This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 11/16/2024
From the John Coffee Hays, Applewhite-Clark Collection. Clar, John, (1813-1884), Daguerreotype circa 1852 of John Clar, Hays’ family friend in California. Clar was born in Spain, entered the U. S. Navy at age 19 and pursued a naval career for the next 17 years. Problems with his health caused him to leave the sea in 1845 when he settled in California He was clerk in the land commissioner’s office and County Surveyor of Marin in 1851. In 1852, he partnered with John Hays, John Caperton and others to purchase Vicente Peralta’s Encinal, which today is the site of Oakland, California. Clar was fluent in eight languages and when Hays became Surveyor General of California in 1853, Hays selected John Clar to serve as translator of the Spanish Archives in the Surveyor General’s Office in San Francisco. Clar held this job for many years. (1/6 plate). 2.75" x 3.25"