Correspondence from Coutts, his granddaughter, Marguerite Berlin, and others regarding Coutts' property and Coutts' background. Also included are two tintypes (1883) of Cornelius Van Buren and his son George M. Van Buren, who rode horses for Coutts, and a five page manuscript by Marguerite E. Berlin, "History of Jean-Baptiste Paulin Caperon, Known as Peter Coutts, in Mayfield, now Palo Alto, Calif.," (1953).

Jean-Baptiste Paulin Caperon (better known in California as Peter Coutts), was a successful French businessman, book collector and editor of the republican, anti-royalist paper, LA LIBERTÉ. Political disputes and health problems caused him to leave France and take up residence in California. In 1875 Caperon, now known as Peter Coutts, purchased 1,400 acres just north of Mayfield and named it Rancho Matadero. Coutts returned to Europe in 1880 to reclaim his confiscated estates and Rancho Matadero was sold to neighbor Leland Stanford.

0.25 Linear feet

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