Lewis Geddes Notebooks, 1930-1937 (MSS 129)

Extent: 1.2 Linear feet (4 archives boxes)

Papers of Lewis Geddes, San Diego photographer and historical researcher. The bulk of the materials relate to historic adobe structures in San Diego County, Baja California, and Arizona. Included are notes and photographs created in the 1930s relating to the historic buildings. Also included are typescripts of works by others, concerning pioneer experiences in San Diego County in the 19th century, and genealogical information on early San Diego County residents.

Lewis Geddes and his wife Frances came to Los Angeles, California in 1923. After five years, they moved to San Diego and setup a studio gallery in the Casa de Machado adobe in historic Old Town. Lewis, a photographer, and Frances, a painter of portrait and figure, developed an active interest in reconstructing and preserving San Diego's historic past.

The Lewis Geddes collection contains photographs and manuscript notes on many adobe structures from California's early history. Included are images of mission, rancho, and urban structures in California, Arizona, and Baja California, Mexico. Geddes also collected manuscript materials from several of San Diego's early pioneers.

Arranged in two series: 1) NOTEBOOKS and 2) WRITINGS.

Container List

NOTEBOOKS

Scope and Content of Series

Series 1) NOTEBOOKS: This series provides significant image documentation of many remnant adobe structures standing at the time of Geddes' research in the 1930's. Geddes assembled in notebooks his photographs, contributed photographs, and pencil notes from different sources. The bulk of the materials relate to San Diego County and comprise four volumes arranged alphabetically by place name. As Geddes' interests widened, he created notebooks on other popular mission sites and ranchos north of San Diego and in Baja California, Mexico. Each volume begins with a table of contents.

Box 1 Folder 1
San Diego County - Adobes [A-J], Volume I - pp. 1-60
Box 1 Folder 2
San Diego County - Adobes [A-J], Volume I - pp. 61-134
Box 1 Folder 3
San Diego County - Adobes [L-R], Volume II - pp. 1-61
Box 1 Folder 4
San Diego County - Adobes [L-R], Volume II - pp. 62-97
Box 1 Folder 5
San Diego County - Adobes [L-R], Volume II - pp. 98-128
Box 1 Folder 6
San Diego County - Adobes [S-W], Volume III - pp. 1-47
Box 1 Folder 7
San Diego County - Adobes [S-W], Volume III - pp. 48-91
Box 2 Folder 1
San Diego - Missions, Indian Reservations, Old Town San Diego

Volume IV, pp. 1-38

Box 2 Folder 2
San Diego - Missions, Indian Reservations, Old Town San Diego

Volume IV, pp. 39-67

Box 2 Folder 3
San Diego - Missions, Indian Reservations, Old Town San Diego

Volume IV, pp. 68-107

Box 2 Folder 4
California and Arizona, Volume I

San Luis Obispo, Monterrey, pp. 1-68.

Box 2 Folder 5
California and Arizona, Volume I

San Luis Obispo, Monterrey, pp. 69-123.

Box 2 Folder 6
California and Arizona, Volume II

Santa Cruz, San Benito, San Juan Bautista, pp.1-26

Box 2 Folder 7
California and Arizona, Volume III -- Ranchos

Ranchos - Los Angeles, Ventura & Missions - Santa Barbara, La Purisima Concepcion, Santa Ynez, pp.1-51

Box 2 Folder 8
California and Arizona, Volume III

Ranchos - Los Angeles, Ventura & Missions - Santa Barbara, La Purisima Concepcion, Santa Ynez, pp. 52-91

Box 2 Folder 9
Arizona [and California Counties]

Imperial, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties, pp. 1-50

Box 3 Folder 1
Arizona [and California Counties]

Imperial, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties, pp. 51-83

Box 3 Folder 2
Baja California [Mexico]

Maps, Missions, and Ranchos, pp. 1-42

Box 3 Folder 3
Baja California [Mexico]

Maps, Missions, and Ranchos, pp. 43-76

WRITINGS

Scope and Content of Series

Series 2) WRITINGS: Manuscript materials related to the pioneer experience in San Diego County in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Two interesting works on the ranching frontier are found in Herbert Crouch's reminiscences as a sheep rancher in the San Luis Rey Valley and John Kelly's life on a cattle ranch. Crouch, an Australian emigrant, included interesting sketches of pioneers and people he employed, observations on the sheep and bee businesses, and information on rainfall and floods. The experiences of a woman in San Diego County are set down in The Account of Lucy Brown Wentworth. Additionally, Geddes collected or created translations and transcriptions of early Mission San Diego baptismal and death records, notes on San Diego pioneer family genealogy, and transcriptions of gravestones of pioneers from the Mount Hope Cemetery. The series is arranged alphabetically by author and title.

Box 3 Folder 4
Crouch, Herbert. "Reminiscences of San Diego County, 1869-1889."

pp. 1-64 [typescript carbon]

Box 3 Folder 5
Crouch, Herbert. "Reminiscences of San Diego County, 1869-1889."

pp. 65-103 [typescript carbon]

Box 3 Folder 6
Green, F.E. "The San Diego Mission Dam and Irrigation System."

Original typescript

Box 3 Folder 7
Guern, Ann Woodbury and Winifred Davidson, trans., 1933

"Book of the Dead of the Vicinity of San Diego, 1849-1880," (typescript carbon)

Box 3 Folder 8
Index of Baptisms Registered at Mission San Diego
Box 3 Folder 9
Index of Baptisms Registered at Mission San Diego
Box 4 Folder 1
Kelly, John Lincoln

"Life on a San Diego County Ranch," pp. 1-80.

Box 4 Folder 2
Kelly, John Lincoln

Life on a San Diego County Ranch, pp. 81-156.

Box 4 Folder 3
Notes: Pioneers - Mt. Hope Cemetery, 1937
Box 4 Folder 4
San Diego Family Trees
Box 4 Folder 5
Vaerlen, B.D., trans. "The Account of Lucy Brown Wentworth."

Typescript

ORIGINALS OF PRESERVATION PHOTOCOPIES

Box 4 Folder 6
Originals of Preservation Photocopies