El
Dorado County
Biographies
ERNEST G. BARRETTE
One
of El Dorado County’s leading cattlemen is Ernest G. Barrette, whose livestock
operations have been conducted on a large scale and in accordance with
progressive methods, so that he has realized a splendid measure of success and
is regarded as one of his community’s most substantial men. He was born on the old Barrette ranch, where
he now lives, near Shingle Springs, on the 6th of June, 1862, and is
a son of Gillaume and Abbie
(Wells) Barrette. His father came to
California from Montreal, Canada, by way of the Isthmus of Panama in 1849, so
that the family ranks among the real pioneer families of the Sacramento Valley. He acquired property on the Shingle
Springs-Latrobe Road, on which he established a general merchandise store. He prospered in his affairs and became one of
the best known men of El Dorado County.
He was accidentally killed in 1881, being struck by the limb of a tree
while passing it in a wagon. His land
was rich in gold, millions of dollars worth of the yellow metal having been
taken from it in earlier days. After
coming to this locality Mr. Barrette met and married Miss Abbie
Wells, who also had come by the isthmus route.
Ernest
G. Barrette was educated in the public schools of his home community, after
which he assisted his father in the management of the property. Since his father’s death he has had the sole
use and management of the ranch, to which he has added three thousand six
hundred acres. He carried on his
ranching and cattle business with marked success until 1918, when he leased the
property to the University of California for experimental work. This lease has now expired and he is again
resuming his cattle business, in which he has taken great pride and in which he
has achieved his greatest success. This
is one of the best known ranches in El Dorado County and has always been
managed in accordance with the most scientific methods.
Mr. Barrette was united in marriage
to Miss Philipina E. Meder,
who also is descended from old pioneer stock, being a daughter of John and Fredeline (Fredman) Meder, the former having settled in Jayhawk,
June 5, 1854. To Mr.
and Mrs. Barrette have been born three children, Lawrence E., Irene, living in
Shingle, and Ernest, who died at the age of two years. Lawrence E., a well educated man became a
bank teller in the Bank of Italy at Sacramento, but owing to his father’s ill
health for the past year, he will now take charge of the fine stock ranch near
the town of Shingle Springs. The
daughter, Irene, who is prominent in local social circles and active in the
affairs of the community in general will also have an
interest in the operations of the ranch.
The ranch is well located in the hills with trees and shrubbery, and is
very attractive. Mr. Barrette gives his support
to the Democratic Party and is interested in local affairs; he is now serving
as justice of the peace, having recently been reelected for a second term. He is a member of the Native Sons of the
Golden West, and is very popular throughout the community where he has spent
his life.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Wooldridge, J.W.Major History of Sacramento Valley
California, Vol. 3, Pages 206-207. Pioneer Historical
Publishing Co. Chicago 1931.
© 2010
Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden
Nugget Library's El Dorado County Biographies