Name/Title
LedgerEntry/Object ID
1986.010.0283Scope and Content
This is a ledger showing business papers of a Notary Public in Benicia named William S Wells. I think this William S Wells is the same as the person shown in the 1860 and 1870 census record for Suisun. He was born about 1824 in Maine. He married Elizabeth O. Wells born about 1828 in Massachusetts. They had at least one child named William S Wells born 1862 in California.
One item in the ledger is an account of a ship called the Atlantic of Sulea and her voyage from Bristol to Rio de Janerio and then San Francisco on 11/16/1857. It details the damage the ship incurred on the voyage and attests that it was not the fault of the crew:
Captain Otto August Carlestein
2nd Mate Andres Johan Hallstrom
Carpenter Johan Lundquest
Carpenter Mathias Seversen
Also included in the ledger are tipped in copies of various legal documents. Most of the ledger lists summaries of actions that Mr. Wells has notarized. It includes transfers of land and monies to administering oaths of allegiance. The actions include people from San Francisco to Green Valley and Fairfield. One name that might be recognized is S.C. Hastings of Benicia.
The ledger seems to have changed hands first on 06/02/1862 to E.E. Hathaway and then on 01/16/1866 to a new Notary Public named William S Dryden.Collection
Benicia Historical Museum Collection
