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This journal contains a narrative account of John H. Parsell's journey from New York to California, via Panama and Mexico, in late 1875, including a description of San Francisco, California. Parsell wrote the account for his "Uncle Peter" in August 1876.

This journal (57 pages) contains a narrative account of John H. Parsell's journey from New York to California, via Panama and Mexico, in late 1875, including a description of San Francisco, California. He wrote the manuscript on pages numbered 33-89; the remaining pages have been torn out of the volume.

The first section (pages 33-61) is comprised of Parsell's travel recollections, which he composed for his uncle beginning on August 19, 1876. On November 30, 1875, Parsell boarded the steamer Colon, bound for Panama. After reaching Panama on December 10, 1875, he took a train across the isthmus to Panama City, where he boarded the steamer Grenada, bound for Mexico and California. On December 24, 1875, he arrived in San Francisco. Parsell commented on ocean travel and life at sea, such as the religious thoughts that ocean travel inspired in him, the racial composition of the ships' crews, the night sky and navigation, and the flora and fauna of the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean. He remarked on scenery along the coasts of the United States, Bahamas, Cuba, Panama, Nicaragua, and Mexico, and described the following cities where his ships docked: Aspinwall (now Colón) and Panama City, Panama; and Acapulco, Manzanillo, and Mazatlan, Mexico. In Acapulco, he mentioned the merchants who sailed alongside departing ships selling goods to passengers (p. 54), and he later shared his distaste for Catholic priests and countries that embraced Catholicism (p. 57).

On pages 61-89, Parsell described life in San Francisco, discussing the prevalence of divorce, popular leisure activities, restaurants and saloons, the city's public squares and churches, and the cable cars. He provided a description Chinatown and the city's Chinese population, commenting on relationships between Chinese immigrants and other segments of the population, religious customs in Chinatown, and ethnic theater performances. The final pages concern Parsell's visit to a friend in Santa Rosa, California.

The San Francisco Earthquake photograph album contains 48 photographs showing the aftermath of the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco.

The San Francisco Earthquake photograph album contains 48 photographs showing the aftermath of the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco. The album (27 x 18 cm) has pebbled black cloth covers and includes a laid in handwritten table of contents. Images include views of ruins of City Hall, the Crosby Building, the Granada Hotel, and Grace Church; temporary tent and tin-shack housing; a tent camp in Golden Gate Park; people cooking on the street using makeshift stoves; views showing the devastation of Russian Hill, North Beach, Chinatown, and Telegraph Hill; a group of men playing checkers in the street; a hospital tent; a crowd lining up in front of a tent with the sign, "W.C.T.U. Free Reading Room"; a young African American girl sitting beside a tent with an infant in a box beside her; and an African American man sitting in a tin shack with the sign, "Show Maker."