Letter signed Thos. Gray [Thomas Gray], San Francisco, to John F. Darby. Encloses a list of names of people he has gotten to subscribe to Darby’s book. Many St. Louis people in San Francisco have died or moved away. If Darby’s book is not written yet, Gray could give him some items about St. Louis men. Describes Russell Farnum’s trip overland to St. Petersburgh, Russia. Farnum was working for John Jacob Astor, and presented claims of Astor to Russians. He was made partner by Astor. Farnum died of cholera in 1832. (2 items) [filed in 1880 Jan-June], 1880 Apr 28

Item — Box: 5, Folder: 3

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

From the Collection:

This collection consists largely of the papers of John F. Darby and his wife Mary F. Darby, and relates mostly to the political, social, and business history of St. Louis. The papers also include family correspondence with relatives in North Carolina, Kentucky, and Missouri, and correspondence regarding legal and business matters. Of special note are the minute books of the Jefferson Society and the St. Louis Debating Club (1827-1828), both regional debating societies of which Darby was a member; letters of Mary F. Darby; correspondence with Montgomery Blair, William T. Sherman, and George Caleb Bingham; and fragments of a history of the Mormons by John Corrill, dated 1839.