These 7 folders contain correspondence to George W Patterson from family and business associates in the time period from 1849 to 1859. The subject matter of the letters is either family,local news or business matters. George Patterson received these letters starting just after he arrived in California, during the time that he was working in the mines and establishing the Patterson Ranch from lands that were originally part of Mission San Jose.

George Washington Patterson was born in East Berlin, PA on July 27, 1822. He arrived in San Francisco on August 29, 1849 by ship from Mazatlan. He tried his hand at mining but in January of 1851 he came to Alameda County to pursue farming and ranching and acquiring land. Over the years he acquired over 3000 acres of land that was once part of Mission San Jose, where the town of Fremont now stands. He also ended up owning and operating the 10,000 acre Patterson Cattle Ranch in Livermore. He passed away on 09/12/1895 in Centerville, California. The lands he owned were farmed by 3 generations of Pattersons. Ardenwood Historic Farm is a 200 acre park operated by the East Bay Regional Park District and contains the original house and farm buildings.

7.0 folder (49 papers)

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Collection open for research.