The Islander is pleased to be able to add to its series of pioneer sketches the following authentic account of the life and experiences of John Bartlett, of Richardson, who is not only one of the oldest, best known and most highly respected citizens of this county, but is also one of the early pioneers of Puget Sound. He is an American from “away back”, his ancestors having come to the “New World” early in the 17th century. “We have dates,” he says, “as far back as 1634.” He comes of a long-lived race, his father having lived 90 years old, his grandfather, 77 and his great-grandfather 84. “John” has been the name of the eldest son in the family for many generations.
The subject of this sketch was born in Washington, D.C., Jan. 7, 1835. His father was at that time in the employ of Judge Levi Woodbury, then secretary of the Treasury. From Washington the family moved to Kennebunk, Maine, where the father had purchased a small farm of 33 acres upon which he built a house and barn and made other improvements which exhausted his means and made it necessary for the eldest boy to early become a breadwinner. He was able to go to school only two or three months a year before he was thirteen years old when he had an opportunity to attend an academy for one term. Securing his parents’ permission to go to sea he shipped, in 1849, with Capt. Wm. Nason on board the ship Waban, 800 tons, for a voyage from New York to San Francisco. After a long and at times tempestuous voyage the ship arrived at the golden Gate about the middle of February, 1850, having been six months out of sight of land and six weeks beating against strong westerly gales off Cape Horn.
At San Francisco, then a motley collection of tents and cheap frame buildings scattered over the sandy hills, the young adventurer, then only fifteen years old, made up his mind to leave the ship, having a strong dislike for the brutish black mate. After first securing a job in a bowling alley he ran away from the ship about midnight and the next morning began his new work, setting up tenpins for which he was paid $35.00 a month. After remaining there two months he shipped as steward’s assistant on the Steamer Sea Gull bound for Portland. “On the return trip,” he says in his diary, “we landed a party of nine settlers at Port Orfer. I heard afterward they were all killed by the Indians. I had the pleasure of seeing General Scott in San Francisco and soon after voted for him for president, although I was under age.”
The young sailor then made a voyage to Humbolt bay in the old steamer Chesapeake. It was her last voyage, for she was badly crippled crossing the bar, the crew deserted her and she was condemned. “I stood at the vessel’s helm eight hours at a time in a gale of wind, and was not sorry to get out of her,” Mr. Bartlett says in his reminiscences. After two trips in the big Colorado he joined a party of six home-seekers who came to Puget Sound to take up land. The party included, besides Mr. Bartlett, Eli Hathaway, R.B. Holbrook, Capt. Diggs, Geo. Bell and Capt. Ben Mitchell. Mr. Bartlett says: “All are now dead except Mr. Holbrook and myself. After purchasing farming tools and provisions and supplies for six months we took passage on the big John Davis, Capt. Plummer, and after a ten days’ voyage reached Port Townsend in April 1852. This was about the first settlement in Port Townsend. Messrs. Hastings and Pettygrove had just arrived with their families. A few other settlers came about that time, or soon after, including Mr. Plummer, Chas. Bachelder, Judge Briggs, Mr. Hammond and Henry Wilson. A log building used as a store was the only building then standing where the city of Port Townsend now is. There were about 600 Indians there then. Our party was not of the right material for farmers and soon broke up. Diggs and Mitchell returned to San Francisco and continued to follow the sea. Hathaway and Holbrook took up land on Whidbey Island and remained there. Bell and I also took up some land, built a log house and planted some potatoes, but as it was late in the season we did not get our seed back. I had brought from San Francisco two sheep, two pigs and two chickens. Finding farming under the conditions then existing unprofitable I sold my stock and again went to sea. The principal settlement on Whidbey Island at that time was at Eby’s landing, named for Col. Eby, who was one of the first collectors of customs for the district of Puget sound and was killed by the Indians.
"After cruising about the Sound in the schooner Mary Taylor for a few months I went into the hotel business in Port Townsend. The building, called the ‘Clam Hotel,’ was made of cedar shakes and was the first structure of this kind erected there. The following winter 1853 was a hard one. Provisions of all kinds were scarce. Flour cost $60 a barrel. Our diet consisted principally of fish, clams and potatoes. I was not doing much in the hotel business and concluded to go to sea again. After a few coastwise voyages to and from San Francisco I went to Melbourne, Australia, in the ship Rowena, loaded with lumber, and from there to Newcastle and thence back to Melbourne. I then shipped on the barque Burnharn for Hong Kong and San Francisco. The master, Capt. Kinney, was a very capable seaman and one of the best men I ever sailed with. At San Francisco I shipped for Puget Sound on the revenue cutter Jefferson Davis, for a seven months’ cruise. This was in 1856 and the Indian war was still in progress, though the trouble was soon over. After returning to San Francisco I made up my mind to go home, I shipped on the clipper ship Competitor for Shanghai for a cargo of tea and thence to London, where I spent two weeks sight seeing. The ‘Great Eastern,’ used in laying the first Atlantic cable, was then building there. She looked like a big mountain. From London I went to New York as a passenger in the fine packet ship ‘Amazon’. From there I went to my old home in Maine, where I remained until fall when I got the California fever again. Finding no ships bound for San Francisco either at Boston or New York, I shipped as second mate on the barque Virginia for Trinidad. After one other voyage to West India ports I shipped for San Francisco on the ship ‘Granite’. I made several coastwise trips to Puget Sound and one voyage to Honolulu and then concluded to get married and quit the sea. Deciding to locate on Puget Sound my wife and I came to Port Townsend. I worked as a pilot and stevedore for about two years and made one more trip to San Francisco as a master of the schooner ‘Potter’.
“In 1864 I got the appointment of first assistant keeper of the Smith’s island light station and six months later was appointed keeper at a salary of $1000 a year. I held the position for ten years. It was lonely and the night work wore heavily upon me. While living there we had the misfortune to lose our eldest son. While keeper of the light I had several narrow escapes, one time being lost in a dense fog on the straits and at another time being capsized off Point Wilson. The Indians at that time were quite troublesome and I came near losing my scalp by them.
“About 1875 I located a homestead on Lopez Island, paying $800 for the improvement already made on it. I leased it for a year and had considerable trouble to get rid of the lessee, but finally I got possession and began making improvements and this same farm has now been my home for more than thirty years.