1873-1883 –A ten-year correspondence collection from a future head librarian of the University of Nevada updates his cousin on a periodic basis after his pioneering family emigrated to California by covered wagon

California, 1883. Envelope or Cover. Very good. These four letters were sent by Joseph D. (Dieffenbach) Layman in California to his cousin, John E. Dieffenbach in Pulaski, Iowa. The letters are enclosed in their original mailing envelopes. All of the letters and two of the envelopes are in nice shape; one of the envelopes has significant foxing, and one has some light blue toning.

The correspondence begins with Joseph reporting that he and his sister are attending primary school and ends with him reporting that he has become a teacher and is considering enrolling in college. They read in part:

7 Dec 1873 – Plainsburg, Merced Co., California. Two-page letter. Mailing envelope is franked with a two-cent Washington stamp (Scott #147).

“I take pen in hand to let you know how we are getting along in California. We are all pretty well at the present time. . .. The ground is ready to plow as soon as the top dries off a little so that it will not [be] so muddy. We are living in the same rental house that we had rented two years ago but it has been built on [and] we have more room than we had then. Mary and I go to school. [She] is in the fourth reader [and] pretty far advanced in arithmetic and she is in Montheith’s Primary Geography, she writes also. I read and spell in the sixth reader. I am in Progressive Practical Arithmetic, I study Montheith’s Physical and Political Geography and I also write. I have a few ducks now, last year I bought four [and then] two more. [Now,] I have seven. . .. I did not have good luck [selling them] last year. . .. This year I made six dollars and some cents clear off of my ducks. . .. It snowed a little last Wednesday . . . and Mary came home pretty near freezing her hands and feet. . .. We expect [my Aunt Anna] over here on Christmas. . .. I wish that Santa Clause will treat you all well, for he was pretty kind last Christmas here. . .. Mary is [now] singing so much that I can barely write. . ..”

30 Dec 1877 – Lakeport, Lake Co., California. Three-page letter plus a fourth page, written in a different hand, in what appears to be a difficult-to-decipher cramped German script (perhaps docketing by Diffenbach or one of his family members). The letter is enclosed in a three-cent postal stationery envelope (Scott #U83) cancelled with a “TS” handprint identified by a previous owner as a scarce stagecoach cancellation.

“We are all pretty well. . .. Crops are about all in and look splendid. . .. I have made some garden yesterday. I transplanted some lettuce and mustard. . .. I went hunting a few times this winder and killed only one duck. Santa Claus was around this year as usual. He left us all some cany nuts stockings and a raw potatoe apiece. Besides this little Daniel got a tin cow. Johnny got a tiger and a pair of shoes. Mary got a china teacup saucer & plate. I got a linen collar and handkerchief. Ma got a half dozen of sauce dishes. In town there were two christmas trees but we did not go to either of them. There was a ball on Christmas night in Lakeport. . .. School commences again next Wednesday. I study Latin Geometry and Algebra. . .. Mary has not gone to school any this winter. . ..”

25 May 1879 – Lakeport, Lake Co., California. Four-page letter. Enclosed in a three-cent postal stationery envelope (Scott #U83).

“Our winter is hardly over yet. It has rained a little almost every week since Easter. And a little while ago we had a frost which done considerable damage to the corn and potatoes and the grapevines. I think the crop of grapes will be light. . .. In some parts of the state the grain crop will be very light, but here . . . big crops are expected. . .. I have been going to school since last September. . .. There was an excursion and picnic. The people went across the lake on a scow steamer. I was told that they had music and a splendid time. No one from our family went. . .. I have but one classmate and he is about one half of a year older than myself. . .. The students of my school have formed themselves into a literary society [with] about ten members. . .. We have a few hives of bees here. They have sent out three swarms already. I hived two of them. But one left after I hived it. So I have only one new one left. . .. Mother has been tending to her chickens and turkeys. . .. Johnny is learning to milk [our] five milking cows. . ..”

30 May 1883 – Middletown, Lake Co. California. Two-page letter. Enclosed in a three-cent postal stationery envelope (Scott #U163).

“I am now teaching again in Loconomi School District. My term will be out here in about a month, then after a short vacation I want to go off somewhere to school myself. I feel that my education is not nearly yet completed. When I heard from home last the folks were all well. The were still living in Lakeport although father has been looking around for some other place. . .. We are later than usual with our haying, but now at last we are all at it. Machines for cutting are in demand. . .. Yesterday the school girls thought it was time to scrub the school room floor and so they did it and it’s slow drying. . .. The boys go out fishing occasionally and bring home a mess of mountain trout. . .. A week ago last Saturday, I walked about 7 miles into a neighboring school district where a Lakeport friend of mine is teaching. She has a school of two dozen scholars. Last week some of my little boys and girls got to rubbing poison oak over their hands and faces and consequently part of them got poisoned and one so badly that she is not coming to school yet this week. . ..”

. Layman did, indeed, continue his education. He entered the University of California at Berkeley later in 1883 and, after graduation, served as the school’s assistant librarian for 19 years. He was then selected to become the head librarian at the University of Nevada. He left Reno and retired to Oakland in 1929 where he remained interested in librarianship. Following his wife’s death in 1942, he became the director of Fairmont Hospital Library at age 80 and served in that position until he retired again in 1958 at age 96. Layman died three years later in 1962, shortly before his 100th birthday.

An entertaining and informational set of letters about the early one-room school house education that prepared a young man to graduate from the University of California and eventually become the head librarian of an important state university.

(For more information, see Joseph Dieffenbach Layman at ancestry.com and the Find-A-Grave websites.)

At the time of listing, nothing similar is for sale in the trade; the Rare Book Hub shows nothing similar has appeared at auction, and OCLC shows nothing similar in any institutional collection.