City and County of San Francisco

The Coroner's Report 1868-1869
to the Board of Supervisors

Dr. Jonathan Letterman, Coroner
Monthly salary $208

1. Death in San Francisco        2. Conditions in Chinatown        3. Conclusions        4. Statistics

Major Jonathan Letterman, after whom the hospital at the Presidio was renamed in 1911, was the medical director of the Army of the Potomac A founding father of military medicine, Letterman organized forward first-aid stations, mobile field hospitals, and ambulance services for the evacuation of wounded soldiers during the Civil War. (From Presidio Trust)
Letterman resigned from the Army on December 22, 1864. He went to San Francisco, where he became coroner in 1868.  He died on March 15, 1872. He was only 48 years old.