Title: Joseph Cline Kiser Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1840-1902

Creator:

• Kiser, Joseph Cline, 1818-1895

Call Number: Wis Mss PK; PH 1276 (3)

Quantity: 0.4 cubic feet (1 archives box and 3 volumes) and 13 paintings (3 flat boxes)

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Abstract:

Papers of Joseph Cline Kiser, an Oregon, Wisconsin, farmer and general merchant, consisting of account books, 1853-1857, and inventories from his stores in West Liberty, Ohio, and Oregon; and letters from his agents in Osceola, Iowa, concerning his real estate holdings. Pertaining to Kiser's trip to California during the gold rush are a diary of the overland journey, letters written to his family, and a register of the hotel operated by Kiser at Stockton, California. Transcriptions of eight of the letters, 1850-1851, and of diary entries from April 29-September 20, 1850, prepared by Richard L. Rieck, are in Box 1. Also included are the constitution and by-laws of the Oregon Rangers, a property-protection society; a manuscript article on cattle breeding; and genealogical notes on the Bonsack family. There are also watercolor paintings by his wife, Elizabeth Bonsack Kiser, and probably other family members, circa 1850.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-wis000pk

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Joseph Cline Kiser was born on July 26, 1818, near Mt. Crawford, Rockingham County, Virginia. He spent his youth on his parents' Virginia farm until the death of his father on April 12, 1832, after which time, his mother, Mary Cline Kiser, gathered her children (Jacob, Joseph, Daniel, John, William, Mary, and George) and her belongings and moved to Dayton, Ohio. They purchased a farm and remained in Dayton until 1839. The Kisers then moved to West Liberty, Logan County, Ohio, and there they bought a farm consisting of 277 acres.

In 1841, Joseph Kiser married Catherine Seely, of West Liberty, and the next year, he and his wife started for Peru, Indiana. By 1845, Kiser was back in Ohio again. In the same year he went into the general store business with his mother and brother at Millerstown, Champaign County.

Kiser's first wife died on February 3, 1848. Two years later, fired up with the stories of the gold rush, Kiser went to California to seek a fortune. Kiser's brother, John Q., had already started out for the gold fields, and on March 28, 1850, Joseph and brother George left West Liberty, Ohio, for the long, perilous trek across the plains.

John Q., having already arrived in California, purchased a half interest in a hotel located near Stockton, and on September 18, 1850, when the other two Kiser brothers arrived at this destination, they bought out John's partner, Robert Simmons.

The Kisers remained in California only long enough to make their “pile”; each left for home again at varying intervals. Joseph Kiser stayed in California for 15 months, and with approximately $5,OOO accrued, he set out for Ohio again. Rather than risk the arduous trip across the plains, Kiser made the voyage home by water. The San Francisco to New York voyage was interrupted by an overland journey across the Isthmus at Central America.

In 1852, Kiser married again; his second wife was Elizabeth Bonsack, of Bonsack, Virginia. Until 1854 he ran another general store in West Liberty, but in the spring of that year, he moved his family to Oregon, Wisconsin. Upon arriving, he purchased a 300-acre farm from Dr. William H. Fox, of the prominent Wisconsin Fox family. Years later two of his children married into the Fox family. In the early years Kiser and his brother John, who also came to Oregon, ran a general store on the lot where the present Oregon Catholic Church stands. Later, Kiser operated a stock farm for cattle breeding, and in this venture, he prospered handsomely. The Kiser family was an influential family in Oregon, and their farm “Oakland” was well known. Joseph C. Kiser died in 1895 and is buried in Oregon.

Note

This biography is based upon an article in the Sun Prairie (Wis.) Countryman, November 19, 1895, an article in Madison's Capital Times, August 18, 1934, and the papers in the collection.

The Joseph Kiser collection is of particular value because of the material it contains dealing with Kiser's trip to California and his venture into the hotel business there. There are six letters Kiser wrote to his brother and friends back home from various points along the way to California in which he gave a careful account of the route, a description of the country through which he passed, an idea of the rigors of the trip, and an overall picture of what it was like to make a trip to California in 1850. In addition to the very informative letters describing the overland journey across the plains, there are two diaries in which Kiser recorded a daily account of his journey. One of the diaries is written in pencil and is difficult to read; the other is written in ink and is very legible. It may very well be that Kiser made the ink copy after his trip.

There are also eight letters to his brother and friends back home Kiser wrote during his stay in California. The letters reveal more information about the trip across the plains and the hotel business venture, and also give an adequate description of the conditions in the area in 1850-1851. Of particular value and interest is the register of Kiser's hotel. The register is signed by all the lodgers who stayed, notes where they are from, and in a column designated “remarks,” the fortune hunters made notations, which although only one or two lines, tell stories of failures and successes both. The diaries previously mentioned tell about Kiser's trip back to Ohio via San Francisco, the Isthmus, and New York.

The collection also contains some account books of the general stores Kiser operated in West Liberty and Oregon. There are a series of letters dealing with his land holdings in Osceola, Iowa, and some letters dealing with the Bonsack estate in Virginia.

Finally, there is a folder of genealogical material compiled by Daniel Elliot Kiser, the son of Joseph C., consisting of notes, letters, newspaper clippings, etc., on the Bonsack and Kiser families; and watercolor paintings done by family members, circa 1850, including Elizabeth Bonsack Kiser.

Wis Mss PK Box   1	Letters, diaries, and other papers
Volume   1	Account book of store at Oregon, Wisconsin, 1855-1857
Volume   2	Account book of store at West Liberty, Ohio, 1853 February 24-1854 April 23
Volume   3	Register of the 26-Mile House in California, 1850-1851
PH 1276 (3)	Watercolor paintings Note: Watercolors, two signed by Elizabeth Bonsack or "E.B.", all others unsigned.
Box   1	Blue jay Note: Signed "Elizabeth Bonsack".
Box   1	Man with harp
Box   1	Portrait of woman Note: Signed "E.B."
Box   1	Woman with dog
Box   2	Pink berries
Box   2	Pink and blue flowers in basket
Box   2	Pink flowers
Box   2	Purple flower
Box   3	Flower cornucopia
Box   3	Fruit still life
Box   3	Parrot
Box   3	Pink roses
Box   3	"The Rose" Note: Title from painting.