Gold Rush Letters of Henry A. Parker

things in proportion. Thursday the 15th inst Fisk & I took up a claim 60 ft square bought us a pick & shovel & commenced mining. After working about an hour in the hot sun F got beat out & gave up & said that he would not dig for $20. per day so long as he could make a living in this city & as for living as they were obliged to then he would not do it, & that he should leave as soon as possible & as they all made up their minds to leave rather than be left alone I made up my mind to do the same although I wished to give it a fair trial which we did not do by any means but we gave it up & sold our tools for $1.50 less than what we paid for them & engaged a man to take us to Stockton again for which place we started for & arrived there Saturday morning. We then looked very much like the charcoal men who pass your house as we were completely covered with dust & dirt from head to foot & we were burned & tanned up so bad that had you seen me at that time you would not have known me. For 30 miles about Stockton the land is as hard as a house floor & is covered with scattering Oaks which look beautifully but owing to the extreme dryness of the roads (there having been neither rain nor dew for 3 months) it is very unpleasant travelling. Our first move on arriving at Stockton was to clean up again which at once gave us new life & energy.

We then looked around for an opportunity to sell our Playing Cards which you will remember I purchased a few of from Col Fisk previous to my leaving home. Fisk disposed of his at a profit of $42. but owing to mine being somewhat soiled & damaged I was obliged to dispose of them at an advance from cost of $15. which was better than nothing.

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At 4 Oclock P.M. we took the boat to San Francisco where we arrived Sunday morning after having been gone a week having made about $40. out of pocket We went directly to our old boarding place Mrs Millers & it again received us a little like home. I will now inform you with regard to my money affairs &c. When I arrived here I had $189. I received for my cards $66. & I shall have after paying this weeks board $100. I have lent Friend Fisk 57 dolls so that my expenses have been $98. & I am now living as economical as possible. I have as yet found nothing to do but shall in the course of the week. One thing is certain. If I was now in the States making a good living & knew what I now do about this country I should by all means stay there & I would not advise anyone to think of coming out here, but as long as I am out here I shall stop a while & try and do something.

I have not as yet Seen Saml Tucker [Samuel P. Tucker] although I learned from Mr Walton that he came down here from the mines while I went up there, stopped here a day or two & then went to some other place but where I cannot learn. Give my love to all my friends & I hope & trust that one of you will write me a good long letter by every mail as a letter from a New England home & friends is acknowledged by all to be the greatest luxury and goes farther to make one happy than any thing to be found in California.

I remain as ever Your Affct Son & Your affct & loving brother H. A. Parker [Henry A. Parker]

P.S. Bro Charles Please write me and give me an account of your school of your focols, garden &c. What do you think of common hens bringing $40 per doz & Eggs $2.50 per Doz. (The mail for Cal. leaves the states on the 5th & 20th of each month.

San Francisco Sunday Morn Aug. 8th/52

My Dear Mother, Sister, & Brother

It is a beautiful morning & as I sat meditating my thoughts as they often do wandered to my distant home — that home where I hope you are all still living in the enjoyment — of good health & happiness.

I still enjoy good health & am getting along very well considering how I am situated but should feel much happier if I could hear from you often as I hope to do as soon as you once hear from me. The mail Steamer is due here now from New York & I expect to hear from you when she arrives.

I have already written you twice — once by the mail of the 15th July & once by the mail of the 31st July & the next mail Steamer leaves here next Saturday the 14th inst when I shall send these few lines which I hope will be acceptable & be answered as soon as convenient — as I long to hear from you very much & to know what is going on in Pepperell & vicinity

We are now having beautiful weather here most of the time with the exception of the disagreeable wind which blows in from the ocean every afternoon. The mornings are beautifully warm & pleasant — until about noon when the wind springs up & blows the sand from the hills back of the city making it very uncomfortable & disagreeable on the streets. There are neither trees nor grass in the city but the streets are all planked so that it is very good travelling about. The city is built on a side hill that slopes gently from the waters edge to the highest summit fronting on

the beautiful harbor of San Francisco into which the city is being fast extended by filling in with the dirt obtained from the hills back & there are now may handsome brick stones where but a year ago large ships floated. A month here is about the same as a year in the states. There is about as much done & one seems to see as much in a month as he would in a year in New York or Boston Five stores are commenced here one week & the next week are occupied by merchants having in the mean time been built & finished. Rents here too amount to as much in a month here as they do in the States in a year. For instance Fisk & I pay for our store which is a room 20 x 50 ft one story 200$ per month or 3000$ a year which would buy a good farm in the town of Pepperell.

The water underneath our Store is about 20 ft deep & we are on the outside street so that there two streets above us that the water flows back under. The building is built on piles driven into the mud until they touch the solid bottom & the lot which it sets on which is the same size as the building is valued at 4000$ although 20 ft under water. We have not as yet got our business fairly started but I think we shall do well soon after the streets are built alongside of our store & if I had a little more money I think I could do a good business here in the Ship Stores & Liquor Trade. So I am going to send to Esq. Jewett for money enough with what I have already had from time to time to make the amount 1500$ for I shall have it any way in about 11 months & I think I may as well have it now & be making 40 or 50 per client on it as to have it lying in his hands & be recieving but 5 percent for it so I should like if you will to have you see him & talk with

him about it & I will also write him & have him send it as he did the other through H. A. Walton. I want to have you also write me how much I have had as you will find it put down in the book where I used to keep my accounts

I have seen Mr Wm Shipley [William Shepley]] two or three times this last week & he tells me that Frank Mason is out here & is clerk in a wholesale Grocery Store. He also told me where Samul Tucker [Samuel P. Tucker] was so that I wrote him day before yesterday. I think Shipley is doing pretty well here now as he has left off drinking & he looks very well.

There has been considerable excitement here for the last 4 or 5 weeks caused by the news of the Presidential Nominations also a depression of business caused by the news of the death of Henry Clay & the stores are now draped with black & there is to be a funeral procession next Tuesday in honor of his memory.

I am now living as economical as possible. I still board at Mrs Millers & get along with two meals per day for which I pay her 7$ per week. We have fitted up some bunks in our store where we sleep. We bought us a Palm Leaf Mattress which with our blankets make us a very good bed & we have lessened our expenses from 15$ to 7$ per week. We do our own washing with the exception of our shirts & we are bound to live as cheap as possible & to make & have money if we can do it. Sunday Eve.

I have just returned from church where I heard an excellent discourse by Rev Mr Hunt of the congregational church. His text was taken from Exodus 20 chap 13 ver. "Thou shall not kill" also Matthew 5 chap [chapter] & a part of the 39 ver "whosoever smites thee on the right-cheek turn to him the other also" The selection of these words was suggested by the fight-