Archives West Finding Aid
Table of Contents
John Marshall McCall papers, 1856-1895
Overview of the Collection
- Creator
- McCall, John Marshall
- Title
- John Marshall McCall papers
- Dates
- 1856-1895 (inclusive)18561895
- Quantity
- 2.5 cubic feet, (4 document cases, 4 custom boxes)
- Collection Number
- Mss 911
- Summary
- Papers of an Oregon soldier and merchant of Ashland, containing materials relating to the First Oregon Cavalry, Fort Klamath, the Central Oregon Military Road, other Oregon road companies, and personal business matters. Includes correspondence, diary, legal papers, and ledgers.
- Repository
-
Oregon Historical Society Research Library
1200 SW Park Avenue
Portland, OR
97205
Telephone: 503-306-5240
Fax: 503-219-2040
libreference@ohs.org - Access Restrictions
-
Collection is open for research.
- Languages
- English
Biographical NoteReturn to Top
John Marshall McCall was an Oregon soldier and businessman. He was the commander of Company A, First Oregon Cavalry; served in the Oregon State Legislature, 1876-1891; and owned businesses in Ashland, Oregon, from 1859-1895. In 1868, he married his first wife, Theresa Applegate; after her death, he remarried, to Mary Anderson Brown, a widow.
Content DescriptionReturn to Top
Papers of John Marshall McCall, a soldier and a merchant of Ashland, Oregon, include materials relating to the First Oregon Cavalry, Fort Klamath, the Central Oregon Military Road, other Oregon road companies, and personal business matters. Included are official military reports and correspondence from McCall's escort duties to the Oregon Central Military Road survey party (1865) and during his service at Fort Klamath in the winter of 1865-1866, as well as a diary relating to a military escort trip. Other military papers include a notebook detailing the cavalry's travel and expenses, along with a narrative addressed to Native people and providing details about the U.S. government's plans for them, February-November 1865; a California telegraph concerning a deserter, James Forrest; correspondence from Fort Klamath, August 30, 1865, with orders to proceed to Indian Springs and meet Captain Kelly, Company C; and news of mail, rations, military plans, and a bill for supplies, February-March 1865.
Papers relating to business and personal affairs include McCall-Applegate family letters, deeds, insurance papers, estate papers of Phoebe Baltimore, records relating to McCall's store in Ashland, the constitution of the Willamette Woolen Manufacturing Company, and material on the Southern Oregon Wagon Road Company and the West Ashland Water Ditch Company.
Use of the CollectionReturn to Top
Alternative Forms Available
Portions of the collection were microfilmed by the Oregon State Library, Salem, and are also available at that repository.
Preferred Citation
John Marshall McCall papers, Mss 911, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
Restrictions on Use
The Oregon Historical Society owns the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from copyright owners.
Administrative InformationReturn to Top
Arrangement
The collection is arranged in five series:
- Series 1: First Oregon Cavalry papers, 1863-1875
- Series 2: Fort Klamath papers, 1865-1866
- Series 3: Oregon Central Military Road papers, 1865
- Series 4: General papers, 1856-1895
- Series 5: Ledgers, 1866-1892
Acquisition Information
Gift of Lydia McCall in January 1958 (Lib. Acc. 7299) with additions via Lawrence C. Merriam in November 1960; gift of Lawrence C. Merriam, November 1984 (Lib. Acc. 17039).
Processing Note
Collection includes materials previously designated Mss 911-1. Collection was processed by Trudy Williams in 2007, and a collection guide was written by Geoffrey B. Wexler. Minor revisions were made to collection guide in May 2024 to conform to current standard.
Bibliography
Journal entries made by John Marshall McCall from July to September 1865, during his escort duties for the Oregon Central Military Road survey party, were published in Oregon Historical Quarterly as part of the article "The First Oregon Cavalry and the Oregon Central Military Road Survey of 1865," by L. C. Merriam, Jr. (Volume 60, No. 1, March 1959, pages 89-124).
Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top
Series 1: First Oregon Cavalry papers, 1863-1875Return to Top
| Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Box | Folder | ||
| 1 | 1 | 1863-1864 | |
| 1 | 2 | 1865 January-June | |
| 1 | 3 | 1866 August-December | |
| 1 | 4 | 1867-1875 | |
| 1 | 5 | undated | |
| 1 | 6 | Pocket notebooks (3 volumes) |
1863; 1865-1866 |
Series 2: Fort Klamath papers, 1865-1866Return to Top
| Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Box | Folder | ||
| 1 | 7 | 1865 October | |
| 1 | 8 | 1865 November | |
| 1 | 9-11 | 1865 December | |
| 1 | 12-13 | 1866 January | |
| 2 | 1-3 | 1866 February | |
| 2 | 4-7 | 1866 March | |
| 2 | 8-10 | 1866 April | |
| 2 | 11-12 | 1866 May | |
| 3 | 1-4 | 1866 June | |
| 3 | 5 | 1866 July |
Series 3: Oregon Central Military Road papers, 1865Return to Top
| Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Box | Folder | ||
| 3 | 6-7 | 1865 July | |
| 3 | 8 | 1865 August | |
| 3 | 9 | 1865 September |
Series 4: General papers, 1856-1895Return to Top
| Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Box | Folder | ||
| 3 | 10 | Business and general papers |
1862; 1868-1869 |
| 3 | 11 | Deeds |
1867-1887 |
| 3 | 12 | Estate of Phoebe Baltimore |
1885-1887 |
| 4 | 1 | Insurance papers |
1874; 1891-1895 |
| 4 | 2 | Journal of escort |
1862-1863 |
| 4 | 3 | Letters from "Miranda" |
1860-1864 |
| 4 | 4 | McCall-Applegate family letters |
1856-1894 |
| 4 | 5 | Modoc war |
1872-1875 |
| 4 | 6 | Notebook, account book, papers, Ashland store |
1864-1866 |
| 4 | 7 | Road company papers |
1868-1874 |
| 4 | 8 | Willamette Woolen Manufacturing Company--Constitution and transmittal letter |
1856; 1867 |
Series 5: Ledgers, 1866-1892Return to Top
| Container(s) | Description | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Box | ||
| 5 | Record book |
1866 |
| 6 | Record book |
1868 |
| 7 | Financial journal |
1890 |
| 8 | Day book |
1892 |
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Merchants--Oregon--Ashland
- Roads--Oregon
- Soldiers--Oregon
- Water-supply--Oregon--Ashland
Personal Names
- Baltimore, Phoebe--Estate
- McCall, John Marshall
Corporate Names
- Oregon Central Military Road Company (Eugene, Or.)
- Southern Oregon Wagon Road Company
- United States. Army. Oregon Cavalry Regiment, 1st (1861-1866)
- West Ashland Water Ditch Company
- Willamette Wool Manufacturing Company
Family Names
- Applegate family
- McCall family
Geographical Names
- Fort Klamath (Or.)
Form or Genre Terms
- correspondence
- financial records
- notebooks
- reports
