Mendocino County Biographies

Nathan Bartlett

Transcribed by: Pat Howard

This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm


	Whose portrait will be found in this book, was born in White County, 
Tennessee, February 12, 1832. When seven years of age his parents moved 
to Missouri, where the subject of this memoir received his education and lived 
upon the farm until 1854, at which time he left the parental roof and crossed 
the plains with ox-teams, in company with a gentleman who brought a drove of 
cattle across. He arrived in Amador county in October, and followed mining for 
one year, after which he engaged in farming in San Joaquin county for one year, 
and then returned to Amador; remained only a short time, and in 1858 came to 
this county and settled on a farm two and one-half miles above Ukiah, where he 
farmed until 1862, when we find him in Nevada, where he resided two years; 
thence to Sonoma, and after a residence on one year returned to this county and 
settled on what is known as the Bartlett ranch, located about three miles 
south-east of Ukiah, where he now resides. Is connected in business with his 
brothers; owning four hundred and eighty acres of farming land where he lives, 
and also one thousand one hundred acres two miles below on the river, which is 
used as a sheep ranch. Their farm is considered one of the finest in the valley. 

SOURCE: History of Mendocino County, California - San Francisco, Cal. Alley, 
Bowen & Co., Publishers. 1880 Pp. 625

 
Prior to the agricultural upbuilding of the 
Mississippi valley and the discovery of gold in California there lived on a 
Tennessee farm a young lad, William Bartlett by name, whose thoughts 
often turned toward regions further west and whose judgment discerned 
opportunities in the newer regions not possible in the mountainous section 
of his home. After his marriage to Margaret Roberts, the daughter of a 
neighboring farmer, he and his bride traveled by wagon to Missouri, secured 
a claim in Bates county, built a rude cabin and began housekeeping in a 
sparsely settled district far from the friends of their earlier days. The years 
that followed were filled with hard work. It required the most arduous 
effort to support a growing family from soil none too fertile or productive. 
Always the thought of the couple turned toward the far distant shores of 
the Pacific, but it was more than a decade after the discovery of gold before 
they were in a position to consider removal to California. Then, when all 
plans had been made and arrangements perfected, the father fell ill and 
shortly afterward died on the old Missouri homestead. This was in 1864 
and immediately after his death the widow, accompanied by her eleven chil- 
dren, joined an expedition bound for the Pacific coast by the overland route. 
When they arrived in Nevada an opportunity occurred to secure land, so they 
stayed for one year and engaged in stock-raising. At the end of the year 
they completed the journey to California and settled in Sonoma county, from 
which place in 1866 they came to Mendocino county. 

Ever since the original settlement in 1866 there have been representatives 
of the Bartlett family in this county. The mother and sons bought the Dr. 
Williams claim of four hundred and eighty-five acres south of Ukiah on the 
east side of the river, where they put up a farm house and barns, fenced the 
entire tract, made other improvements and by degrees brought the land 
under a high state of cultivation. Already some of the pioneers had begun 
to experiment with hops and the Bartletts put out their first crop in 1871, 
after which they made a specialty of this product, finding it to be profitable 
and well adapted to the soil. A portion of the original Bartlett farm was 
sold as a site for the Mendocino state hospital. About six years after the 
death of the mother the property was divided among the heirs, but all dis- 
posed of their shares excepting the fourth child, Nathan, who retained one 
hundred and thirty acres of the original tract in his possession until his death, 
December 22, 1900, meanwhile cultivating the estate with intelligence, in- 
dustry and perseverance. A native of Bates county, Mo., born in 1841, he 
and a brother crossed the plains before the rest of the family came from the 
east, and from 1866 he resided continuously in Mendocino county, of which 
he was rated a successful rancher and desirable citizen. A man of sterling 
qualities of heart, true to the principles of Masonry and charitable in his 
dealings with those in need, he formed a valuable addition to the splendid 
pioneer element that laid the foundation of Mendocino's prosperity. His 
family consisted of a son, William L., and Mrs. Bartlett, who was formerly 
Miss Mary F. Layman, a native of Lodi, San Joaquin county, whose father, 
John F. Layman, was a California pioneer numbered among the earliest 
comers to Lodi. Mr. Layman was born in Ohio and removed to Bloomfield, 
Iowa, whence he crossed the plains to California with ox teams in the early 
'50s. Locating in San Joaquin valley he bought a farm and raised crops 
where the city of Lodi now stands. For some years he engaged in farming 
in Lake county, but later he located in Ukiah. His wife, Phoebe Diefifen- 
bach, a native of Germany, crossed the ocean with her parents at the age of 
seven, locating in Iowa, where she grew to maturity. Mr. and Mrs. Layman 
are now living in Lodi, and Mr. Layman still superintends his various ranches 
in San Joaquin and Merced counties. They have six children, as follows : 
Joseph D., chief librarian at the University of Nevada; Mary F. (Mrs. Bart- 
lett), Edward J., Daniel and Lizzie (Mrs. McKesson), all of Ukiah; and 
Lulu, Mrs. Hake, of Merced. Since the death of her husband Mrs. Bartlett 
has remained on the ranch and has managed the property with decided 
capability and in such a manner as to secure excellent financial returns. 

History of Mendocino and Lake Counties, California With Biographical 
Sketches, History by Aurelius O. Carpenter And Percy H. Millberry
Illustrated, Complete In One Volume Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, 
California, 1914

Transcribed by Peggy Hooper