The Joseph S. Friedman Scrapbook, 1855-1858

A small, string-bound scrapbook kept by a  Bavarian Jewish Gold Rush-era merchant has been discovered to be historically connected with a well-known slave narrative.

The San Francisco History Center recently cataloged the Joseph S. Friedman Scrapbook, 1855-1858. A bit of Web research reveals that Friedman was once the slaveholder of Peter Still, the subject of The Kidnapped and the Ransomed. Being the Personal Recollections of Peter Still and His Wife "Vina," After Forty Years of Slavery, by Kate E. R. Pickard, published in 1856.

The economic relationship between the two men was complicated. Originally, Joseph Friedman and his brother Isaac hired Still to work for them on his own time-- for his own pay--in their Tuscumbia, Alabama store; this was possible because Still had been hired out to a bookstore owner who, in turn, had agreed to let Still hire himself out "after hours."  Through a series of arrangements, Still and Friedman agreed that Friedman would buy Still from his owner, then sell Still his freedom.

The story of how Peter Still obtained his and his family’s freedom and in the process was reunited with his brother, the abolitionist William Still, after 40 years of separation, is rivetingly told in  “The Saga of Peter Still” by Spencer R. Crew. 

As for Joseph Friedman, he made his way to San Francisco in 1850. After a stint in the gold fields, he operated a store in Marysville, then became a cigar merchant in San Francisco. He also had business interests in a slaughterhouse. By 1855, he had lost much of his money and property due to poor financial decisions. He then worked as a title searcher and invested in real estate. His biographical sketch can be found in Contemporary Biography of California's Representative Men, 1881-1882 (San Francisco History Center has a paper copy). 

Joseph S. Friedman, Contemporary Biography
of California's Representative Men v. 1, 1882

Friedman's scrapbook is a dense mix of book-keeping, local newspaper clippings, and annotations. What begins as an account book--noting real estate transactions and sales of cattle and hogs--becomes an opinionated assortment of editorials, proverbs, puns, recipes, and excerpts. Friedman was reported to have been active in the Vigilance Committee of 1856, and some material in the scrapbook seems to reflect this.

List of people killed or run out of town
by the Vigilance Committee of 1856

Detail from the Joseph S. Friedman Scrapbook

A small collection of Peter Still's papers can be found at Rutgers University.
The catalog description provided by the Library of Congress is at http://www.loc.gov/coll/nucmc/2013CivilWar/15_PeterStill.html.

Detail from the Joseph S. Friedman Scrapbook