853

Nelson's letters also express regret for his absence from home and concern that his wife is raising their children properly and visiting his parents regularly. Accompanying the letters to his family is an ALS dated 1851 Oct 13, from Nelson to his father-in-law, David Seymour, regarding his son Allen; an ALS to Nelson from Francis A. Chenoweth dated 1853 Oct 4, Cascade, regarding the political activities in Oregon; a copy of a 1745 letter from Benjamin Franklin to an unidentified recipient concerning marriage which Nelson copied in 1889 from a TL copy; and a TMS by John Currey entitled "Andre and His Captors," dated 1901 May. Two typed transcripts of Nelson's letters to his family, one entitled, "Dear Cornelia," also accompany the papers