Pioneer cattle rancher who built a 4,000-acre empire in Pacific Valley (1864-1906). Married Mendocina Plaskett, daughter of William Lucas Plaskett - making him part of the Plaskett family. His 1887 ranch house still stands as USFS headquarters. Father of 12 children, all born in Pacific Valley.
Parents: AMOS WELLS MANSFIELD · Sarah Milliman
Married: Mendocina May Plaskett Mansfield
Children: Edwin E Mansfield · Lillie Bell Mansfield · Sallie M Mansfield · Asa G Mansfield · Lula Frances Mansfield · Laura W Mansfield · Sarah Myrtle Mansfield · Jasper A. Mansfield · Dora Mansfield · Walter Mansfield · Curnell Louis Mansfield · Jane Mansfield · Minnie M Mansfield · Della Olive Mansfield · Sherman T Mansfield · Sherman Tecumseh Mansfield · Mary Bell Mansfield · Maud Mansfield · James G Mansfield · Gertrude Mansfield · William Alpha Mansfield · Horace Mansfield · David Mansfield
Parents: AMOS WELLS MANSFIELD · Sarah Milliman
Grandparents: Nathan Forrester Mansfield
Great-grandparents: Amos Mansfield · Mary JACKSON
2× great-grandparents: Theophilus Mansfield
3× great-grandparents: Samuel Mansfield · Mary Bancroft
4× great-grandparents: Daniel Mansfield
place history
Before Big Sur: The Mendocino Years
Fifteen years before Pacific Valley, William Lucas Plaskett rehearsed his dream in Anderson Valley — where the family named a daughter Mendocina, left their name on a mountain meadow that still carries it, and stopped twelve feet short of a different life.
mabel article
An Old Landmark Lost with Removal of Mansfield Home
'This old house is getting shaky...' — watching the Mansfield home, a Pacific Valley landmark for generations, hauled away.
mabel article
Mansfields Were Pacific Valley Pioneers
From Indian shell beds to a 4,000-acre cattle empire — the Mansfields, who came to Pacific Valley when the lilac grew as tall as trees.
story
Curnell Mansfield Built 4,000 Acre Cattle Empire
West by wagon at nine, Curnell Mansfield built a cattle empire of four thousand acres.
- residence 1864 · Pacific Valley — Curnell Mansfield and Jim Prewitt settled on north end of Pacific Valley, 5 years before Plasketts arrived
- military 1864-1865 — Enlisted fall 1864 as a private in Co. A, 8th California Infantry; kept in California; honorably discharged 1865. Before that: cattle interests in San Luis Obispo County from 1859, and 500 head lost in the drought of 1863-64. The Californian (Salinas), 27 July 1906, obituary of C. H. Mansfield (via Find a Grave memorial 122797778).
- marriage 1871-03-16 — Married Mendocina May Plaskett at Watsonville, 16 March 1871 (Find a Grave; the 1906 obituary says 1872 and spells her Mendocino). The Californian (Salinas), 27 July 1906, obituary of C. H. Mansfield (via Find a Grave memorial 122797778).
- residence c.1866-1869 — After the war, farmed near Watsonville a few years, then came to Monterey County and settled near Gorda in the stock business. Mabel Plaskett (The Land, Sept 1959) gives 1859 for the cattle drive to the coast with Jim Prewitt and 1864 for settling; the obituary places settlement after 1865. The 1867 and 1869 Monterey County Great Registers would fix the year. Noted 7 Sep 2026 for Bill Alderson. The Californian (Salinas), 27 July 1906, obituary of C. H. Mansfield (via Find a Grave memorial 122797778).
born life events land died