Descriptive SummaryVault MSS 812Philip Leget Edwards (1812-1869) Collection
Edwards, Philip Leget, 1812-1869L. Tom Perry Special Collections1 BoxPhilip Leget Edwards was
born in Kentucky on 14 July 1812. In about 1824, he and his family moved to Old
Franklin, Missouri. Ten years later, Edwards joined Jason Lee’s missionary
party and went with them to Oregon. During the winter of 1835-1836, he taught
at a small school near Champoeg. He also served as treasurer of the Willamette
Cattle Company, as well as being a member of the Oregon Temperance
Society.This collection contains letters,
pamphlets, and books, with information concerning Philip L. Edwards. The
material ranges, for the most part, between the years 1834-1842.ProvenanceThe material in this collection was found in the papers of Dean
Larsen, who passed away in June 2002.
AccessOpen for public use.
Conditions of UseIt is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary
copyright clearances.
Permission to publish material from Philip Leget Edwards (1812-1869)
Collection must be obtained from the Supervisor of Reference Services and/or
the Special Collections Board of Curators.
Preferred CitationInitial Citation: Vault MSS 812; Philip
Leget Edwards (1812-1869) Collection; 19th Century Western and Mormon
Americana; L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham
Young University.
Following Citations: Vault MSS 812,
LTPSC.
Biographical HistoryPhilip Leget Edwards
Philip Leget Edwards was born in Kentucky on 14 July 1812. In about
1824, he and his family moved to Old Franklin, Missouri. Ten years later,
Edwards joined Jason Lee’s missionary party and went with them to Oregon.
During the winter of 1835-1836, he taught at a small school near Champoeg. He
also served as treasurer of the Willamette Cattle Company, as well as being a
member of the Oregon Temperance Society.
Edwards drafted a document called the Oregon Memorial of 1838. In
1838, he traveled East with Jason Lee and five young Indians to his old home in
Missouri. There he studied law and, in 1839, was admitted to the bar. Three
years later, he was elected to the State Legislature. He continued practicing
law in Missouri until 1850, at which time he moved to California and settled in
Nevada County. There he began to engage in politics, first in the Whig party,
then later as a Republican. In 1855, he was sent to the Legislature of
California as a representative from Sacramento. He died in Sacramento on 1 May
1869.
Finis Young Ewing
Finis Young Ewing was born on 19 October 1811, in Logan, Kentucky, to
Finis and Peggy (Davidson) Ewing. He became a merchant and clerk of Laclede
County, Missouri, in 1821, while his family lived at New Lebanon, Missouri. In
1837, Ewing traveled cross country to the Pacific Northwest, returning in 1838.
He engaged again in commerce and later became a trustee of Russell, Majors, and
Waddell, shippers of freight between Salt Lake City and the East. He resigned
his position as a trustee in 1861. He was married to Jane T. Price. Finis Young
Ewing died in 1891.
John Bidwell
John Bidwell was born on 5 August 1819, in Chautauqua County, New
York. He attended and then taught schools in Ohio, after which he moved to
Missouri. In 1841, he traveled with the first group of settlers to go from the
Missouri River to California. He then went to work for John Sutter. After gold
was discovered at Sutter’s Fort, Bidwell discovered metal on the Feather River.
In 1849, he acquired 22,000 acres of land near Sacramento, and became the
best-known agriculturalist in California. He was active in politics and was a
supporter of the transcontinental railroad. John Bidwell died on 4 April
1900.
Scope and Content NoteThis collection contains letters, pamphlets, and books, with
information concerning Philip L. Edwards. The material ranges, for the most
part, between the years 1834-1842.
Biographical InformationBrosnan, Cornelius J. “The Signers of the Oregon Memorial of 1838.”
The Washington Historical Quarterly, vol. 24 July 1933: 178.
Edwards, Philip L. California In 1837, Diary of Colonel Philip
L. Edwards. Sacramento: A. J. Johnston & Co., 1890. (Copy in folder
5, with marginal notes by John Bidwell.)
Edwards, Philip L. The Diary of Philip Leget Edwards: The Great
Cattle Drive from California to Oregon in 1837. San Francisco: Grabhorn
Press, 1932. (Copy in folder 7.)
Thrapp, Dan L. Encyclopedia of Frontier Biography.
Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 1988. Vol. 1, p. 106.
Subject TracingsPeopleEdwards, Philip Leget, 1812-1869Ewing, Finis YoungBidwell, JohnGenre/FormLettersContainer ListInventoryInventoryBoxFolderItemContents
11Niles’ Weekly Register.
September 1834 - March 1835. (456 pp.)
Contains “Political, historical geographical, scientifical, statistical,
economical, and biographical documents, essays and facts, together with notices
of the arts and manufactures and a record of the events of the times.” Binding
is very loose. Front and back covers are detached. Letter from P. L. Edwards,
23 June 1834, is on page 92.The original has been transferred to Americana. In this folder
is a photocopy of the Philip L. Edwards letter, as well as a photocopy of an
article, from an unknown source, describing the Edwards letter. This second
photocopy was found in Niles’ Weekly Register, inserted in page
92.
12Letter to F. Y. Ewing from P. L. Edwards, Ft. Vancouver,
25 November 1837, 4 pp., original
manuscript. Concerns several questions F. Y. Ewing had relating to California
and the state of affairs there.13Photographs of the letter above, to F. Y. Ewing from P.
L. Edwards,
25 November 1837, Fort Vancouver. (4
pp.)14Correspondence to F. Y. Ewing (photocopies and/or
typescripts):141From John M. McLord, Ft. Vancouver,
27th November 1837; photocopy and
typescript.142From Donald McLean, Fort Boisse’es,
24th January 1838; photocopy and
typescript.143From Joseph Shing, Ship Neumiede [?],
13th February 1838; photocopy and
typescript.144From Marcus Whitman, “Wiilatpoo” (Waiilatpu),
20th February 1838; photocopy and
typescript.145From John McLoughlin, Walla Walla,
29th March 1838; photocopy and
typescript.146From William H. Russell, Lexington, Missouri,
7th April 1838; photocopy and
typescript.147From Marcus Whitman, “Wiilatpoo” (Waiilatpu),
17th April 1838; photocopy and
typescript.148From H. H. Spaulding, Nez Perces Mission, Clear Water
River,
26th April 1838; photocopy and
typescript.149Enlarged photocopy of a letter from F.Y. Ewing to his
father, Fort Vancouver,
19 Oct 1837. 2 copies. One copy of a regular
size photocopy of the same letter.1410Photocopy of the letter from P. L. Edwards to F. Ewing,
Ft. Vancouver,
25 November 1837, and several typescripts of
the letter.1411Rough draft of a bio on Philip Leget Edwards, 2
copies.151California In1837, Diary of Colonel
Philip L. Edwards. Sacramento: A. J. Johnston & Co.,
1890. Boxed copy, 5 x 6 ½ x ½ inches. Rare
book, belonged to W. J. Davis, contains marginal notes by John Bidwell.
Inserted in the front of the book is a short description of the value of the
book.152Copy of a letter from John Bidwell to Col. Anderson,
written
19 May 1891, Chico, California, found in the
book described above. Bidwell thanks Anderson for the book and briefly
discusses it.161“Colonel Philip Leget Edwards and his Influence upon
Early Migration to the Far West.” Reprinted from the California Historical
Society Quarterly, Vol. III, no.
1, April 1924.162“Sketch of the Oregon Territory, or, Emigrant’s Guide,”
by P.L. Edwards, Esq., Liberty, Missouri,
1842. Printed letter from P.L. Edwards to T.
M. Bacon, describing the conditions of the route to Oregon. 2
copies.17The Diary of Philip Leget Edwards: The Great
Cattle Drive from California to Oregon in1837. San Francisco: Grabhorn
Press, 1932. Introduction by Douglas S. Watson.18“A Bibliography of Missouri County Histories and
Atlases,” by Paul O. Selby.