Autograph Letter Regarding an Elopement in Gold Rush Era San Francisco

San Francisco: 1853. Bifolium, 10 x 8", 4 pp of ink manuscript, dated December 15, 1853 at San Francisco. A letter from Alexander M. Schell to his sister, detailing his elopement with a younger woman, Mary L. Durie, and the anger of Durie's mother upon hearing of the marriage. Schell was born in New Jersey in 1827, and came to San Francisco in 1849, where he worked as a deputy clerk in the United States District Court. At the time of their marriage, Schell was 29 and Durie was "Age 17 years 6 mos. Height 5 feet 1 inch black eyes & hair and the sweetest mouth, hands & feet you ever saw...." Schell lived with Durie's mother "Mrs. Shepperd...a dreadful termagent and seemed never to tire of doing all in her power to make Mary's life as hateful to her as possible...." Mrs. Shepperd opposed the marriage ("she had made up her mind to marry Mary to some rich man"), and consequently Schell and Durie were forced to elope: "I made up my mind...to marry her immediately...I quietly suggested that a walk by moonlight would be very pleasant...After walking a short distance we got into a carriage--thinking it advisable to have a witness I hunted up Judge Hoggman...we therefore drive up to the Minister's & in 15 minutes were man & wife...." After finding out about their elopement, Durie's mother flew into a rage: "The whiskey punch had evidently got the better of her & she commenced abusing me in the most outrageous & villanous manner--said I was old enough to be my wife's father--called me the most oprobious names that could possibly be thought of & finally wound up by attacking me with a Champagne bottle...The next day she made us another visit when she was more intoxicated than ever and was most violent in her abuse but no damage was done with the exception of breaking about a dozen panes of glass." The letter concludes with Schell expressing his gratitude that, as a result, he did not have to take Durie's mother into his new home. The marriage did not last, ending in divorce in New York in 1858. A dramatic record of an elopement in Gold Rush era California. In very good condition with folding creases to paper. Item #12711

Price: $500.00