{{short description|American politician (1823–1899)}} {{Similar names|Benjamin Barton (disambiguation){{!}}Benjamin Barton}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Ben Barton | image = Ben Barton.jpg | birth_date = {{Birth date|1823|06|08}} | birth_place = South Carolina | death_date = {{Death date and age|1899|01|01|1823|06|08}} | death_place = | monuments = | occupation = Doctor, landowner, vintner, politician, settler | spouse = Eliza Brite | children = 5, including Hiram |state_assembly=California |district=1st |term= January 6, 1862 – December 7, 1863 }}
'''Ben Barton''' (June 8, 1823 – January 1, 1899), often erroneously referred to as '''Benjamin Barton''',<ref name=Landis>{{Cite news|url=http://www.sbsun.com/article/ZZ/20090203/NEWS/902039829|title=Bartons were active in early development of SB Valley|last=Landis|first=Mark|date=2009-02-03|work=The San Bernardino Sun|access-date=2016-08-23}}</ref> was a prominent landowner and white settler of the San Bernardino Valley in southern California. Educated as a medical doctor in the Eastern United States, he migrated to Southern California in 1854. A few years later, he purchased a large tract of land in Rancho San Bernardino. He served various political roles in state and local government. After retiring from his medical practice, he became a rancher and vintner, and had a large mansion built for his family. His sons also became prominent local politicians and businessmen.
After Barton's death, his land holdings were split into lots and sold for development; the area eventually became the city of Redlands. Barton built some of the earliest buildings in Redlands and neighboring San Bernardino, and his villa is now listed as a historic site. Barton was also a philanthropist and social host. He and his family were well-known and influential in the San Bernardino area during its pioneer era.
== Early life and family == Barton was born in South Carolina in 1823 to a family descended from European colonists of the area.<ref name=Landis/> He studied medicine in Lexington, Kentucky, which he moved to in 1845. He lived and worked as a doctor in Texas and Alabama after his time in Kentucky.<ref name=Landis/><ref name=Road/> He met and married his wife, Eliza Brite, in Texas, and they resided in El Paso until 1854.<ref name=Landis/><ref name=McCall/> In that year, he moved west with his wife to El Monte, California.<ref name=Landis/><ref name="Road" /><ref name=McCall/> The Bartons had two sons during this time, John H. Barton (b. 1855) and Hiram Barton (b. 1856).<ref name=Landis/>
== Career == In the late 1850s,<ref name="Landis" /><ref name=Road/><ref name="Asistencia">{{Cite web|url=http://www.sbcounty.gov/museum/branches/asist.htm|title=The 'Asistencia'|publisher=San Bernardino County Museum|access-date=2016-08-23}}</ref> Barton was able to purchase large amounts of land from members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Rancho San Bernardino at low prices due to Brigham Young's recalling the Mormon outpost in San Bernardino.<ref name="Landis" /><ref name="Hernandez">{{Cite news|url=http://www.redlandsdailyfacts.com/article/ZZ/20130422/NEWS/130429077|title=Heritage Park in Redlands 25 years in the making|last=Hernandez|first=Kristina|date=2013-04-22|work=The Redlands Daily Facts|access-date=2016-08-23}}</ref> From Charles C. Rich and Amasa Lyman, leaders of the Mormon settlement in the area, he purchased, for $5,000 (approximately ${{Inflation|US|5000|1858|r=-2|fmt=c}} today),<!--- sources vary on date, using McCall's book as likely best reference ---> {{Convert|640|acre|km2}} of property around the San Bernardino Asistencia, land known as Old San Bernardino due to its status as a late 17th-/early 18th-century outpost of Mission San Gabriel Arcángel.<ref name=Landis/><ref name="Road" /><ref name=McCall/><ref name=Hernandez/> His purchases also included a number of properties within San Bernardino proper.<ref name="McCall">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tCd_CQAAQBAJ|title=Redlands Remembered: Stories from the Jewel of the Inland Empire|last=McCall|first=Joan Hedges|publisher=The History Press|year=2012|isbn=9781609496180|location=Charleston, South Carolina|language=en}}</ref> Barton was appointed the city's postmaster, and built a building in 1858 in San Bernardino out of adobe to house a post office, doctor's office, and pharmacy.<ref name="Landis" /><ref name="Road" /><ref name=McCall/> Due to Barton's other commitments, the post office was effectively overseen by John P. Barton, his brother. Also in 1858, Barton was elected school superintendent for the recently formed county of San Bernardino.<ref name=Landis/>
[[File:Barton Villa.jpg|left|thumb|The Barton Villa, home to Barton and his family later in his life. The villa was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.]] In 1859, Barton and his family moved to the Asistencia and sold their San Bernardino home. Around this time, Barton shifted his focus from medicine to ranching and farming.<ref name=Landis/><ref name="Road" /><ref name=McCall/><ref name=Asistencia/> Some sources report that he gave up medicine entirely,<ref name=Landis/><ref name=Road/> while others state he maintained a home office for some time.<ref name=McCall/><ref name=Asistencia/> Barton had the Barton Villa, now the oldest extant house in the city of Redlands,<ref name=Hernandez/> built as a home for him and his family. He served as a member of the California State Assembly in the early 1860s, representing what was then the first district.<ref name=Landis/><ref name="Road" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.joincalifornia.com/candidate/10814|title=Benjamin Barton|last=Vassar|first=Alex|last2=Meyers|first2=Shane|website=JoinCalifornia|language=en|access-date=2017-05-07}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/barton.html#666.13.95|title=Index to Politicians: Barton|last=Kestenbaum|first=Lawrence|author-link=Lawrence Kestenbaum|website=The Political Graveyard|access-date=2016-08-23}}</ref> He died in 1899.<ref name=Landis/>
== Legacy == Barton Road, which runs between Redlands and Grand Terrace, is named after him.<ref name=Road>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ci.san-bernardino.ca.us/about/history/streets_n_places/barton_road.asp|title=Barton Road|publisher=City of San Bernardino|url-status=dead|access-date=2016-08-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220071058/https://www.ci.san-bernardino.ca.us/about/history/streets_n_places/barton_road.asp|archive-date=2016-12-20}}</ref> Barton and his sons' real estate holdings would come to be known as the Barton Ranch or Barton Tract, and after being subdivided and sold off into individual house lots, would eventually become the land incorporated as the city of Redlands.<ref name="Landis" /><ref name="Road" /><ref name=McCall/>
==See also== *History of Redlands, California
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
== Further reading == * {{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/ingersollscentur00ininge|title=Ingersoll's century annals of San Bernardino County, 1769-1904: prefaced with a brief history of the state of California: supplemented with an encyclopedia of local biography and embellished with views of historic subjects and portraits of many of its representative people|last=Ingersoll|first=Luther A.|publisher=L. A. Ingersoll|year=1904|location=San Bernardino, California}}
==External links== *{{Find a Grave|8318935}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barton, Ben}} Category:1823 births Category:1899 deaths Category:People from Redlands, California Category:History of San Bernardino County, California Category:History of San Bernardino, California Category:People from San Bernardino County, California Category:Politicians from San Bernardino, California Category:People from South Carolina Category:History of Redlands, California Category:Members of the California State Assembly Category:California postmasters Category:Medical doctors from California Category:Medical doctors from Kentucky Category:People from El Monte, California Category:People from San Bernardino, California Category:19th-century members of the California State Legislature