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CA -El Dorado County - 1897-1911 - Correspondence and Letter Archive from Myron Angel to M.D. Fa

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Western Americana Start Price:7,500.00 USD Estimated At:15,000.00 - 20,000.00 USD
CA -El Dorado County - 1897-1911 - Correspondence and Letter Archive from Myron Angel to M.D. Fa
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Lot of 60 handwritten letters, which date from 1897 to 1911, from California/Nevada Historian Myron Angel, of San Luis Obispo, to his first cousin, Mahlon Dickerson Fairchild, of San Francisco and Placerville. This is an incredibly important and publishable collection describing and discussing many of the important personalities and events of the Gold Rush, as well as modern musings of his life at San Luis Obispo. These letters come at the close of their lives, when Angel and Fairchild are lonesome for word from each other. As cousins they were very close. They reminisce about their days as 49ers and the people they knew along the way such as John Daggett. Angel talked about two books he was readying for publishing: "Painted Rock" and one on the history of California Polytechnic School. They were both published in 1910. In their exchanges of 1906, the San Francisco earthquake was the topic of conversation for a while. Angel offered his home to Fairchild and his family, but they did not take him up on the offer. Angel wrote up until the end of his life. His letters here are in a steady hand that did not change with age and illness. He talked about his illness, not being able to walk long distances as both his arms and shoulders hurt when he did, and he became quite exhausted as well. His days of traveling were at an end. The cousins would not ever see each other again. There is talk of his Christian Science faith healing him but he also took heart pills the doctor prescribed. Fairchild's daughter, Lucille, is a healer in the faith. He tried her concoction of chili peppers on his chest and it seemed to give him relief. But not enough relief to come to San Francisco and brave the chilled weather there. On 2 June 1911 Angel wrote "the fact is, with my oft recurring pains, I feel as if each letter may be my last" and this one apparently was. The next and last letter in the group is from his wife, Carrie, who was much younger than he, thanking Fairchild for sending a copy of a memoriam the Society of California Pioneers published on Angel. She says he was a wonderful husband, and her "heart [was] very lonely."

Also included in this lot are the covers that accompany most of the letters plus other covers without letters. There are newspaper articles on various subjects, other letters to Fairchild from Angel's travels to New York state, where they grew up, and Washington D. C. There is one sketch of a bull fight from Angel's point of view. About the picture he wrote "Carrie says I'm a failure" as an artist. This might be one of the few surviving sketches Angel ever drew. An important collection that makes Angel human and personable.