Egbert Starr Newbury (September 8, 1843 – February 10, 1880) was the American founder of

Newbury Park, California Newbury Park is a populated place and townReal Estate Communications, Inc. (1984). ''California Real Estate Directory''. Page 201. in Ventura County, California, United States. Most of it lies within the western Thousand Oaks city limits, while ...

, and the first newspaper reporter in the

Conejo Valley The Conejo Valley is a region spanning both southeastern Ventura County and northwestern Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States. It is located in the northwestern part of the Greater Los Angeles Area. Communities in the Conejo ...

, located in Ventura County. Born and raised in Michigan, he moved to California in 1871 and settled in the Conejo Valley after buying land there in 1874, one of the first three European Americans to do so. He was appointed as the first postmaster in the Conejo Valley, and established the

Newbury Park Post Office The Newbury Park Post Office was the first post office in the Conejo Valley, established on July 16, 1875, by the valley's first postmaster, Egbert Starr Newbury. The post office was originally located in a tent on Newbury's property, today's si ...

in 1875 at his house. He left Newbury Park after an extended drought (1876-1877) caused him to lose his crops and sheep, and go into bankruptcy. He returned with his family to Michigan, settling in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

where he found work in a retail store. The town of Newbury Park and its post office, and

Newbury Road Newbury Road is the main street in Newbury Park, California, and runs parallel to the U.S. Route 101 (Ventura Freeway). The road is named for the town’s founder, Egbert Starr Newbury. The historic Newbury Park Post Office has had several locati ...

were all named for E.S. Newbury. A replica of Newbury's home is located at the Tri-Village at the

Stagecoach Inn The coaching inn (also coaching house or staging inn) was a vital part of Europe's inland transport infrastructure until the development of the railway, providing a resting point (layover) for people and horses. The inn served the needs of tra ...

museum in Newbury Park.

Early life

Egbert Starr Newbury was born on September 8, 1843 in

Jackson, Michigan Jackson is the only city and county seat of Jackson County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 33,534, down from 36,316 at the 2000 census. Located along Interstate 94 and U.S. Route 127, it is approxi ...

. He grew up as a member of the

Presbyterian Church Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

and joined the Republican Party as an adult. In 1871 Newbury moved to

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

and its better climate for health reasons. He first settled in Santa Barbara. In 1872, he traveled to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

to welcome his friend Fannie Kellogg to California. They were old friends from Jackson, and Fannie had recently decided to relocate to the West as well. Newbury brought Fannie to Santa Barbara in January 1873, and they later got engaged. They so enjoyed horseback-riding on the beach that Newbury gave Fannie ta horse as an engagement present. She named he mare Flora. The couple married on July 9, 1873 in San Francisco. Their honeymoon was a one-week trip by boat, stagecoach and train to Santa Cruz, Pescadero and San Mateo. They sailed by the steamship '' Orazabo'' back to Santa Barbara.

Newbury Park

When he bought 2,200 acres in the

in 1874, Newbury was among the first three European Americans to purchase former

Rancho El Conejo Rancho El Conejo was a Spanish land grant in California given in 1803 to Jose Polanco and Ygnacio Rodriguez that encompassed the area now known as the Conejo Valley in southeastern Ventura and northwestern Los Angeles Counties. ''El Conejo'' is ...

land established in the Spanish and Mexican eras. He began to develop his property, often traveling for days between the Conejo Valley and Santa Barbara in order to build a wooden cottage in addition to corrals for his planned sheep. After his wife Frances gave birth to the first of their four children in May 1874, Newbury decided it was time to move to the property in Conejo Valley. He planted acres of wheat, built a barn, and bought 1600 sheep from Winchester Ranch in Santa Barbara.Begun, Miriam and Ruthanne Sprankling (2009). ''Ladies of The Conejo''. Conejo Valley Historical Society. Pages 16-18. . The Conejo Valley was remote and at this time only five European-American families lived here, on large ranch lands miles apart. The valley had no grocery stores, schools, churches, or doctors. Newbury wrote to his sister in Michigan on November 23, 1874:

...take wings and come to Conejo and enjoy our warm bright days all winter… be outdoors instead of confined indoors… I am out all the time and our drives now are just lovely with the country all turning green. The birds stay around our house in flocks all the time… Our roads to the ranch are splendid and they lie through beautiful canyons and large groves of live and white oak and sycamore, then into an open valley with slopes and surrounding hills covered with evergreen oaks...

As interest increased in the Conejo Valley, Newbury served as its promoter. He also was the correspondent for two

Ventura County Ventura County () is a county in the southern part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 843,843. The largest city is Oxnard, and the county seat is the city of Ventura. Ventura County comprises the Oxnar ...

newspapers, including ''

Ventura Signal Ventura (Italian, Portuguese and Spanish for "fortune") may refer to: Places ; Brazil * Boa Ventura de São Roque, a municipality in the state of Paraná, southern Brazil * Boa Ventura, Paraíba, a municipality in the state of Paraíba, in t ...

''. The few valley residents had to travel to San Buenaventura to pick up their mail, so Newbury applied to Washington, DC for a new local post office. He named it Newbury Park, as he thought the area looked like a lovely park. The Newbury Park Post Office was the first in Conejo Valley when it opened on July 16, 1875 and Newbury was appointed as US postmaster. In November 1876, Conejo Valley residents voted in the presidential election between

Rutherford B. Hayes Rutherford Birchard Hayes (; October 4, 1822 – January 17, 1893) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 19th president of the United States from 1877 to 1881, after serving in the U.S. House of Representatives and as governor ...

and Samuel J. Tilden. Newbury’s ranch served as the local post office and polling place; voters filed their ballots at his house. A severe drought took place between 1876-1878, with only six inches of rain in 30 months. Crops failed, and the ranchers lost most of their sheep to starvation. Newbury went bankrupt and had to sell his land at a sheriff's sale. He left in 1877 with his family; they traveled overland to Michigan, where they settled in

. There Newbury worked as a shoe salesmen and tried to pay down his accumulated debt in California. Newbury contracted

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

and died at the age of 36 on February 10, 1880. He is buried in his hometown of

Legacy

* Newbury Park and its post office, and

were all named after E.S. Newbury. *A replica of Newbury's home is located at the Tri-Village at the

museum in Newbury Park.Begun, Miriam and Ruthanne Sprankling (2004). ''A Visit to the Historic Stagecoach Inn Museum''. Newbury Park, CA: Conejo Valley Historical Society. Page 9. .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Newbury, Egbert People from Jackson, Michigan People from Newbury Park, California American newspaper writers California postmasters 1843 births 1880 deaths Deaths from pneumonia in Michigan