Restrictions to Access

No restrictions. Open for research.

Copyright Notice

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the Daniel Alexander Horn Papers #2984, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Alternate Form of Material

Letters from Panama published (with some omissions) in Hispanic American Historical Review, volume XLI (November 1961).

Acquisitions Information

Purchased from J. A. Horn of Boston, Ga., December 1953-August 1954; received from Mrs. William K. Meadow of Atlanta, Ga., in October 1963.

Sensitive Materials Statement

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

Processed by: SHC Staff, 1960s

Encoded by: Nancy Kaiser, October 2005

Funding from the Watson-Brown Foundation, Inc., supported the encoding of this finding aid.

The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

• Agriculture--Georgia--History--19th century.
• Boston (Ga.)--Social life and customs.
• California--Description and travel.
• California--Social life and customs--19th century.
• Cheraw (S.C.)--Social life and customs.
• Cotton growing--Georgia--History--19th century.
• Diaries.
• Family--South Carolina--Social life and customs.
• Georgia--Climate--History--19th century.
• Horn family.
• Horn, Daniel Alexander, 1818-1891.
• Methodist Church--California--History--19th century.
• Methodist Church--Georgia--History--19th century.
• Panama, Isthmus of (Panama)--Description and travel.
• Plantation life--Georgia.
• Plantation owners--Georgia--Social life and customs--19th century.
• Plantations--Georgia--Thomas County.
• San Francisco (Calif.)--Description and travel.
• San Francisco (Calif.)--Social life and customs.
• Thomas County (Ga.)--Social life and customs--19th century.
• Voyages to the Pacific coast.

Daniel Alexander Horn of South Carolina was an adventurer and planter. He sought his fortune in California in the early 1850s, but later returned to Cheraw, S.C. About 1860, he moved to Thomas County, Ga., where he purchased a large plantation about five miles north of Boston, Ga., and raised grain and cattle until 1875. He then sold the plantation and moved into Boston, where he erected and ran a cotton warehouse, planing mill, and cotton gin, until his death in 1891.

Horn married Isabella McLeod (1825-1875) in 1855. Their children were Daniel, Laurie(?), Nancy Evans, and Dessy. His second wife was Missouri McLeod ("Miss Zue"). Their children were Sandy and Mary.

The collection consists of letters, 1850-1853 (22 items), written by Daniel Alexander Horn to his mother in Cheraw, S.C., and to other members of his family and friends, describing his voyage from New York to the West Coast, his crossing of the Isthmus of Panama, his attempts to make money in the mines of California, and his employment in the growing city of San Francisco. The letters contain his views of business and social conditions in California, law and order, attitudes of the people, the activities of the Methodist Church, the flood of Asian immigrants, climate and health, personal living arrangements, and prices, and include inquiries about affairs at home. Also included is Horn's diary (27 volumes), written at Cheraw, 1855, and in Thomas County, Ga., 1867-1891, concerning his household, planting, farm labor, cattle, weather, social life, and church attendance.