Guide to the Iturbury Family Collection (1880s – 1960s)

Gracian Anthony Iturbury (1888-1966) was born in Los Angeles, the son of immigrants from Spain. Ines Louvisa (Clark) Iturbury (1891-1984) was born in California. In 1910 the couple, he 21 and she 18, lived in Santa Monica, where Gracian was attending business college, and they had a son, Brandon C. (1910-1921). In 1917 when he registered for the draft, Gracian was a stock clerk for Blake Moffitt & Towne Co. In 1920 the Iturburys lived in Alhambra, Los Angeles County, where Gracian was a credit clerk for a paper company. Living with them was Ines’s father, Jon L. Clark. In 1930 they lived in Madera County, where Gracian was a farmer. In 1940 their son Gracian A. Iturbury, Jr. (1940-1969) was born. The family in 1944 moved to the Soquel area from Tulare. Gracian Jr. was a student at Live Oak and Capitola schools and Santa Cruz High School. In the 1950s, Gracian Sr. and Ines were realtors at Pleasure Point Realty. Their home for many years was at 4650 Wharf Road, Soquel. This collection contains a family photograph album of 24 studio portraits, circa 1880s -1890s. It also includes a notarial record of title payments, circa 1940s -1960s, used by Ines at Pleasure Point Realty.

SERIES I. PHOTO ALBUM (1880S-90S)

SERIES II. NOTARIAL RECORD BOOK

SERIES III. MEMORABILIA

Subseries III.A. Tin Types
Subseries III.B. Photos
Subseries III.C. Paper Memorabilia

SERIES I. PHOTO ALBUM (1880s – 1890s)

One (1) Album

Series Scope and Content Summary:

This series contains one (1) approx. 8 ½”x12” photo album bound in red cloth with metal hinge and spine. The red cloth contains yellow material underneath that is likely wool and is coming loose from the binding. This item should be handled with cares since the binding is tearing and flaking. Inside the album are about thirty pages of studio portraits. Inside are twenty-four portraits individuals and groups of individuals that are either full-length portraits or bust-length (head and shoulders) portraits. These group photos and individual portraits combine for f about forty-six posed 4×6” studio portraits total. These portraits contain no captions or identification and are likely of family members belonging to the Iturbury and/or Gordon family. These photos are 4×6” in size and are in good-fair condition. Also in the album are twelve (12) portraits 2”x4” in size; five of these photos feature cardboard frames, seven are tin types. There are also two very small portraits of two woman tucked into the decorative border encompassing another photo; these small portraits are about 1” to 1.5” in size. The photos in this album are of men, women, groups of women, children ranging in age from 5-12 years of age, young women 16-25 years of age, men and women ranging from 30-65 years of age, and infants ranging from a few months old to 2 years of age. The photos are encompassed by cardboard frames and gold borders made to look like faux wood. The studios whom took these portraits have not all been identified as the photos seem too fragile to remove from their frames within the pages. One studio however was identified as Northorst in Rochester, New York. The provenience of these photos is believed to be New York and Los Angeles, CA based on other photos in this collection. Date range: 1880’s-90s

Location:
Box 1

SERIES II. NOTARIAL RECORD BOOK (1940s – 1950s)

One (1) Book

Series Scope and Content Summary:

This series consists of one (1) 10 ¾” x 8 ½” Notarial Record book with a brown and black cover and “Title-Payments” written on the cover. Inside are lists of title payments and transactions made between clients for Pleasure Point Realty in the mid-1940’s to 1950’s. “Property of Ines L. Iturbury Pleasure Point, Santa Cruz, CA” is written inside the front cover. The book is in fair to good condition, with some scuff marks and tearing on the cover; pages 16-19 have been cut out. Tucked in the book are four (4) notes, 1.5” to 6” in size. One is on “Phoenix Assurance Co. Ltd. Memorandum paper”, another on “Commercial Bank of America” account deposit slip’ and a third on “Santa Cruz Title Company” paper, and the fourth on yellow notepad. These notes all feature names and figures on monetary payments. Also in the book was a 10×9” black and white photo of an unidentified boy holding a fish.

Location:
Box 2

SERIES III. MEMORABILIA (1890s – 1960s)

Series Scope and content Summary:

This series contains memorabilia belonging to the Iturbury family such as letters, photos, and other items. Items of particular interest in this series include three (3) tin type photos, Ines Iturbury’s baptism certificate, Gracian Iterbury’s memorial and obituary announcement featured on a laminated card, and a card certifying vaccination from the Health Department of Los Angeles, CA circa 1899. Date range: 1890’s-1960s

This series is divided into the following subseries:

Subseries III.A. Tin Types
Subseries III.B. Photos
Subseries III.C. Paper Memorabilia

SUBSERIES III.A. TIN TYPES (1890s)

Three (3) items, one (1) folder

Subseries Scope and Content Summary:

This subseries consists of three (3) tin type photos in which a photographic image appears in ink upon a tin plate. The tin types in this series include: one approx. 6×5” tin type of a man, seated, in suit and vest; one approx. 3×4” tin type showing carriage driven by a man and pulled by two horses along an unidentified street, the carriage reads “City Package Delivery (?)”; and one 4 ½”x3 ½” studio posed tin type framed by a red and white paper frame, of a young boy 3-5 years of age wearing overalls and a hat, standing next to a bicycle. The individuals in these photos and the photographer of these photos are unknown. These tin types are located in an 9×6” envelope “folder” in Box 2. Estimated date range is the 1890s.

Box ID#:Folder ID#:
2:1

SUBSERIES III.B. PHOTOS (1890s – 1920s)

Twenty-seven photos, one (1) folder

Subseries Scope and Content Summary:

This subseries consists of twenty-seven (27) loose photographs ranging in size from 3 ½”x3 ½” studio portraits to 5 ½”x4” non-studio snapshot type photos. The majority of these photographs include pictures of unidentified men and women, landscapes, and infants. An example of the types of photos in this subseries: photo of “Lulu Gordon, 3 months and 3 days old, taken by Bijou Studio of Los Angeles, CA; photo of unknown woman taken at a studio in Auburn, N.Y.; photo of boy and goats; photo of unidentified man near a house; photo of man, women, and a child in an automobile; photo of a beach; photo dated 1919 of a boy with pigs; oval shaped studio portrait and frame of young woman taken at Bijou Studio, Los Angeles; photo of a man identified as Frank Graven taken at Rochester, N.Y.; photo of an unknown woman taken at Lanson Studio, Los Angeles, CA; photo of a middle-aged man and woman taken at J.W. Morgeneier, Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and much more. Although some of the photos are in good condition (about 4), the majority are in fair-poor condition with torn edges, yellowing, and cracks. Estimated date range: 1890s-1920s

Box ID#: Folder ID#:
2:2

SUBSERIES III.C. PAPER MEMORABILIA (1899 – 1966)

One (1) Folder, seven (7) items

Subseries Scope and Content Summary:

This subseries contains paper memorabilia such as letters and cards. Items in this subseries include: Health Department card for Ines L. Clark dated 1899 certifying vaccination in Los Angeles, CA; letter from St. Michaels’s Rectory to Mrs. Iturbury about a Baptism Certificate; envelope featuring colorful illustration of men and women on the beach with “Ines L, Iturbury Pleasure Point Realty” return address in the corner; letter to Ines dated 1964 concerning a friend’s Spanish family history; laminated obituary and memorial card for Gracian Iturbury dated 1966; stereograph produced by Kawn and Co. as part of the World Series Original Stereoscopic Photograph collection, and featuring a color photo of a steamer boat leaving Koblenz, Germany, dated 1905; certificate of Baptism for Ines Iturbury dated 1924, from St. Michael’s Church of Anaheim, CA. Date range: 1899-1966

Box ID#: Folder ID#:
2:3