The family of Maria Basilia Perez

 

The following is information about my 4th Great Grandmother. There is no shortage of speculation, guesses and hypothesis in the material below but it is as factual as I have been able to determine. I welcome any additional information anyone has to offer.

 

From a family letter, that appears dated as July 15, 1815, addressed to Senor Don Joaquin Verdugo from Ramon Lopez at San Juan Rancho:

My most respectable Uncle and recipient of my greatest love and affection. I take this great opportunity to send my greetings in company of my most appreciative mother and brothers who to the present find ourselves fine and hope to find you the same.

Well, Uncle I received your message that you sent with Garsillo, but I cannot go and cannot take my mother, the reason being that I am obligated and in debt and I do not want to go without paying what I owe. I cannot tell you how this will affect my mother. I would like you to come and take her as soon as you can. Receive fondest thoughts from all the family in general.

It would seem that the date on the letter is actually from July 15, 1875. If the letter had been sent in 1815 to Jose Joaquin Verdugo (1795-1832), he would have only been 20 years old, an unmarried and an unlikely uncle. But if the letter was sent in 1875 to his son, Jose Joaquin Juan Pedro Verdugo (1832-aft. 1880), Jose Joaquin would have been 43 years old, married with two daughters and far more eligible of the title “My most respectable Uncle” than his 20 year old father would have been some 60 years earlier.

Relatively few Ranchos were granted prior to 1815, while many had been received by 1875 following the secularization of the missions. Of the potential Rancho San Juan locations, two are in the northern counties with no clear family connections; and one in San Diego that was abandoned in 1840. The lands of San Juan Capistrano again seem most likely as it was the San Juan Township, the Rancho San Juan is most likely Forster’s ranch at San Juan Capistrano or, less likely, the Rancho San Juan Cajon de Santa Ana in Anaheim which was given in 1837 by Governor Juan Alvarado to Juan Pedro Pacifico Ontiveros (1795-1877).

Juan Pedro Pacifico Ontiveros was the son of Juan Patricio Ontiveros and Maria Antonia Rodriguez. Juan Patricio Ontiveros was the brother of Maria De La Asumpcion Ontiveros, who with Jose Esteban Perez (1765-1821) had at least three children that survived into adulthood:

A son, Jose Perez, married Maria de la Merced Lugo (she would later remarry Los Angeles mayor Steven Clark Foster (1820-1898)).

·      Maria Luisa Perez (1807-1840) had a daughter with, but does not appear to have married, Jose Domingo Olivas. She is also perhaps "Luisa Perez", the wife of Ricardo Uribes.

·      Maria Francisca 'Pancha' Perez (1814-1885) married Felipe Lugo.

Jose Esteban Perez and Maria De La Asumpcion Ontiveros also adopted a girl, Gabriella Perez (1804-?), on March 24, 1804. Her parents were unknown, the child was found at the door of Esteban Perez. Gabriella Perez married Marcos Bera, a soldado, at Mazatlan. Sargento Pablo Rodriguez, Sargento Jose Antonio Gongora (1778-1831) and Jose Herculano Olivas (1794-a.1835) witnessed the marriage.

Jose Esteban Perez had died by the time of his youngest daughter’s baptism; Maria Ventura Perez (1821-?) was baptized at Mission San Diego de Alcala on May 18, 1821. The child’s burial is recorded on the same day. Her padrinos were Jose Francisco Lisalde (1794-1843) and Maria Agatha Josefa “Agueda” Briones (1794-1823). However, we later find a 13-year old Angeles Ventura Perez living in the home of Felipe Lugo and Francisca Perez in the 1836 census. If they are the same person, news of her death may be incorrect. A 10-year old Maria Basilia Perez (1830-aft. 1900…3GGM) is also listed at the residence. 18-year old Basilia is still found living in the Lugo home as of the 1844 Census, as are a 15-year old Maria Perez and a 12-year old Maria Pulqueria Perez (1832-?), the daughter of Maria Luisa Perez and Jose Domingo Olivas (1807-?). He was the son of Anza Expedition member Juan Matias Olivas and Maria Juana de Dios Ontiveros (1769-1846).

Maria Francisca 'Pancha' Perez (1814-1885) refers to Maria Basilia Perez, in a previous family letter, as her sister. In baptism records for June 14, 1824 from the Mission San Gabriel Arcangel, Maria Basilia Alvarez (Perez?) is listed as the natural child of Maria Ontiveros (widow of Esteban Perez) and of Jose Alvarez, soldier(s). Another document from the Early California Population Project describes Maria Basilia Perez as “nacida el dia anterior como a las 9 de la noche”, “born the day before about 9 pm”; and as the child of Jose Perez, soldado, and Maria Ontiveros, widow of Esteban Perez. One theory is that Maria De La Asumpcion Ontiveros had Maria Basilia Perez with Jose Tiburcio de Jesus Alvarez (1791-1828), the son of soldado Juan Pedro Alvarez (1760-1828) and Maria Elena Teresa de Jesus Graciano (1762-1808).

We find Maria Basilia Perez’ (1830-aft. 1900) marriage record of September 10, 1851 to Pedro de Alcantara Lopez, the son of Tiburcio Lopez and Maria de Los Angeles Guillen. She is listed as “Rosalia Perez”, the daughter of Esteban Perez and Maria Ontiveros. Vicente Lugo (1822-1890) and his wife, Maria Andrea del Carmen Ballesteros (1824-1897), were witnesses. Vicente Lugo was the son of Antonio Maria Lugo, and the brother of Felipe Lugo, the husband of Maria Francisca 'Pancha' Perez (1814-1885) (Maria Basilia’s sister). The wedding was performed by Anacleto Lestrade. In the book Some Alta Cal Pioneers & Descendents Div 2, Vol. 4, by Dorothy Gittinger Mutnick (Contra Costa Co. Hist. Soc. 3rd prntg Dec 2004) it lists a wedding from the same date and names the couple as Lopez y Perez [Alvarez]. Listing them as PEDRO [DE ALCANTARA] LOPEZ Y GUILLEN (at) L.A. Plaza Church Marriage (on) 9/10/1851 [to] MARIA BASILIA PEREZ [ALVAREZ] Y ONTIVEROS. Note: Esteban Perez and Maria Ontiveros do not appear to have a daughter named Rosalia.

Tiburcio Lopez and Maria de Los Angeles Guillen were married February 4, 1828 at Mission San Gabriel Arcangel. Tiburcio was the son of Mission San Gabriel Majordomo Jose Maria Claudio Lopez and Maria Luisa de Cota. Maria de los Angeles Guillen was the daughter of Jose Miguel Antonio Guillen and Maria Eulalia Perez (1766-1878). Francisco Fernando Morales, Santiago Rios, and Jose Manuel (the widow of Dominga Saez), were witnesses (testigos) at the wedding. Francisco Fernando Morales at the time of his marriage in 1800 was a soldier of the Monterey Company. His daughter, Maria Felipa de Jesus Morales, is found in the 1834 Santa Barbara Census living with Maria Eulalia Perez (1766-1878).

Maria Basilia Perez (1830-aft. 1900) and Pedro de Alcantara Lopez, per records, appear to have had two sons:

·Jose Bernabe “Chato” Lopez (1852-1943)

·Ramon Nonato Lopez (bef. 1856-?).

At Jose Bernabe Lopez’ baptism on June 15, 1852, his godparents were Jose Maria Morales (?-1856) and Maria Uribes (1829-?); they were the parents of Jose Martin (Morales) Cruz, (who would later marry Mauricia Verdugo; a daughter of JJJP Verdugo and Basilia Perez). Jose Bernabe’s first marriage was to Rosa Villalobos (b.1860-a.1892), the daughter of Juan “Juanito” Villalobos and Maria Dolores “Isadora” Verdugo (a sister of JJJP Verdugo) on January 17, 1869; Rosa’s parents lived at the Rancho San Jose de Palomares. Juan Castelo (Castillo) (1878-?) and Maria Salvadora Verdugo (1825-1900) were witnesses. Jose Bernabe Lopez was a resident of the Rancho San Jose de Arriba, a rancho previously held by the Mission San Gabriel and part of Ricardo Vejar’s Rancho San Jose. Jose Bernabe’s second marriage, as a widower, was to Maria Silveria Esiquia Asufina Lopez on September 12, 1892. She was the wife (and widow?) of Jose Ascencion Yorba and daughter of Jose Bernardino Lopez (1812-1854) and Maria Rafaela Crisanta Perez (1815-?). Jose Bernardino Lopez was a brother of Tiburcio Lopez and the son of Jose Maria Claudio Lopez and Maria Luisa de Cota. Maria Rafaela Crisanta Perez was the daughter of Juan Antonio Lazaro "Crispin" Perez y Nieto and Maria Tomasa Ontiveros, the daughter of Juan Patricio Ontiveros (brother of Maria De La Asumpcion Ontiveros) and Maria Antonia Rodriguez. Antonio Zurita and Maria Marcelina Francisca Avila (1832-1903) were witnesses to the marriage.

Maria Silveria Esiquia Asufina Lopez was, in her second marriage, with Jose Bernabe “Chato” Lopez, the mother of Albertina Lopez (1874-1965). Albertina (nicknamed “Bertie”) was the wife of Jose Miguel Adolfo Verdugo (1873–1939). Jose Miguel Adolfo Verdugo was the son of Adolfo Verdugo (c.1854-?) and Maria Lucia de los Angeles Morillo (bef. 1850-?). Maria Lucia de los Angeles Morillo was the daughter of Jose Brigido "Justo" Morillo (1799-1882) and his third wife, Maria Antonia Canedo (1823-1882). Jose Brigido Morillo was the son of Francisco Xavier Morillo (1770-1825) and Maria Lucia Balbina Perez (1771-1817), and the brother of Jorge Morillo, stepfather of Jose Joaquin Juan Pedro Verdugo. Maria Lucia Balbina Perez was the daughter of Diego Perez and Antonia Rosalia Cota, and the sister of Maria Eulalia Perez. Miguel Adolfo Verdugo and Albertina were the parents of:

·         Miguel Albertino Verdugo (1896-1978) married Jean M. Batten (c. 1910-?)

·         William Domingo Verdugo (1897–1984) married Sophia E. Rowland (1899-1957). She  was the daughter of Robert Pedro Rowland (1869-1917) and Ramona Rorberta Yorba (1874-1951). They had one child:

o   William Rowland Verdugo (1919-2000)

William Domingo Verdugo married a second time to Rosa Bilderain (c.1903-?). She was the daughter of Albert Bilderain (c.1872-?) and Anita Cota (c.1875-1912). Anita Cota was the daughter of Miguel Gregorio de Cota Jr. (1842-1911) and Maria Manuela Nestora Sepulveda (1856-1920). Miguel Gregorio de Cota Jr. was the son of Miguel Gregorio de Cota Sr. (1802-1858) and Maria Manuela Antonia de Ortega (1813-1879). Miguel Gregorio Cota Sr. was the son of Juan Ygnacio Guillermo de Cota (1768-1844) (and grandson of Roque Jacinto Cota) and Maria Manuela de Jesus Lisalde (1777-1803). Maria Manuela Antonia de Ortega was the daughter of Jose Maria Ortega and Maria Francisca Lopez. Maria Manuela de Jesus Lisalde was the daughter of Pedro Antonio Lisalde and Maria Tomasa Lopez (c.1756-1788). She was the daughter of Sebastian Antonio Lopez (1735-c.1826) and Maria Felipa Neria (1736-1764). Sebastian Antonio Lopez and Maria Francicisca Lopez were siblings of Juan Francisco Lopez and Jose Maria Claudio Lopez, they were the children of Jose Ygnacio Maria de Jesus Lopez and Maria Facunda de Mora. William Domingo Verdugo and Rosa Bilderain had a son:

·         Gilberto Eugene Verdugo (1926-2016)

Miguel Albertino Verdugo is found on his WWI draft registration as Mike A. Verdugo. He is found again on his draft registration for WWII in 1942, and lists his mother Albertina as “a person who will always know your address” at 2012 Cedar in Alhambra, CA. The same address is listed on his WWI form. Miguel was an actor and musician per listings in news clippings and telephone listings from the period. He performed in John Steven McGroarty’s popular “The Mission Play”, described in a flyer as “A Pageant-Drama of Franciscan Romance and Glory”. It was first staged in 1912 across from the San Gabriel Mission.

At Ramon Nonato Lopez’ (b. bef. 1856) confirmation on January 6, 1856 at Mission San Gabriel Arcangel & Nuestra Senora Reina de Los Angeles Church no godparents are named. Ramon Nonato Lopez married Maria Juliana Manriquez (c.1856-a.1920) on June 12, 1880 at the Mission San Gabriel Arcangel. She was the widow of Vicente Bermudez (1843-b.1880) and the daughter of Juan Bautista Manriquez (c.1809-a.1880), his wife Maria Jacova Villalobos (c.1812-a.1880). Ramon is listed as a resident of Mision Vieja. Jesus Marron and Maria de Jesus Alvina Lopez (1832-1927) were witnesses. Maria Jacoba Villalobos (1812-a.1880) was the daughter of Maria Casilda Soto and either Jose Basilio “Cecilio” Villalobos or an unknown father, as there are conflicting records. Maria de Jesus Alvina Lopez was the sister of Pedro de Alcantara Lopez (1830-?) and the daughter of Jose Tiburcio Lopez and Maria de Los Angeles Guillen.

Is Ramon Nonato Lopez the Ramon of the letter? Was it his mother Maria Basilia Perez (1830-aft. 1900), in her second marriage that he was asking Don Joaquin Verdugo to “…come and take her…” ? It seems to be a possibility, although technically Jose Joaquin Juan Pedro Verdugo (1832-aft. 1880), if he married Ramon’s mother Maria Basilia Perez, would be his stepfather.

Ramon Nonato Lopez, born sometime before 1856, appears to be the second child of Pedro de Alcantara Lopez and Maria Basilia Perez (1830-aft. 1900). It seems possible that Pedro de Alcantara Lopez died sometime after the birth of Ramon and Maria Basilia Perez remarried Jose Joaquin Juan Pedro Verdugo (1832-aft. 1880) given the presence of so many connected family members at Jose Bernabe’s and Ramon Nonato Lopez’ weddings and baptisms. Jose Maria Morales (?-1856) and Maria Uribes (1829-?) were the parents of Jose Martin (Morales) Cruz (1854-1920) who would marry Maria Mauricia Faviana Verdugo (1863-1941)), Maria Salvadora Verdugo (1825-1900…3GGA) and Dolores Verdugo were JJJP Verdugo’s sisters. Dolores Verdugo’s husband, Juanito Villalobos was Juan Villalobos, a son of Maria Casilda Soto and Jose Basilio “Cecilio” Villalobos. Maria Casilda Soto’s daughter, Maria Jacoba Villalobos married Juan Bautista Manriquez, their daughter, Juliana Manriquez, married Ramon Nonato Lopez. Additionally, Mauricia Verdugo would later marry an Albert Manriquez.

Jose Joaquin Juan Pedro Verdugo (1832-aft. 1880) married Maria Basilia Perez (1830-aft. 1900…3GGM) sometime around or before 1864, based upon the birth dates of their two daughters:

·         Maria Mauricia Faviana Verdugo (1865-1941) was born September 22, 1865 and baptized January 20, 1866 at the Parish San Salvador de Jurupa, with Juan Castelo (Castillo) and Salvadora Verdugo, standing again, as (padrinos) godparents.

·         Maria Margarita Verdugo (1868-1924) married Jose "Vicente" Nicolas Melendrez (1864-1905) of Mision Vieja on November 24, 1885. He was the son of Vicente Melendrez (1825-?) and Maria Antonia Rodriguez. Victor Manzanarez and Juliana Manriquez (Ramon Nonato Lopez’ wife) were witnesses. 

The Parish of San Salvador de Jurupa refers to the first two non-native settlements of Agua Mansa and La Placita in the San Bernardino Valley located on opposite banks of the Santa Ana River; they were also the largest settlements between Santa Fe de Nuevo Mexico and the Pueblo de Los Angeles in the 1840s.

In 1845, Juan Lorenzo Bruno Bandini donated parts of his land grant Rancho Jurupa to a group of colonists from Abiquiu in Santa Fe de Nuevo Mexico on the condition that they would assist in protecting his stock from local Indian raids. Ten families moved to 2,000 acres on the "Bandini Donation" on the east side of the Santa Ana River and formed the village of La Placita. A second group colonized the west side of the river, forming the town of Agua Mansa. The group that formed Agua Mansa was led by Jose Tomas Salajar, and included Cristobal Slover and Louis Rubidoux.

The adobe church of La Placita collapsed in quicksand in 1852 and a new church was built in Agua Mansa. Completed in 1853, the church was dedicated to San Salvador; the church survived the Great Flood of 1862, which swept away most of the adobe buildings built along the river and left the area strewn with sand and gravel. The town was rebuilt on higher ground, but its prosperity did not return. It was the first non-mission parish in Southern California and the chapel's bell now hangs at the Glenwood Mission Inn.

The “Old Woman’s Gun" and the Battle of Rancho Dominguez

The Battle of Rancho Dominguez, also referred to as "The Battle of the Old Woman's Gun", occurred on October 8, 1846. It was a military engagement of the Mexican–American War and took place south of Los Angeles on the Dominguez Family's Rancho San Pedro.

Upon hearing of the Siege of Los Angeles, on October 4, 1846, Commodore Robert F. Stockton sent U.S. Navy Captain William Mervine and the American ship Savannah to the port of San Pedro to assist Captain Archibald H. Gillespie in military operations. Arriving two days later, Mervine set out on October 7th with sailors, marines and bear flaggers to recapture the town.

The Americans had occupied Los Angeles in August of that year, and residents had hidden some weapons, some by burying them. On August 14, 1846, Pablo Vejar (brother of Juan Nepomuceno Ricardo Vejar) communicated a plan to Maria Casilda Soto (of Rancho La Merced) and Maria Francisca 'Pancha' Perez (wife of ranchero Felipe Lugo), both sympathetic Californio patriots, to hide one of the small ceremonial Plaza cannons used for firing salutes on feast days and other celebrations. Vejar, with the help of Carlos Ballesteros and Jose Domingo Bermudez, transported the old cannon to the peach orchard of Maria Inocencia Reyes. Reyes then buried the cannon in the orchard for safekeeping. The Reyes home adjoined that of Antonio Maria Lugo, located at what today would be the corner of San Pedro Street & 2^nd Street. the orchard may have been separate from the property, it was likely adjacent to the Reyes home.

Another slightly different account, from the article “Battle of Dominguez Ranch" by J.M. Guinn, conveys that upon the approach of Stockton and Fremont’s forces in 1846 that Maria Inocencia Reyes’ mother, Maria Clara Cota (with the assistance of her her daughters), buried the cannon in a cane field near their residence on the east side of Alameda Street near First.

On September 27, 1846 when the time had come to put the gun to use, Maria Inocencia Reyes delivered the gun to Jose Dolores de Altagracia “Huero” Higuera, who with the help of a local British carpenter made a cannon carriage from a cart belonging to Louis Vignes.

Mervine's commenced with little knowledge of the terrain or enemy forces. His troops were inadequately armed and they possessed no horses, wagons or cannons. General Jose Flores' force, was similarly equipped with lances, knives and old firearms that had been hidden, but they did have the recently unearthed cannon. This brass four-pounder or pedrero (swivel gun) was described by Jose Francisco de Paula Palomares as bronze and of about six inches in diameter, that it was “mounted over some iron-rimmed carreta wheels, and bound with reatas” and that at length it received the name "Conico".

Mervine and his troops marched on October 7 and reached Dominguez Rancho, where they camped for the night, within view of an advance detachment of Flores' troops. There was some shooting during the night, but with no effect other than keeping Mervine's party on the alert. Then, setting off at daybreak, the American force advanced just to the north of Rancho San Pedro.

The little four-pounder was placed upon the narrow trail that the Americans needed to follow. Ropes were lashed to the limber to quickly pull the gun into the brush for reloading. Californio horsemen deployed at a safe distance from the trail on the enemy flanks. These simple tactics proved effective. When the Americans came within range (about 400 yards), the cannon was fired and quickly pulled back into the brush, followed by covering musket fire from the horsemen.

Mervine's forces were at a disadvantage on foot against an enemy they could neither see nor count. Upon realizing they could not reach Los Angeles, they had no choice but to retreat. The battle lasted less than an hour; and five hours later Mervine's forces were back aboard their ship in San Pedro Bay. Four seriously wounded Americans died and were buried on a little island in San Pedro Bay called Isla de los Muertos (Island of the Dead). Mervine's troops reboarded the Savannah, and after a few days, sailed north to Monterey.

The Family of Jose Martin Morales Cruz and Mauricia Verdugo

My Great-Great Grandfather, Jose Martin Cruz (1854-1920), was born November 9, 1854; he was baptized at the Los Angeles Plaza Church. His father was Jose Maria Morales (d. 1856) and his mother was Maria Uribes (1829-?). Jose Maria Morales and Maria Uribes were married on October 7, 1848 at the San Gabriel Mission in Los Angeles. Jose Maria Morales was from Sonora, Mexico and died on March 17, 1856. Maria Uribes re-married Jose Marcial Cruz on March 13, 1857 shortly before Martin turned three years old. Jose Marcial Cruz adopted Jose Martin Morales and gave him his last name of Cruz.

Jose Martin Cruz married my Great-Great Grandmother, Maria Mauricia Faviana Verdugo (1863-1941), on May 16, 1885 in Compton, Los Angeles. Jose Martin (Morales) Cruz and Mauricia Verdugo are found in the 1900 census living in Long Beach, California with Mauricia’s widowed mother, Basilia Verdugo, and 7 children ranging in age from 23 to 2 years old.

Later, in the 1910 census we find Maria Mauricia Faviana Verdugo (1863-1941) widowed and living alone in the San Antonio Township. The San Antonio Township was formerly part of the Rancho San Antonio owned by the Lugo family; Mauricia’s paternal and maternal aunts had both married into the Lugo family, so it is not unlikely that she had been provided a home to stay in from a close relative. As recounted below, 2 younger daughters of Mauricia at this time were inmates in an orphanage; the older children likely found their own way and the whereabouts of the two youngest Cruz children is undetermined as of 1910.

Rosa Maria Cruz was the second daughter of Jose Martin (Morales) Cruz (1854-1920) and Maria Mauricia Faviana Verdugo (1863-1941). She was born in Long Beach, California on June 6, 1896; one of nine children. The youngest child, daughter Aurelia “Ray” Cruz (1906-1923) reportedly died at the Weimar Sanatorium in California of tuberculosis, but I can find no record of her death in Weimar records under Cruz or under her married name of Stevenson. 

It is unclear what family difficulties occurred between 1896 and 1910; but Rose and her younger sister, Florence Ambrosia Verdugo Cruz 1901-1983), are found in the 1910 census as inmates at the Los Angeles Orphanage. Rose was 13 and Florence 9 years old. Per Rosa Maria Cruz she came to San Diego when she was 14 years old (presumably with Florence) to live with her brother, Marshall Verdugo Cruz (1888-1951), who either owned or worked for the moving company, Triangle Transfer & Truck Company. Marshall would have been a fairly recent transplant to San Diego himself, as he is found previously in the 1910 census, at 20 years old, living in Los Angeles as a boarder in the home of Carmen Marquez, with his 23-year-old brother, Benjamin F. Cruz (1887-?).

Rosa Maria Cruz is perhaps found (in the 1920 census) living in Pomona, California; the wife of Reginaldo Palomares Vejar and mother of a 3 ½ year old daughter Regina Teresa Marcelline Vejar (1916-2016).  A second daughter, Henrietta Josefina Vejar (1921-1988), was born in San Diego (per family history);  whether Henrietta was Reginaldo Vejar's daughter or the daughter of Henry Cesena remains unclear, but by 1923 Rosa was again in San Diego and had remarried Vernon Monroe Kemp (1903-1968), the father of her third daughter, Helen Marie Kemp (1924-2005).

In a column about Rosa Maria Cruz outlining her life when she was 79 years old, she claimed Mission Indian and Spanish descent, she claimed (it seems mistakenly) that the famed Maria Eulalia Perez (1766-1878) was her 5^th Great Grandmother. Rosa stated that the Verdugo family came from Majorca, Spain and were landowners in Pasadena and of the Rancho Los Cerritos in Long Beach. Rancho Los Cerritos was a part of Rancho Los Nietos and was held by Maria Manuela Antonia Perez y Nieto (1791-aft.1835) and her husband Juan Ignacio Guillermo de Cota (1768–1844). Juan Ignacio Guillermo de Cota’s marriage to Maria Manuela Antonia Perez y Nieto was his second. He had been previously married to Maria Manuela de Jesus Lisalde (1777-1803), the daughter of Maria Tomasa Lopez (1756–1778) and Captain Pedro Antonio Lisalde (1753-1818).

Rosa Maria Cruz bought a house in San Diego at 1942 Thomas Street in 1929 and lived there until 1974 when she moved to De Anza Trailer Park on Mission Bay. Rose recounts fishing in Mission Bay with her family using chicken wire during the Depression. She tells that she, 2 sisters and her mother, Maria Mauricia Faviana Verdugo, were involved in the founding of St. Briget’s Catholic Church in Pacific Beach. There was no Catholic Church and they sold Spanish dinners to raise funds to build the church. Her nephew, Richard Severn Rash (1921-1988), the son of her sister Florence, was the first altar boy at St. Briget’s and her mother Mauricia Verdugo would pass away before the church was completed.

In a letter from Tecate, Mexico dated 12 August 1883 from Maria Mauricia Faviana Verdugo to Martin Cruz:

Senor Don Martin Cruz,

My beloved brother,

I will be glad if when you receive this letter in your hands you will find yourself and all of my other brothers and sisters in good health. My brother I wish and hope with anticipation to see all of you. The days seem so long. I received your wonderful letter, from which we received such great joy. I cannot tell you when we can go, I worry about the health of our father and mother. After this Novena and request to St. Francis I hope to be able to see all of you. Let me know when you will go to Sonora so I can commit myself to repaying this debt as promised to St. Francis. Let me know when you go, please do not stop writing to me. Next is only to find a job to make enough to pay my debt to St. Francis.

My greetings to Erlinda and Chachon, greetings from mother and father, from Margarita and from the rest of the family, and the heart of your sister who wishes she could see you.

Mauricia Verdugo

Maria Mauricia Faviana Verdugo refers to her husband as her brother and to her family members as her brothers and sisters. Why Mauricia Verdugo was in Tecate is unknown. Her greeting to Erlinda seems to refer to Erlinda Lopez (1876-1941), the daughter of Geronimo Lopez (1829-1921…3GGU) and Maria Catarina Lopez. Erlinda married Joseph W. Alexander (1870-1965). Margarita would likely be Mauricia’s sister, Maria Margarita Verdugo (1863-1924). Margarita Verdugo married Jose "Vicente" Nicolas Melendrez (1864-1905). Whether the “our father and mother” refers to Martin Cruz’ parents or Mauricia’s is unknown, but the presence of Margarita seems to point to a greater possibility that it was Jose Joaquin Juan Pedro Verdugo (1832-1889) and Maria Basilia Perez (1824-1908), who were, in this case, living in Tecate, Mexico.

The Quintero Family, the Pueblo of Los Angeles and Rancho Rodeo de las Aguas

The Pueblo of Los Angeles was founded September 4^th, 1781. In December of 1779 Lieutenant Governor Don Fernando Rivera y Moncada was sent south to Sinaloa and Sonora to recruit settlers and assemble an escort for the journey to Los Angeles. The two groups, totaling 44 persons (including 22 children), departed for Los Angeles from Los Alamos in April of 1781. One group under Alferez Ramon Laso de la Vega crossed the Gulf of California in launches and travelled overland to San Diego and then onward to the San Gabriel Mission. The second group, under Fernando Rivera y Moncada, took an overland route on the Anza trail 1,200 miles through the desert from Sinaloa, Mexico.

They passed through the new missions on the Colorado River, Mission Puerto de Purisima Concepcion and Mission San Pedro y San Pablo de Bicuner. The group arrived at the Colorado River in June of 1781. Rivera y Moncada sent most of his party ahead, but he stayed behind to rest the livestock before continuing their drive across the desert. His party would never reach San Gabriel. In July, Rivera was killed along with the local missionaries, settlers, and travelers with the revolt of the Quechan Indians (The Yuma Revolt) in 1781.

The Quechan and Mojave Indians rose up against the party for encroaching on their farmlands and for the many other abuses inflicted  upon them by the soldiers. From the 17th to the 19th of July in 1781 the Yuma (Quechan) Indians destroyed both the missions and pueblos, they killed 103 soldiers, colonists and the Mission Friars. They captured about 80 more, mostly women and children. Amid the casualties were Fernando Rivera y Moncada and Fray Francisco Garces. The Spanish were able to gather their dead and ransom nearly all the prisoners; but failed to re-open the Anza Trail. The Yuma Crossing and the Anza Trail were closed to Spanish traffic and would stay closed until about 1846. California was largely isolated from land based travel, with the only way into California from Mexico was now a 40 to 60 day sea voyage. According to historian David Weber, the Yuma Revolt turned California into an "island" and Arizona into a "cul de sac", severing Arizona-California and Mexican land connections before they could be firmly established.

Of the original 44 pobladores of El Pueblo de La Reina de Los Angeles; one included my 6th great grandfather, Luis Manuel Quintero (1726-1810); he was an Afro-Mexican tailor from Guadalajara, Jalisco (perhaps the son of an African slave). Quintero was the very last recruit to sign up with Rivera y Moncada. His wife, my 6th great grandmother, Maria Petranila Timotea Rubio (1743-1802), was born in about 1741 from Los Alamos, Sonora; she is described as a mulata, or a person of mixed Spanish and African descent. They were married in about 1760 at Los Alamos, Sonora, Mexico and their eight (or nine) children included, my 5th great grandmother, Maria Faviana Sebastiana Quintero (1766-1822). Luis Manuel Quintero’s decision to join the expedition was likely colored by the January 1781 marriages of 3 of his daughters to 3 of the expeditionary soldiers under Rivera y Moncada; Maria Faviana Sebastiana Quintero to my 5th great grandfather Ysidro German Eugenio Valdez (1755-1838), Maria Catarina Quintero (1766-1798) to Joaquin Rodriquez, and Maria Juana Josefa Quintero (1763-1793) to Jose Rosalino Fernandez.

At age 55, in about 1781, Luis Manuel Quintero, either requested to leave Los Angeles, or was evicted from the pueblo for not performing his appointed duties. One likely scenario was that Quintero, a tailor by trade, wished to continue in his profession rather than becoming a farmer at the Pueblo. Another factor may have been the 110-mile distance between the Pueblo and Santa Barbara Presidio where his three daughters lived with their soldiers husbands. In any event, Quintero did leave Los Angeles for Santa Barbara where he lived for many years. In 1784, he was reunited with an old compadre from Los Alamos when Felipe de Goycoechea was appointed as commander at Santa Barbara. Goycoechea was godfather to Quintero’s son, Jose Clemente Quintero (abt 1778-1803). Jose Clemente married Maria Josefa Andrea Rodriguez (1786-1851), the daughter of Jose Ygnacio Rodriguez (1759-1814) and Juana Paula de la Cruz Parra (1765-1827); her parents also members of the Riviera Expedition.

Jose Ygnacio Rodriguez was a co-recipient of Rancho El Conejo; a 48,572-acre Spanish land grant given in 1803 to Jose Polanco and Jose Ygnacio Rodriguez, it encompassed the area now known as the Conejo Valley in southeastern Ventura and northwestern Los Angeles Counties. El Conejo means "The Rabbit" in Spanish, and refers to the many rabbits common to the region. The rancho is the site of the communities of Newbury Park, Thousand Oaks, and Westlake Village.

Polanco, lost his portion of the rancho due to neglect. In 1822, Santa Barbara army officer Jose de la Guerra y Noriega was granted Polanco's claim by Spanish Governor Pablo Vicente de Sola. The grant was fully patented to Jose de la Guerra y Noriega and Jose Ygnacio Rodriguez’ daughter Maria del Carmen de Rodriguez (1798-1881) in 1873.

The rancho stayed in the de la Guerra and Rodriguez  families until the 1860s, when after drought and disease decimated local cattle, the families began selling off their land. In 1872, H. W. Mills purchased one-half of the Conejo grant from the heirs of Captain Jose de la Guerra, which he called the Triunfo Ranch. Mills went bankrupt and Andrew D. Russell purchased his Triunfo Ranch in 1881. In 1882, 2,200 acres of the Newbury tract were sold. In 1910, Harold and Edwin Janss of the Janss Investment Company purchased about 10,000 acres of land of what is now Thousand Oaks from the heir of John Edwards, who had purchased the land from the de la Guerra heirs.

Luis Manuel Quintero died in 1810 in Santa Barbara, after serving as tailor for the soldiers at the presidio. Some of the Quintero family eventually returned to Los Angeles.

My 5th great grandparents, Maria Faviana Sebastiana Quintero and Ysidro German Eugenio Valdez married on January 21, 1781 at Los Alamos. He was son of my 6th great grand parents Ygnacio Roque Valdez and Maria Manuela Fernandez of El Fuerte, Sinaloa. Ysidro German Eugenio Valdez served as an escort soldier in the 1781 expedition to Los Angeles. Maria Faviana Sebastiana Quintero and her, then retired, soldier husband would later move to Los Angeles. Their daughter,  Maria Rita Quiteria Valdez received the 4,500 acre Rancho Rodeo de las Aguas (Meeting of the Gathering Waters) in the area  now known as Beverly Hills. This was the rancho where two of my 3rd great grandfathers, Ygnacio Maria Palomares (1811-1864) and Juan Nepomuceno Ricardo Vejar (1805-1870) kept their herds of horses and cattle prior to receiving their own Rancho San Jose grant. Ygnacio Maria Palomares married Maria Rita Quiteria Valdez’ neice, my 3rd great grandmother, Maria "China" de la Concepcion Lopez; the daughter of my 4th great grandparents, Maria Jacinta del Sacramenta Valdez and Esteban Ignacio Maria De Los Angeles Lopez.

The Family of Jose Joaquin Verdugo and Maria Josefa Magdalena Vejar

With Jose Joaquin Verdugo (1795-1832) and his wife, Maria Josefa Magdalena Vejar (1799-1850) we find a family with many relationships to the old Californio families, whether through blood, marriage or other affiliation. Jose Joaquin and Maria Josefa Magdalena were married in San Diego, California on January 7th, 1821 [per Marie Northrup]. They were the children, grandchildren, nephews, nieces, cousins and in-laws of the original settlers, soldiers and immigrants that arrived in San Diego, Los Angeles and Upper California after 1769.

Jose Joaquin Verdugo was born in 1795 at San Gabriel, California; his father, Ygnacio Leonardo Maria Verdugo (1761-1830), had come north to San Diego as a boy from Loreto in Baja California. Leonardo’s wife, Maria Josefa Magdalena Vejar was born in November of 1799 in San Diego, California; her father, Francisco Salvador Vejar (1764-1824), was stationed as a soldier and served as a master carpenter at the Presidio of San Diego. Jose Joaquin Verdugo died at the age of about 37 years old in January of 1832 at San Gabriel in Los Angeles, California; leaving behind his 32 year old widow, 5 young daughters ranging in age from 1 to 11, and a son that would be born just shortly after his death.

Jose Joaquin Verdugo’s Parents

Jose Joaquin Verdugo’s parents, Ygnacio Leonardo Maria Verdugo and Maria Josefa Vincenta Rubio were married at Mission San Gabriel on July 4, 1793 by the Fr. Miguel Sanchez. The witnesses to the marriage were Maria Encarnacion Perez (1768-1825) and her husband Pedro Antonio Lisalde (1753-1818), Jose Manuel Perez Nieto (1748-1804) and his wife. Pedro Antonio Lisalde was a soldier with the San Diego Company who had come to California with the De Anza Expedition of 1776 and served with the Verdugo brothers. Jose Manuel Perez Nieto arrived in California with the Portola Expedition and is first found on the garrison list of Monterey in 1773, later the recipient of Rancho Los Nietos in 1784.



Maria Josefa Magdalena Vejar’s Parents

Jose Joaquin Verdugo’s wife Maria Josefa Magdalena Vejar’s parents were Francisco Salvador Vejar (1765-1824), a Spanish soldier and a Master Carpenter who came to California in 1790, and Maria Josefa Benita Lopez (1784-1863). They were married at the Mission San Diego in 1798. Francisco Salvador Vejar helped to build the Presidio at Monterey in 1796, constructed a watch tower at Point Guijarros in San Diego in 1808 (with his brother, Ship’s Carpenter, Pablo Vejar); repaired the leaking roof of Mission San Luis Rey in 1817, travelled to Santa Barbara to prepare ‘rockets’ for the celebration of the dedication of the new Mission there in 1820, and according to family tradition was involved in the construction of Mission San Gabriel as well as El Pueblo de Nuestra Sonora La Reina de Los Angeles de Porciuncula, or the Los Angeles Plaza Church.

From the Denver Public Library, was taken by William Henry Jackson

Children of Jose Joaquin Verdugo and Maria Josefa Magdalena Vejar

Their eldest child, Juana Maria Resurreccion Verdugo (1821-1870) married Teodoro Romero (1810-1846) in about 1837. Teodoro Romero was the co-recipient of the Rancho Potrero de Felipe Lugo with Juana Maria Resurreccion Verdugo’s step-father, Jorge Morillo. Teodoro Romero was from Sonora, Mexico and his parents are unknown, but it seems likely that he was a relative of Juana Maria Resurreccion Verdugo’s cousin’s wife. Her cousin, Julio Antonio Jose Verdugo, the son of Rancho San Rafael owner Jose Maria Verdugo, was married to Maria De Jesus Romero (1801-1872). She was the daughter of Soldado Juan Maria Romero (1747-1816) and Maria Lugarda Salgado (1761-1847). After Teodoro Romero died Juana Maria Resurreccion Verdugo remarried Jose del Refugio Zuniga (1820-1890) in 1850. Jose del Refugio Zuniga’s first wife was Maria Dolores Romero. Jose del Refugio Zuniga and Juana Maria Resurreccion Verdugo had several children together; including a son Manuel Maria de las Merced Zuniga (1854-1928) who later married Lucinda Amanda Temple (1860-1928), the daughter of Francisco Pliny Fiske Temple (1822-1880) and Antonia Margarita Workman (1830-1892).

 

Plat map of Rancho Potrero de Felipe Lugo

Maria Dolores “Isadora” Verdugo (1823-1868) married Juan Jose Cecilio Villalobo (1816-1854) in 1838. He was the son of the widow Maria Casilda Soto (1799-1854), grantee of the 2,363 acre Rancho La Merced in 1844; and Jose Cecilio Cedilio Villalobo (1786-a.1836). Juan Jose Cecilio Villalobo and Maria Casilda Soto were married June 6, 1812 at Mission San Gabriel, with the marriage document penned by Jose Cristobal Palomares who also provided parental consent for Maria Casilda Soto who was 13 years old. We later find them in the 1836 Mexican census living at La Mision Vieja with five children. Maria Dolores “Isadora” Verdugo, in a second marriage, wed Jose Facundo Reyes (1824-1870). He was the son of Maria Clara Cota (1790-1844) (a grand-daughter of Roque Jacinto de Cota) and Antonio Faustino Reyes (1785-1844). Jose Facundo Reyes’ brother Antonio Maria Reyes (1822-1928) married Maria Trinidad Jesus Francisca Vejar (1826-1852); the eldest daughter of Juan Nepomuceno Ricardo Vejar and Maria de la Trinidad Soto (and the sister of Maria Casilda Soto of the Rancho La Merced). Jose Facundo Reyes’ sister, Inocencia Reyes (1815-1863), was the 2nd wife of Teodosio Yorba (1805-1863). Teodosio Yorba’s 1st wife had been Maria Antonia Lugo (1810-1855), the daughter of Rancho San Antonio grantee Antonio Maria Lugo (1778-1860). Teodosio Yorba was the grantee of both the Rancho Arroyo Seco and the Rancho Lomas de Santiago. Teodosio Yorba’s father, Jose Antonio Yorba (1743-1825), was the grantee of the Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana.

 

Jose Facundo Reyes with Maria Dolores “Isadora” Verdugo in the background?

Maria Salvadora Verdugo (1825-1900) married Rafael Yescas in 1852 at Mission San Gabriel. We find her living with her brother Jose Joaquin Juan Pedro Verdugo and his wife, Basilia, at San Luis Rey in the 1870 census where her age is recorded as 24. She is again found living with the family of her sister Juana Maria Eleuteria Verdugo in El Monte in the 1900 census listed as age 65.

Maria Eustaquia De La Concepcion Verdugo (1828-1870) married Jose Luis Lugo (1830-?), the son of Felipe Lugo (1807-1885) and Maria Francisca 'Pancha' Perez (1814-1885); and the grandson of Antonio Maria Lugo, the grantee of the Rancho San Antonio. Maria Francisca 'Pancha' Perez was the daughter of Spanish Soldado Jose Esteban Perez (1765-1821) and Maria Asumpcion de la Encarnacion Ontiveros (1783-1825). Maria Francisca 'Pancha' Perez brother, Jose Perez (1805-1841), married Maria de la Merced de Lugo (1815-1903); Felipe Lugo’s, sister.
 

Lugo Family members at the Adobe of Don Antonio Maria Lugo

Juana Maria Eleuteria "Tia Chatta" Verdugo (1831-1915) married Josef Anastacio Alvitre (1822-1911). He was the son of Juan Jose Alvitre (1798-1838) and Maria Tomasa Alvarado (1799-1863). Josef Anastacio Alvitre inherited a section of the Rancho Potrero Chico from his father. Juana Maria Eleuteria "Tia Chatta" Verdugo and Josef Anastacio Alvitre had 6 children that lived to adulthood including their son, Jose Pedro Ramon Alvitre (1863-1941), who was living on the Rancho with his family in the 1920 census; and their daughter Maria Antonia Alvitre (1853-1939) who married Rafael Basye (1832-1887). Rafael Basye was the father of Tomas Basye, a close friend of Manuel Maria de las Merced Zuniga and Charles Parker Temple, the latter with whom he would become embroiled in an ongoing, violent, public and ultimately fatal (for Tomas Basye) dispute over the death of his sister, Rafaela Basye (1873-1899).
 

Vaqueros at San Juan Capistrano

The youngest, and only son, Jose Joaquin Juan Pedro Verdugo (1832-aft. 1880) married Basilia Perez (1830-aft. 1900). We find them, as mentioned, with his sister Maria Salvadora Verdugo, listed in the 1870 census for San Luis Rey; presumably residing on former California governor Pio Pico’s Rancho Santa Margarita y Las Flores, then owned by John Forster (on current-day Camp Pendleton, north of Oceanside in San Diego County) where Jose Joaquin Juan Pedro Verdugo worked as a Vaquero. They were located 5 houses away from Forster’s Santa Margarita Ranch House. In the 1870 census Jose Joaquin Juan Pedro Verdugo is listed as age 30, Basilia Perez as age 25 and Maria Salvadora Verdugo as age 24. Basilia Perez is again found in the 1900 census, listed as age 69, living in Long Beach, California with the family of her daughter Mauricia Verdugo (1863-1941) and her husband Jose Martin (Morales) Cruz (1854-1920).

 
More to come...please feel free to comment, offer corrections or credit where due.