Carvalho, Solomon Nunes (1815-97). Autograph Letter Signed written to his sister[-in law?], in English.

(AMERICAN JUDAICA).

13th October

San Francisco

1854

A long, lyrical and deeply expressed letter of condolence. Beautifully expressed feelings relating to life and God. Notes that he has already written to Sarah [likely his wife, Sarah Miriam Solis] details about himself and his life in California. (Genealogical records do not record Carvalho having a sister named Esther; his correspondent is likely his sister-in-law, Esther Etting, a sister to his wife).

Born in Charleston, South Carolina, into a Jewish family of Spanish-Portuguese descent, Carvalho was both an artist and photographer. He may be best known as an explorer who traveled through the territory of Kansas, Colorado and Utah with John C. Frémont on his fifth expedition of 1853-54. Many famous images of the Old West are based on the photographs Carvalho took, although many others have been lost or confused with those taken by Mathew Brady and other contemporaries. It was on that trip that Carvalho nearly died due to the rigors of the terrain, but eventually recovered sufficiently to meet up with Fremont in California in the Spring of 1854. Carvalho was keenly interested in Jewish life and concerned about religious reform. Wherever he lived (Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York) he was deeply involved in Jewish communal and religious affairs. While in California he helped organize the Hebrew Benevolent Society of Los Angeles, the first such Jewish philanthropic organization in Southern California.