Wolfe Family Papers

The Wolfe family collection contains letters, a scrapbook, and two autograph books created by members of the Wolfe family of Happy Camp, California and Lehman, Pennsylvania in the 19th and early 20th Centuries. The family may have also lived in other locations in the U.S. The 1890s letters are predominantly from Henry Wolfe in California to his brother Alonzo Wolfe in Pennsylvania with letters to a cousin as well. Documents in the collection also mention William Wolfe, Sarah Wolfe, and other members of the family.

Henry Wolfe moved to Happy Camp, California where he was initially involved with a mining operation. He describes the scenery, hunting, sending deer skins back to his brother, and life in rural California. Six letters were also mailed from Centerville and Ontario, California. A cousin sent a detailed letter from Kansas after arriving there by train. This letter mentions tramps living in tents outside of Kansas City, the property they purchased, and other information. The collection also includes an 1845 letter from Sarah Wolfe to William Wolfe with details about attending a party and Nancy Rogers in Plymouth Township. There is also an 1845 document for William Wolfe to acquire 85 acres of land in Lake Township. The autograph books from the 1880s belonged to Alonzo Wolfe and a female member of the Wolfe family and contains inscriptions of people from Pennsylvania, Vermont, Texas, and Nebraska. Finally, a scrapbook from approximately the 1920s includes many photographs with some identified as Worchester and Philadelphia.

Excerpts from some of the letters provided by the seller:

"Happy Camp, CA Nov 26, 1880

"Dear Brother,

"I received your letters a week ago Pat is squalling because he has to go to bed. We are now having some quite cold weather it freezes ice around the water every night. Tomorrow will finish the flume all but the walk, we have been at it since the 23rd of August almost every day. It will take almost every day. It will take another month to get ready to mine. Have got about 1000 feet of pipe to make which will take two men a couple of weeks. The water may not come till February It has been very nice weather for our work. The deer are thick here we saw a big buck this morning close by. I was close enough to have punched him with my six shooter if I had it. He stood and looked at me for a while. When I pack my gun I see no deer.

"I want to get a couple of bear hides as a robe. What are you going to do this winter?

"Centerville CA

"Oct 13, 1880

"Dear Brother,

"I received your letter tonight and will answer it right away we left Wadsworth Monday night half past nine, and arrived at Truckee in the morning after we got on the Nevada it snowed and, as we came down it rained hard till we got nearly to Sacramento Niles was not on the road The emigrant train went. So we went right on to San Francisco.

"Kansas City MO

"Oct 30, 1881

"Pa expects to build in the spring. He intends to build a brick house. Really I like everything here better than I expected. Some parts of the city are Horrid !

"It is hills and holes. Shanty and tents. Pa and I walked out about a mile and a half from home Sunday and we came across what are called first class tramps.

"They put out little tents or live in wagons as long as they choose and than pull up and move elsewhere.

"The most unpleasant part of my journey was crossing the Mississippi River. It was very high and had overflowed a great amount of land. We arrived at Quency about dusk and there the train stopped until day light. We all slept as best we could on the seats. They did not dare to cross the river after dark. We had to cross seven miles of waters

"Most of the track was under water. It took five hours to go seven miles."