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Guide to the James T. Stratton Papers, 1857-1903
BANC MSS C-B 770
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Table of contents
Collection Title: James T. Stratton Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1857-1903
Collection Number: BANC MSS C-B 770
Creator:
Stratton, James T.
Extent:
Number of containers: 6 boxes
Repository: The
Bancroft Library
Berkeley, California 94720-6000
Physical Location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Abstract: Mainly letters received by Stratton, ca. 1883-1901; letterpress copies of outgoing correspondence, 1881-1903; account books;
diaries; survey records; deeds and tax receipts.
Languages Represented:
English
Collection is open for research.
Copyright has not been assigned to The Bancroft Library. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts
must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services. Permission for publication is given on behalf of The Bancroft
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.
[Identification of item], James T. Stratton papers, BANC MSS C-B 770, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Title: Frederick Smith Stratton Papers,
Identifier/Call Number: BANC MSS C-B 771.
Two mining stock certificates of the Chemical Gold Mining and Reduction Company have been removed to California Mining Stock
Certificates, 1850-1912, BANC MSS C-G 2, v. 1, no. 12.
The James T. Stratton Papers were presented to Bancroft Library by his grandson, Dr. James Malcolm Stratton, and his wife
in June, 1958. The Frederick Smith Stratton Papers, also presented at this time, have been separately catalogued as C-B 771.
The Collection has been arranged in six boxes. It should be mentioned that among the incoming corresondence have been placed
letters addressed to James W. Shanklin. These letters were undoubtedly passed along to Stratton and were kept by him after
Shanklin's death in 1902. Since they concern business ventures undertaken jointly by Stratton and Shanklin it is felt that
they are best kept together.
The Collection covers the period from 1857 to 1903, with the major part of the correspondence dated after 1881. Pocket diaries
exist for the decade from 1869 to 1878, with the exceptions of 1871 and 1877.
A few items concerning George Malcolm Stratton have been gathered together into the Miscellany in Box 6.
James Thompson Stratton was born on October 9, 1830 at Thompsonville, New York, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Stratton.
His maternal grandfather was the Honorable William A. Thompson, first judge of the Court of Common Pleas for Alston and Sullivan
counties, New York.
Stratton was educated at the Columbia Grammar School in New York, and came to California, via the Isthmus of Panama, just
after the Gold Rush. He arrived in San Francisco on the "Columbus" on June 6, 1850. His first work in California was a survey
of the town of Benicia; later, in 1851, he travelled up the American River to try his luck at the diggings. In 1853 he completed
a survey of the town of Alameda, and in the following year he returned East to marry Cornelia A. Smith at Sing Sing, New York,
on October 30, 1854.
Returning to California following his marriage, Stratton settled in the town of Clinton, now renamed East Oakland. In 1858
and 1859 he was the County Surveyor for Alameda County, and made many important surveys in other parts of California, becoming
an authority on the large Mexican grants. It is said that he subdivided more Spanish ranchos than any other surveyor.
Stratton was appointed U.S. Surveyor-General for California by President Grant in 1873, but because of failing eyesight he
was forced to abandon the job in 1876. During the period from 1880 to 1883 he served as Chief Deputy State Surveyor under
General James W. Shanklin. Toward the end of his life he was associated with Shanklin in many land ventures throughout the
state. It may also be noted that Stratton was a pioneer in the introduction of the Australian eucalyptus into California,
planting over 300 acres of these trees on his Hayward ranch.
Stratton's death occurred in Oakland on March 15, 1903. He was survived by his wife and four children: Frederick Smith Stratton,
George Malcolm Stratton, Robert T. Stratton and Mrs. Walter Good.