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Frederick Thomas Perris Survey Field Books
2017_18
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Title: Frederick Thomas Perris Survey Field Books
Dates: 1856-1857
Collection Number: 2017_18
Creator/Collector:
Perris, Frederick Thomas
Extent:
4 volumes
Repository:
Sherman Library and Gardens
Corona del Mar, California 92625
Abstract: The collection consists of four leather-bound field books
used by Frederick Thomas Perris in the course of surveying lands in San Bernardino
County, California, in 1856 and 1857.
Language of Material:
English
Collection is open for research.
Property rights to the physical object belong to the Sherman Library. Literary
rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the
responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the
copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The Sherman
Library does not hold the copyright.
Frederick Thomas Perris Survey Field Books. Sherman Library and Gardens
The collection was donated to the Sherman Library by Dean Painter in September 1983,
January 14 and May 3, 1984 and June 26, 1985.
Frederick Thomas Perris (1837-1916) was born in England, raised in Australia, trained
as a civil engineer, and moved to the Pacific Coast of the United States in 1853. He
served as Deputy United States Mineral Surveyor for the U.S. Government and for the
State of California. In 1858 he became a U.S. citizen and in 1863 became Territorial
Surveyor for Utah Territory’s northeastern portions. A businessman in Salt Lake
City, Utah, for many years, he relocated to San Bernardino in 1874 and later served
as City Engineer and County Surveyor. He later worked for the California Southern
Railway Company as Chief Engineer and Superintendent of Construction and drove the
first passenger train into San Bernardino in 1883. The city of Perris, California,
and its accompanying Perris Boulevard, were named in his honor.
The Jurupa Rancho, located along the Santa Ana River in northwestern Riverside and
southwestern San Bernardino Counties, California, was owned by Juan Bandini, who
received the property as a land grant from Juan Bautista Alvarado in 1838. Bandini
sold a portion of his property to Benjamin Davis Wilson in 1843, and Wilson in turn
sold his land to Louis Robidoux in 1847. In 1859, Bandini’s remaining portion of the
rancho went to Abel Stearns, and this part of the property was renamed the Stearns
Rancho.
After the entry of California into the union in 1850, the United States Land
Commission proceeded to evaluate and review all extant land ownership titles in the
state. Two different patents were granted for Rancho Jurupa by the Land Commission:
Abel Stearns received a patent for 32,259.16 acres in 1879 (which today spans modern
day Riverside and San Bernardino Counties, due to the creation of Riverside County
in 1893), and Louis Robidoux received a patent for 6,7499.99 acres in 1876 for his
portion of the rancho.
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection consists of four leather-bound field books used by Frederick Thomas
Perris in the course of surveying lands in San Bernardino County, California, in
1856 and 1857. Filled with pencil notes, measurements, calculations and sketches,
the content of the field books appears to focus primarily on the Jurupa Rancho and
surrounding areas, including Mill Creek. The surveys may have been conducted for
rancho owners Bandini and Robidoux to formalize the boundaries between the
properties, as both men’s names are mentioned in a few of the volumes.
Land grants - California - Riverside County
Land grants - California - San Bernardino County.
Rancho Jurupa (Calif.) - History - 19th century - Sources.
Rancho Jurupa (Calif.) - Surveys.
Ranchos - California - Riverside County - History - 19th century -
Sources.
Ranchos - California - Riverside County - Surveys.
Ranchos - California - San Bernardino County - History - 19th century -
Sources.
Ranchos - California - San Bernardino County - Surveys.
Bandini, Juan
Robidoux, Louis