Guide to the Pearson Barton Reading Collection, 1843-1868

Processed by The California State Library staff; machine-readable finding aid created by Xiuzhi Zhou

California History Room

California State Library

Library and Courts Building II

900 N. Street, Room 200

P.O. Box 942837

Sacramento, California 94237-0001

Phone: (916) 654-0176

Fax: (916) 654-8777

Email: cslcal@library.ca.gov

URL: http://www.library.ca.gov/

Guide to the Pearson Barton Reading Collection, 1843-1868

California State Library

Sacramento, California

Contact Information:

California History Room
California State Library
Library and Courts Building II
900 N. Street, Room 200
P.O. Box 942837
Sacramento, California 94237-0001
Phone: (916) 654-0176
Fax: (916) 654-8777
Email: cslcal@library.ca.gov
URL: http://www.library.ca.gov/

Processed by:: The California State Library staff
Encoded by:: Xiuzhi Zhou

Descriptive Summary

Title: Pearson Barton Reading Collection,

Date (inclusive): 1843-1868

Box Number: 284-289

Collector: Reading, Alice M.

Extent: 6 boxes

Repository: California State Library

Sacramento, California

Language: English.

Administrative Information

Access

Unrestricted.

Conditions of Use

Please credit California State Library.

Publication Rights

Copyright has not been assigned to California State Library. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing. Permission for publication is given on behalf of California State Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Pearson Barton Reading Collection, California State Library.

Access Points

Reading family

California--History--1846-1850

California Battalion

Rancho Buena Vista (Calif.)

Frontier and pioneer life--California

Pioneers--California

Sutter's Fort (Sacramento, Calif.)

Contents

Correspondence, family history, California Battalion accounts and correspondence, and grant and ranch materials.

Biography

Pearson Barton Reading was born in New Jersey, November 26, 1816. He came to California as a member of the Chiles-Walker party in 1843. He worked for John A. Sutter as a clerk, explorer, and chief of trappers and commanded at Sutter's Fort in Sutter's absence during the Micheltorena Campaign (1845). In 1844, Reading was granted his Buena Ventura Rancho. Reading served in the California Battalion in 1846 as paymaster with the rank of major. 1849 found Reading in Sacramento where he had a store in company with Hensley and Snyder. He ran for governor 1851, missing election by only a few votes. In 1856, he married Fannie Washington and retired to his rancho where he deoted himself to agriculture. He died on May 29, 1868.

Correspondents

Major Correspondents

Sutter, John Augustus, 1803-1880

Other Correspondents

Anderson, Charles
Baird, J. H.
Belden, Josiah, 1815-1892
Benton, Thomas Hart, 1782-1858
Bidwell, John, 1819-1900
Boarman, Thomas M.
Brenham, C. J.
Buffum, E. Gould (Edward Gould), 1820-1867
Canby, Edward
Chenery, Richard
Cordua, Theodore, 1796-1857
Dent, Lewis
Dickey, William
Douglas, David F.
Fellers, T. J.
Fremont, John C.
Haydenfeldt, S.
Howard, William
Johnson, O. R.
Larkin, Thomas Oliver, 1802-1858
Leidesdorff, William
McDougal, John
Monson, A. C.
Reading, Fannie
Reading, Pierson Barton
Reading, John
Semple, Charles D., 1814-1872
Simpson, Robert
Spear, Nathan
Stockton, B. F.
Stokes, James
Street, C. R.
Vincent, George
Wilson, Benjamin Davis, 1811-1878
Wilson, John
Wood, Robert
Woodworth, Frederick A.

Related Collections

Title: John Augustus Sutter Collection

Box 284

Certificates, invitations, Reading family materials 1751-1778, and copybook of P. B. Reading 1823.

Box 285

Diary 1842-43, New Helvetia account book 1845, passports 1842-43, and correspondence 1844-46.

Box 286

California Battalion materials: notebooks 1846; muster rolls, 1846; receipts, 1847; settlement with troops, 1847; and correspondence, 1846-60.

Box 287

California Battalion materials: account books 1846-47.

Box 288

Land grant and ranch materials: abstract of title, maps, ranch journals of P. B. Reading 1854-56, and ranch diary of Mrs. P. B. Reading 1856-58.

Box 289

Personal and political correspondence 1848-68.