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Portrait of Governor Washington Bartlett

Washington Bartlett

16th Governor, Democrat
(1887-1887)

- Short Biography
- Administration
- Personal information
- This Time in California

 

Biography*
Washington Bartlett was born in Georgia in 1824. He was a printer by trade, and as such Bartlett published the first English-language book ever printed in California, under the cumbersome title of "California As It Is and As It May Be or A Guide to the Gold Country." Bartlett went on to become a San Francisco newspaper publisher, San Francisco Country Clerk, a lawyer, State Senator and Mayor of San Francisco prior to his election as Governor. Although he himself was not particularly religious, Barlett's mother was Jewish, which according to Jewish law means that he was also a Jew - making him California's only Jewish governor to date. Bartlett was a life-long bachelor with a reputation for honesty. Just nine months into his term, however, Bartlett became the first California governor to die in office.

Administration under Governor Washington Bartlett

- Inaugural Address - January 8, 1887

The Life of Governor Washington Bartlett

Born
February 29, 1824
Savannah, Georgia

Died
September 12, 1887
Oakland, California

This Time in California, The Nation, The World
1887
 
 
 


* All Biographies excerpted fromThe Governors of California and their Portraits (see credits)
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