Collection Guide
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Porter and Sesnon Family PapersMS.196
MS.196
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Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
University of California, Santa Cruz
Title: Porter and Sesnon Family Papers
Creator:
Porter (Family: Porter, George K.)
Creator:
Sesnon (Family: Sesnon, William T.)
Identifier/Call Number: MS.196
Physical Description:
8 Linear Feet
14 boxes
Date (inclusive): 1880-1997
Collection is open for research.
Property rights for this collection reside with the University of California. Literary rights, including copyright, are retained
by the creators and their heirs. The publication or use of any work protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use
for research or educational purposes requires written permission from the copyright owner. Responsibility for obtaining permissions,
and for any use rests exclusively with the user. For more information on copyright or to order a reproduction, please visit
guides.library.ucsc.edu/speccoll/reproduction-publication.
Porter and Sesnon Family Papers. MS 196. Special Collections and Archives, University Library, University of California, Santa
Cruz.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Susan Sesnon Dolkas for the Porter and Sesnon Families, December 2000.
This collection includes correspondence, family photographs, writings, ephemera and realia related to the prominent Porter
and Sesnon families of Santa Cruz, California.
The Porter legacy in California stretches back to the Gold Rush Era, when a trio of Porter cousins, George K., John T., and
Edward F. "Ned" Porter, made their way from New England to Santa Cruz County and engaged in a wide array of entrepreneurial
activities.
In 1854, another cousin, Benjamin Franklin Porter made his way to California by crossing the Isthmus of Panama on foot, before
joining his family members in Soquel. He became active in the local economy and, in the mid 1850s purchased the Soquel Tannery
along with his cousin George and C.W. Moore.
In the autumn of 1867, Benjamin returned to New England, where he married his childhood family friend, Kate Hubbard. The couple
returned to California, where they started a family. Mary Sophia "May" Porter was born in Soquel on October 9, 1868. Mary's
sister Sadie died of typhoid fever at the age of 24. Mary was the lone descendant and heir of her father and mother's vast
estate, and of her Uncle Ned's, who also had extensive residential and commercial holdings in the Soquel township.
In 1896, Mary married William T. Sesnon, of Alameda, a businessman and civic leader who served as clerk of San Francisco County.
William expanded the Porter family business and real estate holdings into successful oil ventures, manufacturing sites, and
land development. The couple had four children - Porter, Katherine, Barbara and William Jr., who were raised spending their
summers at the Pino Alto estate in Soquel.
When William Sr.'s health deteriorated in the late 1920s, the once thriving salons at Pino Alto came to an end. William died
in 1929, and Mary passed away the following year. The property was eventually sold off, first to the Salesian order, before
it was finally purchased by Cabrillo College in 1978, where it became known as the Sesnon House.
Descendants of the Porter-Sesnon clan have always been active and generous in the community. Porter College at the University
of California Santa Cruz is named after Benjamin Franklin Porter, while his daughter's love of art is memorialized at the
Mary Porter Sesnon Gallery.
Excerpt from, Dunn, Geoffrey. "Mary Porter Sesnon and the Magic of 'Pino Alto'".
Santa Cruz Style, Spring 2018.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Santa Cruz County (Calif.) -- History -- Sources