Guide to the Peter Coutts Collection
SC0202
Dept. of Special Collections & University Archives
Stanford University Libraries.
557 Escondido Mall
Stanford, California, 94305
Repository email: speccollref@stanford.edu
October 2010
Note
This encoded finding aid is compliant with Stanford EAD Best Practice Guidelines, Version 1.0.
Title: Peter Coutts collection
Identifier/Call Number: SC0202
Contributing Institution:
Dept. of Special Collections & University Archives
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
0.25 Linear feet
Date (inclusive): 1881-1956
Summary: Correspondence from Coutts, his granddaughter, Marguerite Berlin, and others regarding Coutts' property and Coutts' background.
Also included are two tintypes (1883) of Cornelius Van Buren and his son George M. Van Buren, who rode horses for Coutts,
and a five page manuscript by Marguerite E. Berlin, "History of Jean-Baptiste Paulin Caperon, Known as Peter Coutts, in Mayfield,
now Palo Alto, Calif.," (1953).
creator:
Coutts, P. J. F., ((Peter J. F.))
creator:
Coutts, Peter.
Information about Access
This collection is open for research.
Ownership & Copyright
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the
Head of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, California 94304-6064. Consent
is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission
from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner, heir(s) or assigns. See: http://library.stanford.edu/depts/spc/pubserv/permissions.html.
Restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to research
and educational purposes.
Cite As
Peter Coutts Collection (SC0202). Department of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford University Libraries,
Stanford, Calif.
Biographical/Historical Sketch
Jean-Baptiste Paulin Caperon (better known in California as Peter Coutts), was a successful French businessman, book collector
and editor of the republican, anti-royalist paper, LA LIBERTÉ. Political disputes and health problems caused him to leave
France and take up residence in California. In 1875 Caperon, now known as Peter Coutts, purchased 1,400 acres just north of
Mayfield and named it Rancho Matadero. Coutts returned to Europe in 1880 to reclaim his confiscated estates and Rancho Matadero
was sold to neighbor Leland Stanford.
Description of the Collection
Correspondence from Coutts, his granddaughter, Marguerite Berlin, and others regarding Coutts' property and Coutts' background.
Also included are two tintypes (1883) of Cornelius Van Buren and his son George M. Van Buren, who rode horses for Coutts,
and a five page manuscript by Marguerite E. Berlin, "History of Jean-Baptiste Paulin Caperon, Known as Peter Coutts, in Mayfield,
now Palo Alto, Calif.," (1953).
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Berlin, Marguerite Caperon.
Berlin, Marguerite Caperon.
Caperon, Jean-Baptiste Paulin.
Caperon, Jean-Baptiste Paulin.
Caperon, Marguerite Eugenie.
Caperon, Marguerite Eugenie.
Coutts, Peter.
Rancho Matadero (Calif.).
Rancho Matadero (Calif.)
Van Buren, Cornelius.
Van Buren, Cornelius.
Box 1, Folder 1
Letters to C. Van Buren from Coutts, 1881-1882, and photocopy of a letter to C. Van Buren from I. Steinhart of the Anglo-California
Bank regarding sale of Ayreshire Farm, 1882
1881-1882
Box 1, Folder 2
Tintypes of George and Cornelius Van Buren
188, no date
Box 1, Folder 3
Berlin, Marguerite E., letter to S.U. Dean, 1941, and letters to Robert W. Chandler, 1952-53, along with 5 page typescript on the history of Jean-Baptiste
Paulin Caperon
1941, 1952-1953
Box 1, Folder 4
Correspondence regarding Peter Coutts, 1934-1956; transcripts of two letters by an unnamed Stanford student to Albert Caperon
(1895) and Eugenie Clagenson (1896) requesting information on Coutts; and a transcript of the 1882 letter to Van Buren regarding
the sale of Ayreshire Farm to Leland Stanford (see Folder 1 for photocopy of original)
1934-1956
