Ben Barton (June 8, 1823 – January 1, 1899), often erroneously referred to as Benjamin Barton, was a prominent landowner and white settler of the

San Bernardino Valley The San Bernardino Valley ( es, Valle de San Bernardino) is a valley in Southern California located at the south base of the Transverse Ranges. It is bordered on the north by the eastern San Gabriel Mountains and the San Bernardino Mountains; ...

in southern California. Educated as a doctor in the East, he migrated to

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban ...

in 1854. A few years later, he purchased a large tract of land in

Rancho San Bernardino Rancho San Bernardino was a Mexican land grant in present-day San Bernardino County, California given in 1842 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to José del Carmen Lugo, José María Lugo, Vicente Lugo, and Diego Sepulveda. The grant included a lar ...

. He served various political roles in state and local government. After retiring from his medical practice, he became a rancher and

vintner A winemaker or vintner is a person engaged in winemaking. They are generally employed by wineries or wine companies, where their work includes: *Cooperating with viticulturists *Monitoring the maturity of grapes to ensure their quality and to d ...

, and had a large mansion built for his family. His sons also became prominent local politicians and businessmen. After Barton's death, his land holdings were split into lots and sold for development; the area eventually became the city of Redlands. Barton built some of the earliest buildings in Redlands and neighboring

San Bernardino San Bernardino (; Spanish for "Saint Bernardino") is a city and county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 cens ...

, and his villa is now listed as a historic site. Barton was also a

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

and social host. He and his family were well-known and influential in the San Bernardino area during its pioneer era.

Early life and family

Barton was born in

South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = "Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = G ...

in 1823 to a family descended from European colonists of the area. He studied medicine in Lexington,

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virgini ...

, which he moved to in 1845. He lived and worked as a doctor in Texas and Alabama after his time in Kentucky. He met and married his wife, Eliza Brite, in Texas, and they resided in

El Paso El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the seat of El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 23rd-largest city in the U.S., the ...

until 1854. In that year, he moved west with his wife to

El Monte El Monte (Spanish for "the Mountain", also in archaic Spanish for "the wood") may refer to: * El Monte, California, United States, a city * El Monte, Chile, a city {{geodis ...

, California. The Bartons had two sons during this time, John H. Barton (b. 1855) and Hiram Barton (b. 1856).

Career

In the late 1850s, Barton was able to purchase large amounts of land from members of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ...

at low prices due to

Brigham Young Brigham Young (; June 1, 1801August 29, 1877) was an American religious leader and politician. He was the second President of the Church (LDS Church), president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), from 1847 until his ...

's recalling the Mormon outpost in

. From

Charles C. Rich Charles Coulson Rich (August 21, 1809 – November 17, 1883) was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement. He led one of the first groups of Mormon pioneers west from Illinois under the leadership of Brigham Young after Joseph Smith's m ...

and

Amasa Lyman Amasa Mason Lyman (March 30, 1813 – February 4, 1877) was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and was an apostle. He was also a counselor in the First Presidency to Joseph Smith. Early life and conversion Lyman was born in Lyman, ...

leaders Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets v ...

of the Mormon settlement in the area, he purchased, for $5,000 (approximately $ today), of property around the

San Bernardino Asistencia The San Bernardino de Sena Estancia (also known as the San Bernardino Rancho or Asistencia) was a ranch outpost of Mission San Gabriel Arcángel in what is now in Redlands, California, United States. It was built to graze cattle, and for Indian ...

, land known as Old San Bernardino due to its status as a late 17th-/early 18th-century outpost of

Mission San Gabriel Arcángel Mission San Gabriel Arcángel ( es, Misión de San Gabriel Arcángel) is a Californian mission and historic landmark in San Gabriel, California. It was founded by Spaniards of the Franciscan order on "The Feast of the Birth of Mary," Septemb ...

. His purchases also included a number of properties within San Bernardino proper. Barton was appointed the city's

postmaster A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...

, and built a building in 1858 in San Bernardino out of

adobe Adobe ( ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for '' mudbrick''. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is used to refer to any kind of ...

to house a post office, doctor's office, and pharmacy. Due to Barton's other commitments, the post office was effectively overseen by John P. Barton, his brother. Also in 1858, Barton was elected

school superintendent In the American education system, a superintendent or superintendent of schools is an administrator or manager in charge of a number of public schools or a school district, a local government body overseeing public schools. All school principal ...

for the recently formed

county of San Bernardino San Bernardino County (), officially the County of San Bernardino, is a County (United States), county located in the Southern California, southern portion of the U.S. state of California, and is located within the Inland Empire area. As of the ...

In 1859, Barton and his family moved to the Asistencia and sold their San Bernardino home. Around this time, Barton shifted his focus from medicine to ranching and farming. Some sources report that he gave up medicine entirely, while others state he maintained a home office for some time. Barton had the

Barton Villa Barton Villa, at 11245 Nevada St. in Redlands, California, is a historic Second Empire house that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was built as a vernacular house during 1866–67, was renovated to Greek Revival c. 1871 ...

, now the oldest extant house in the city of Redlands, built as a home for him and his family. He served as a member of the California State Assembly in the early 1860s, representing what was then the first district. He died in 1899.

Legacy

Barton Road, which runs between Redlands and

Grand Terrace Grand Terrace is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. The population was 12,040 at the 2010 census, up from 11,626 at the 2000 census. Grand Terrace is located between Highgrove and Colton, along the I-215 and Agua Ma ...

, is named after him. Barton and his sons' real estate holdings would come to be known as the Barton Ranch or Barton Tract, and after being subdivided and sold off into individual

house lot In real estate, a lot or plot is a tract or parcel of land owned or meant to be owned by some owner(s). A plot is essentially considered a parcel of real property in some countries or immovable property (meaning practically the same thing) in ot ...

s, would eventually become the land incorporated as the city of Redlands.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barton, Ben 1823 births 1899 deaths People from Redlands, California History of San Bernardino County, California History of San Bernardino, California People from San Bernardino County, California Politicians from San Bernardino, California People from South Carolina History of Redlands, California Members of the California State Assembly California postmasters Physicians from California Physicians from Kentucky People from El Monte, California People from San Bernardino, California 19th-century American politicians

Early life and family

Career

Legacy

See also

References

Further reading

External links