Letters of John Marion Battée, California pioneer, written to his family between 1853 and 1866, documenting his life in San Jose.

John Marion Battée was born in Maryland on November 3, 1827. He came to California via Panama in the early 1850s, and married Clarissa McKean of Ohio. Battée took office as a Santa Clara County supervisor on March 7, 1870, and continued as a member and chairman of the board until March 4, 1878. During this time he championed the road to Lick Observatory on Mount Hamilton. Battée was a grain farmer who owned large ranches in Santa Clara County as well as the Salinas Valley, and was one of the founders of the Farmers' Union in San Jose. In his later years he developed a prune orchard in Los Gatos. He died in San Jose on October 30, 1921.

.25 linear feet

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Letters are available to researchers by appointment with the Curator of Library & Archives. A transcript of the letters is attached to this record.