The Life of Maria Mauricia Faviana Verdugo

 On Friday, September 22nd, 1865 Maria Mauricia Faviana Verdugo was born presumably near present day San Bernardino, California. She was the first daughter of 33 year-old Jose Joaquin Juan Pedro Verdugo and 41 year-old Maria Basilia Perez, was 41 (although in some records Jose Joaquin is listed as older than Basilia?). Jose Joaquin worked as a vaquero, at that time presumably on one of the ranchos divided from the Lugo family’s Rancho San Bernardino. It was Jose Joaquin’s first marriage while Basilia was in her second marriage. Mauricia was baptised at the Parish San Salvador de Jurupa on January 20th 1866 and her godparents were her aunt (Jose Joaquin’s sister), Salvadora Verdugo, and her husband, Juan Castillo. Jose Joaquin Juan Pedro Verdugo was the son of Jose Joaquin Verdugo and Maria Josefa Magdalena Vejar. Jose Joaquin Verdugo died just days before the birth of his son and the boy was raised by his step-father Jorge Morrillo of the Rancho Potrero de Felipe Lugo, where he undoubtedly developed his skills as a vaquero. Basilia Perez was the daughter of unmarried Jose Tiburcio de Buenaventura Alvarez and the widowed Maria Asumpcion de la Encarnacion Ontiveros.

Basilia Perez’s previous marriage was to Pedro de Alcantara Lopez on September 10, 1851. He was the son of Jose Tiburcio Lopez and the grandson of Jose Maria Claudio Lopez, the longtime Mayordomo of Mission San Gabriel. His mother was Maria de Los Angeles Guillen and his grandmother was the famed “Keeper of the Keys”, Maria Eulalia Perez. In 1845, Basilia’s half sister, Francisca “Pancha” Perez stood as madrina at the baptism of Ysidoro Lopez, a brother of Pedro. Likely one of many meetings between the pair. Basilia and Pedro had two sons, Jose Bernabe "Chato" Lopez, born June 10, 1852, and Ramon Nonato Lopez, born in August of 1854. Jose Bernabe married two times, first to Maria Rosa Villalobos, the daughter of Jose Joaquin Juan Pedro Verdugo’s sister Maria Dolores "Isadora" Verdugo; and then to Maria Silveria Esiquia Asufina Lopez, a daughter of Jose Bernardino Lopez and, yet again, a granddaughter of Claudio Lopez. She was also the granddaughter of Juan Gregorio "Crispin" Perez y Nieto, brother of Rancho Los Cerritos grantee Manuel Nieto. Silveria Lopez’ daughter Albertina Lopez (a daughter with her first husband, Jose Asencion "El Borrego" Yorba but assuming the Lopez surname of her stepfather) was cousin to, and very close with Mauricia Verdugo’s daughter Rosa Maria Cruz.

Mauricia’s younger sister, Maria Margarita Verdugo, was born to Jose Joaquin and Basilia on February 19th, 1868 presumably in Los Angeles. Margarita married Jose "Vicente" Nicolas Melendrez in Los Angeles in about 1885. Vicente was the son of Vicente Melendrez and Maria Buena Ventura Alvitre. She was a granddaughter of the notorious soldado Sebastian Alvitre. Margarita Verdugo and Vicente Melendrez had nine children together and lived much of their lives in El Monte and Montebello, California.

In the 1870 census, we find Vaquero Jose Joaquin Juna Pedro Verdugo and Basilia Perez residing on John Forster’s Rancho San Luis Rey with Jose Joaquin’s sister Salvadora. Curiously, Salvadora’s husband Juan Castillo (also a vaquero) is living in a different dwelling nearby. Also, at this point in time, Mauricia would be about 5 years and Margarita about 3. Where were the girls? Perhaps, with a family member like Jose Joaquin’s mother? Or one of his or Basilia’s siblings? More likely was the chaotic nature of the census taken during that post Civil War period.

Also, in the 1870 census we find that Jose Joaquin Juan Pedro’s 90 year old mother Maria Josefa Verdugo (aka Maria Josefa Magdalena Vejar) was living with 15 year old Jose La Cruz (presumably Martin) and his 13 year old half brother Anastacio Cruz. Maria Dolores Uribes had died sometime after 1865 and the death date of Jose Marcial Cruz is not recorded. Mauricia’s mother Basilia Perez, was the aunt of Maria Uribes (a half sister of Maria Dolores Uribes’s mother Maria Luisa Perez). Both Basilia and Maria Dolores had been raised in the home of Felipe Lugo and Basilia’s half sister (Maria Dolores’ aunt) Francisca “Pancha” Perez. So perhaps upon the death of the Cruz brother’s parents it was arranged for them to live with their step grandmother Maria Josefa Verdugo. Maria Josefa was the widow of Jose Joaquin Verdugo and later married to ranchero Jorge Morrillo.

In the 1880 census we find 15 year old Mauricia living in the Los Nietos Township with her parents and sister Margarita. Jose Verdugo is recorded as a 45 year old Vaquero (Laborer), 35 year old Basilia as Keeping House, and both Mauricia and 13 year old Margarita listed as At Home/Student. Again, neither Jose nor Basilia’s ages remotely match their earlier birth date records. The girls' ages are accurate. In the 1879 and 1880 Voter Registrations Jose Joaquin was registered in Los Angeles County, listed under Los Nietos Township. His occupation is consistently noted as a vaquero (cowboy/stockraiser) or laborer. The specific voter logs note physical details, with Jose Joaquin described as roughly 5'7" to 5'9", with dark eyes, dark hair, and a dark complexion.

Mauricia married Jose Martin (Morales) Cruz in about 1886 when she was 20 years old, based upon the birth of their first child, Benjamin Cruz in March of 1887. Martin was the son of Maria Dolores Uribes and Jose Maria Morales. Following the death of his father, Maria Dolores remarried Jose Marcial Cruz who adopted Jose Martin who was now Jose Martin Cruz. Mauricia Verdugo and Martin Cruz had nine children together. Basilia Perez had stood as madrina to Jose Martin's older brother Jose Luis Morales' baptism on March 17, 1850 at the Los Angeles Plaza Church.

Jose Martin Cruz, Jose Joaquin Juan Pedro Verdugo and Basilia Perez all had similar childhood experiences of living in the homes of relatives following the deaths of one or both of their parents. Jose Martin with his adoptive father Jose Marcial Cruz, Jose Joaquin with his step-father Jorge Morillo and Basilia in the home of her brother in law Felipe Lugo. The Cruz family children would experience similar family upheaval.

The 1900 census lists the Cruz family, including Mauricia’s mother Basilia, renting a house on Pine Street in Long Beach, California; perhaps close to the adobe of Rancho Los Cerritos. In the census, 36 year old Jose Martin and the 2 older sons, Benjamin and Marcial, are listed as Farm Laborers. The younger children are listed as “At School”. The family is literate with only Basilia and the youngest children listed as unable to read and write. Other notable census errors are the ages of Benjamin, Marcial and Flora (Florence) with the brother ages off by 10 years and Florence listed as older than her big sister Rosa. 

Jose Martin Cruz died on May 15, 1904 and while Mauricia later remarried to Albert E. Manriquez on June 1, 1913 in Los Angeles, California, the death of Jose Martin created substantial chaos and upheaval in the family as illustrated in the 1910 census. 

By 1910, the family’s situation was dramatically altered. Per census entries, Mauricia is living on Albert Street, close to where the family had lived on Pine Street but she is the only resident in a house that she owns. She is working as a laborer performing odd jobs. Benjamin and Marcial Cruz are living as boarders in the house of Carmen Marquez on East Washington Street in Los Angeles, likely close to the Los Angeles River as the young men were working as teamsters at a Gravel Company. Sisters Louisa, Rosa, and Florence Cruz are all found living as inmates at the Los Angeles Orphan Asylum on Boyle Street. The other children, James Reginald, William James, George Albert and Aurelia Cruz are not found in 1910 census records I have searched but had probably been placed with other family members. As mentioned Mauricia remarried to Albert Manriquez in 1913, and in 1916 Mauricia is listed as a housewife in the Watts City Registry of Voters but by 1917 Albert Manriquez was living in Santa Monica, California without Mauricia.

The Los Angeles Orphan Asylum largely served girls or very young boys. Despite the name "Orphan Asylum," not all children living there in 1910 were not parentless orphans. Many were classified in records as "half-orphans", meaning they had a living parent who could not care for them. Children could be sent to the asylum following the death of a parent and where the surviving mother or father worked long hours and could not care for young daughters. Or children were placed temporarily because a parent was incapacitated by illness, or other issue. Finally, if a breadwinner abandoned the family, the remaining parent often utilized the asylum as a boarding fallback until financial stability was restored. Boys were routed to different  institutions based on their age, religion, or community ties. The primary destination for boys from Catholic Spanish speaking families in the Los Angeles area was St. Vincent’s Orphan Asylum in San Rafael in Northern California. St. Vincent's was an enormous, dedicated facility for boys managed by the De La Salle Christian Brothers. It acted as a massive manual training school where half-orphan and orphan boys from all over California were sent to learn farming, tailoring, shoemaking, and academic basics once they outgrew infant nurseries. Whether the younger Cruz boys were sent here is unknown. Also highly likely boys were frequently "placed out" as boarders or as apprentice laborers on nearby ranchos or with extended maternal/paternal kin.

By the 1920 census Mauricia is found living with her son George Albert on Morton Street in Watts, Los Angeles, California. She again owns her home and is working as a laundress for private families. She is listed as “Widowed” but her 2nd husband Albert Manriquez appears to still have been alive. Benjamin Cruz is not found in the census but by 1916 was married to Betsy living on 19th Street and working as a laborer in San Diego, California. Marcial and James Cruz had also relocated to San Diego by this time, the brothers were both married and living in a rented home on 12th Street together with Marcial’s wife Vera and James’ wife Della and children Virginia and Yolanda. Vera is listed in the 1916 San Diego Directory as a Domestic worker. Louisa “DeDe” Cruz is found working as a Housekeeper for the Emilio Castellano family on West Adams in Los Angeles, California. Per family member Gilbert Verdugo who I interviewed briefly before his death, Louisa was married but her husband died shortly thereafter and she never remarried. Rosa Maria Cruz is found married to Reginaldo Palomares Vejar and living on Lordsburg Road in Pomona, California with their 3 year old daughter Regina. Florence Cruz is not found in the 1920 census but her son Richard “Dickie” with Weldon Virgil “Daddy” Rash was born in February of 1921 and Weldon Rash was in Texas at the time of the census. William James Cruz is also missing from the census record although his wife-to-be Lulalia Quintana was living in Redlands, San Bernardino, California in 1920 and their daughter Helen would be born in 1923. The youngest daughter, Aurelia “Ray” Cruz is not found in census records but she died in 1923 of tuberculosis at the Weimar Sanitarium in California. 

Watts in 1920 was a diverse, working-class town where Spanish-speaking families lived alongside African Americans, Japanese farmers, and European immigrants. For a single, widowed Latina woman living with her 16-year-old son in 1920 Watts there were certainly challenges. While we cannot fully know Mauricia Verdugo’s experience we can deduce some of her advantages because of her extended family network. Mauricia’s home on Morton Street (historically known as "Morton Town") was in the heart of the railroad district, just a few blocks from the Pacific Electric "Red Car" Watts Junction. The fact that she owned the home free of mortgage provided her with substantial financial security and opportunity. Again, while the specific of how Mauricia came to own her home are unclear it seems highly likely that she, as the daughter of Basilia Perez, and a niece of Francisca Perez and Felipe Lugo, was provided for in some fashion. Felipe Lugo (1807–1885) was the son of Don Antonio María Lugo, one of the most powerful and wealthiest land barons in Southern California history, who held the massive Rancho San Antonio land grant that spanned modern-day Compton, Watts, Vernon, and Huntington Park. When the massive Lugo ranch properties were partitioned, legally distributed, or sold off to developers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, family land fractions were frequently retained or deeded down through familial lines. Mauricia’s relatives likely deeded or quitclaimed a small partition of the family's property holdings to Mauricia, enabling her to secure 219 Morton Street home free and clear of a bank mortgage.

In 1924 Mauricia’s daughter Rosa Cruz lived at 1154 9th Street in San Diego. Near B St. about 1/2 way between Balboa Park and the Gaslamp Quarter. In about 1929 Rosa bought her home in Pacific Beach on Thomas Street. Her 1924 home was a busy urban district south of 1915’s Panama-California Exposition Balboa park and just north of the area  then known simply as “Downtown” or the "Stingaree" district. Rosa was the mother of a young daughter Josefina at this point, how she navigated this is unclear but two of her brothers were also in San Diego and likely were of some assistance during this time. Rosa was a civilian Navy cook during this period and this was the setting in which she met and married two of her husbands, Vernon Kemp, who she married in 1923; and Woodard Saunders. Also during this time, Rosa was allegedly involved in bootlegging related activities with Charles Henry Metcalfe, he was the father of Rosa’s future son-in-law Robert Metcalfe. Charles Metcalfe would be incarcerated for revenue violations in Washington State. What level of criminal activity will forever be unknown but adds yet one more twist in these early family histories.

In the 1930 census Mauricia is counted twice, once in the household of her daughter Florence and grandson Richard at East 107th Street in Los Angeles and again at the home of her son Marcial and his wife Vera at 3883 Logan Avenue in San Diego. Also in the home is 8 year old Josephine Cruz, the daughter of Rosa Cruz and Reginaldo Vejar. She is listed in the census as their adopted daughter. Reginaldo Vejar by 1930 had remarried to Jessie Cota and was still in Pomona with he and Rosa’s eldest daughter Regina. We find James Reginald Cruz living at 1022 Cypress Avenue in Santa Ana, Orange County, California with wife Della Agadia Molina and children Virginia, Yolanda, James Jr., Teresa and Marion. Louisa Frances “DeDe” Cruz is found as a servant in the household of William F. Ball in Los Angeles at 975 Manhattan Place South. Rosa Cruz disappears from the 1930 census. She had married Vernon Monroe Kemp in the 1920’s and had a daughter Helen Marie Kemp with him in 1924 but by 1930 Vernon Kemp, a Seaman in the US Navy, is listed in the census as  divorced. In the 1924 San Diego Directory Vernon and Rose are found living at 1154 9th Street. Additionally, Rose is found in the 1931 San Diego Directory as Rose Saunders, having married another Navy man, Woodard “Red” Saunders, and living at 3620 Logan Avenue. Her occupation is listed as Saleswoman. The most likely explanation for Rosa’s absence in the 1930 census is that she simply was not at home when the census taker came by. William Cruz is found living in Redlands, San Bernardino, California with his wife and children and two Quintana siblings of his wife Lilalia Quintana. Their children were Helen, Aurelia, Gloria and William Jr. William Sr.’s occupation is recorded as a Laborer with a well contractor company.

The circumstances of Rosa Cruz’s marriage to Reginaldo Vejar can be possibly attributed to several factors. Rosa’s grandfather Jose Joaquin Juan Pedro Verdugo and Reginaldo’s father Ramon Vejar were first cousins. Jose Joaquin Juan Pedro’s mother, the previously mentioned Maria Josefa Verdugo (caring for the Cruz brothers) was Maria Josefa Magdalena Vejar and a sister of Reginaldo’s grandfather, the San Jose ranchero Juan Nepomuceno Vejar. The common maternal/paternal grandparents of Verdugo and Vejar were Francisco Salvador Vejar and Maria Josefa Benita Lopez. Beyond being first cousins, On July 4, 1850, Ramon Vejar acted as an official wedding witness for Jose Joaquin's older sister, Maria Concepcion Verdugo, at her wedding in Los Angeles. Also, both families lived in the Jurupa frontier region during the 1850s and 1860s. One final piece of the puzzle would be the 1855 marriage of Felipa de Jesus Lugo (the daughter of Felipe Lugo and Maria Francisca "Pancha" Perez) to Francisco Salvador "Chico" Vejar, the brother of Ramon Vejar. For many years there was difficulty in determining whether Rosa and Reginaldo were the parents of Regina and Henrietta Josefina until the daughter of Regina recounted to me that she had seen a photograph of Regina Vejar with her Aunt DeDe Cruz.

In 1937 Mauricia was living in Pacific Beach in the Thomas Street house she had purchased in 1929. At this time she was Rose Marie Mathieson, the name entered on her marriage license with Woodard Saunders. Presumably, both her daughters lived with her at the Thomas Street address. When Rosa bought the home, this area was a somewhat rural location with dirt roads and sparse development. If her daughters did live with her in 1930, it is likely that they attended school at Pacific Beach Elementary School, Pacific Beach Junior High School and possibly La Jolla High School as Pacific Beach did not have a high school of its own. This was during the start of the Depression when Rosa recounted fishing with chicken wire in Mission Bay to supplement food supplies, but school attendance was typically expected and enforced at this time, even though Josefina married at 17 and almost certainly would have left school at that point if still enrolled.

Mauricia's death is recorded both as August 8th, 1937 and in November of 1941 in San Diego, California at the age of 71 or 75. Her daughter Rosa’s oral histories indicate that her mother died just prior to the opening of St. Brigid’s Catholic Church in Pacific Beach which points to the 1941 date as the correct one. Rosa Cruz also described how she and her mother sold dinners to fund the construction of St. Brigid’s and Mauricia's grandson, Richard Severn rash, was the first altar boy at the church. Mauricia is buried at the Holy Cross Cemetery in San Diego, California and shares her grave with her Great Great Granddaughter, Barbara Jo Austin, who was born and died in 1962.

The tangled family web of José Luis Lugo

 The tangled and interconnected family web of José Luis Lugo (1831-before July 1899)

23 year old Felipe Lugo (1807-1885) was the second surviving son of Rancho San Antonio grantee Antonio Maria Lugo (1778-1860) and his first wife Maria de los Dolores Dominga Ruiz (1783-1829). 18 year old Francisca Maria de Jesus Perez (1813-1877), baptized on October 10, 1813 at Mission San Gabriel, was the daughter of Juan Crispin Antonio Lazaro Perez (1793-1847) and Maria Tomasa Ontiveros (1798-1825). Jose Luis Lugo, was born out of wedlock, on May 6, 1831 in Los Angeles in Alta California to Felipe Lugo and Francisca Perez. It is, within reason, reasonable to suspect that Felipe Lugo and Francisca Perez first came into close contact during the marriage of 15 year old Felipe’s older sister Maria Vicenta “China” Lugo (1805-?) to 9 year old Francisca’s uncle Antonio "Ireneo" Perez (1796-1847) at Mission San Gabriel in November 1822 and the subsequent wedding celebration that followed. Witnesses to the marriage included “El Cabo de la Compania de San Diego” Jose Tiburcio de Buenaventura Alvarez (1791-1828) and soldado Esteban Ignacio Maria De Los Angeles Lopez (1790-1852).

The Lugo, Perez and Ontiveros families all played significant roles in early California history. The Lugo clan members were major landowners and rancheros, notable for owning large tracts of land, including Rancho San Antonio (grant in 1810), Rancho Santa Ana del Chino (grant in 1841), and Rancho San Bernardino (grant in 1842). The Rancho Potrero de Felipe Lugo was grazing land adjacent to Rancho San Antonio granted in 1845 to Jorge Morillo (1810-?) and Teodoro Romero (1810-1846), who married, respectively, the widow of Jose Joaquin Verdugo (1795-1832), Maria Josefa Magdalena Vejar (1799-aft. 1850), and their daughter, Juana Maria Resurreccion Verdugo (c. 1821-1870). Francisca Perez’s father was the nephew of Ranchero Jose Manuel Perez y Nieto (1748-1804) of the massive Rancho Los Nietos (granted in 1784) and son of Manuel’s brother, Juan Gregorio "Crispin" Perez y Nieto (c. 1751-1819). Rancho Los Nietos would be partitioned in 1834 into 6 smaller, yet still substantial ranchos; Rancho Los Alamitos, Rancho Las Bolsas (Ruiz), Rancho Los Cerritos (Cota), Rancho Los Coyotes (Uribes), Rancho Santa Gertrudis (Cota), and Rancho Palo Alto (combined with Los Coyotes). The Rancho San Juan Cajón de Santa Ana was granted to Juan Pacifico Ontiveros (1795-1877) in 1837, the older brother of Maria Tomasa Ontiveros, son of Juan Patricio Ontiveros (1772-1834) and nephew of Maria de Asumpcion Ontiveros (1783-1825). Juan Pacifico sold the nearly 36,000 acre rancho and purchased the 8900 acre Rancho Tepusquet in Santa Maria in 1855 from his father in law, Tomas Olivera (1787-1848), the stepfather of his wife, Maria "Martina" del Carmen Osuna (1809-1898). Martina Osuna was herself a Lugo descendant, a granddaughter of Antonio Maria Lugo’s older sister Maria Rosa de Lugo (1761-1797).

Following Jose Luis Lugo’s birth in May 1831, Felipe Lugo would marry Maria Francisca “Pancha” Perez in August 1831, likely following an arranged engagement between the families. Pancha Perez was the first cousin once removed to Francisca Perez.  Pancha was the daughter of Mestizo soldado Esteban Perez (1765-1821) and Maria de Asumpcion Ontiveros, the aunt of Francisca Perez’s mother Maria Tomasa Ontiveros. Witnesses to the marriage included Esteban Lopez and Pancha’s cousin Gorgonio "Nicolas" Lisalde (1801-1841), the son of Pedro Antonio Lisalde (1753-1818) and Pancha’s aunt, Maria Encarnacion Perez (c.1768-1825), Pancha’s father Esteban Perez’s sister.

Jose Luis Lugo’s mother, Francisca Perez, married Mariano Silvas (1811-aft. 1860) the following year on January 17, 1832. Mariano was the son of Juan de Dukal Jose y Segundo Silvas (1797-1857) and Maria Quirina De Jesus Alvarez (1796-1840). She was the daughter of Juan Pedro Alvarez (1760-1828) and Maria Teresa de Jesus Graciano (1762-1808), and the younger sister of Jose Alvarez, who with Maria de Asumpcion Ontiveros were the parents of Maria Basilia Perez (1824-1908). Witnesses to the marriage included Santiago Rubio (1787-aft. 1816), the son of Mateo Rubio (c.1750-1822) and Maria Ursula Dominguez (1764-1802); and Jose Brigido "Justo" Morillo (1799-1882), a brother of Jorge Morillo.

While specific details of Jose Luis Lugo’s birth and the subsequent marriage of Felipe Lugo and Pancha Perez are unknown, it seems at least plausible that there was, at the least, some small scandal surrounding these events. In pre-US Alta California, the period of engagement for Californios was typically short, often lasting a few weeks to a few months. This brevity was a result of strict social customs and the religious requirements of the Catholic Church. They were also designed to protect family honor and to ensure the legal and religious legitimacy of the union in a society where marriage was the primary means of social and property consolidation. 

While the birth of an illegitimate child with one woman while engaged to another was not a legal "impediment" that would void a marriage, it was a significant moral and social issue. As a member of the powerful Lugo family, Felipe’s reputation (his honor) would have been at risk. Marrying Pancha, likely previously planned, was the standard way for an elite man to maintain social standing, even if he had fathered a child elsewhere. On Pancha Perez's part, in proceeding with the marriage, she accepted the role of Felipe Lugo's legitimate wife and mother of his future legitimate children. In many such cases, illegitimate children were raised alongside their legitimate half-siblings or within the extended family network to minimize public scandal. 

But because Jose Luis Lugo was born to a woman who was not the woman Felipe married, he remained an hijo natural (natural child), and would not have the same inheritance rights as the children born to Pancha and Felipe Lugo after August 1831, unless Felipe specifically acknowledged him in a formal legal document or will. And in the historical records of the Lugo family, there is no known formal legal document or will in which Felipe Lugo specifically acknowledges Jose Luis Lugo as his son.

Felipe Lugo and Pancha Perez had a large family with 16 children and were central both to the development of the Rancho San Antonio area and to the interconnectedness of rancho life in upper California of the era. Some of José Luis Lugo’s half siblings included Felipa de Jesus (1832-1900), she married Francisco Salvador de Jesus Maria Concepción Vejar (1829-aft. 1850), son of Ricardo Vejar (1805-1882); Maria Soledad (1837-1881), she married Jose de Jesus Yorba (1833-1881), son of Bernardo Yorba (1801-1858), the grantee of Rancho Cañón de Santa Ana in 1834, Rancho La Sierra in 1846, and Rancho Rincon; Maria Antonia (1840-1900), she married José de los Dolores de Jesús Sepúlveda (1835-1909), the son of José Loreto Sepúlveda (1815-1881) of Rancho Palos Verdes; Maria de Jesus Norberta (1843-1868), married Trinidad Yorba (1840-1881), son of Bernardo Yorba; Antonio Maria de la Trinidad (1845-1899), married Tomasa de Jesus Arguello (1849-?), the daughter of Manuela Tomasa Lugo (1823-1877), a  niece of Felipe Lugo, and Jose Francisco Antonio Nicomedes Maria Arguello (1818-1880), who was the son of Santiago Arguello (1792-1862), the grantee of ranchos Tia Juana, Trabuco and ex-Mission San Diego).

In some other notable Lugo pairings, Felipe’s younger sister Maria de la Merced de Lugo (1815-1913) married Pancha Perez’ older brother Jose Crispin Perez (1804-1841) on September 19, 1833. In 1840, Jose Crispin was co-granted the Rancho San Pascual (covering modern-day Pasadena, Altadena, and South Pasadena) by Governor Juan Bautista Alvarado but he died prematurely around January 17, 1841, at age 35, leaving his widow with 2 small children. Merced Lugo would remarry Stephen Clark Sr. Foster (1820-1898) in 1848. Another Lugo daughter, Felipe’s younger sister Maria de Jesus Lugo (1823-1842) also married an American, Isaac Williams (1799-1856) on December 24, 1836. Jose Crispin Perez and Maria de la Merced de Lugo were Godparents at her baptism. She died just 6 years later and Foster was executor for the large estate at the Rancho Santa Ana del Chino after Isaac Williams death in 1856. And as mentioned earlier, Felipe’s older sister Maria Vicenta "China" Lugo (1805-aft. 1850) married Antonio Yreneo Perez (1796-1848) in 1822. He was the son of Juan Gregorio "Crispin" Perez y Nieto and Maria de los Reyes Armenta (1760-1838) and the younger brother of Francisca Perez’s father, Juan Antonio Lazaro "Crispin" Perez.

In considering marriages of this era, the marriage celebrations among the Californio elite (the Gente de Razón) were the most elaborate social events in the territory, often lasting from three days to a full week. Since families like the Lugos, Verdugos, and Perezes were so large and interconnected, a single wedding could draw guests from hundreds of miles away. The Lugo family was legendary for "princely hospitality" at their adobe mansion on Rancho San Antonio. Banquets and dances held there were so lavish they reportedly "dazzled" travelers. Antonio Maria Lugo's generosity was well known in early Los Angeles..

Prior to a wedding, the groom’s father would formally present a written petition to the bride’s father. If accepted, the engagement was announced. Unlike European traditions where the bride provided the dowry (La Dotación), in California, the groom often provided the donas, an expensive chest of silks, laces, and jewelry for the bride to wear during the festivities. Because the Catholic Church forbade marriage between close relatives, and the Californio families were heavily intermarried, a formal "Information" (Diligencias Matrimoniales) was conducted to prove the couple weren't too closely related.

The Ceremony itself consisted of The Procession, where on the wedding morning, the party rode on horseback to the Mission (such as Mission San Gabriel for the Lugos or Mission San Diego for the Perez’). The bride rode on a padrino’s (godfather's) horse, sitting on a velvet saddle called a mochila. During the Mass, the groom gave the bride 13 gold coins (Las Arras), representing his commitment to support her and their future children.

For the Reception (Fandango), following the ceremony, the party returned to the family ranch (Rancho San Antonio or Rancho San Rafael) for a feast that stopped all other work. For the feast, pits were dug for barbacoa (beef roasted underground) and tables were filled with  enchiladas, tamales, and olivas. In a signature Californio tradition, guests would break hollowed-out eggshells (Cascarones) filled with gold and silver glitter or scented water over each other's heads while dancing. Typically, a small orchestra of violins and guitars would play for days. The most popular dance was the Fandango, the dance was fast and difficult, requiring women to keep their bodies still while moving only their feet, while men wove circles around them. Other popular dances included the jota, borrego, and the bamba (where dancers balanced glasses of water on their heads).

For the men, the wedding was an excuse to show off their horsemanship. Horse races were held between the various ranchos (Carreras de Caballos); and the game of El Gallo was often held, a brutal but popular game where a live rooster was buried in the sand with only its head exposed; riders at full gallop would attempt to snatch it up by the neck. Additionally, games like Monte (a Mexican favorite) and Faro were standard at fandangos. Associated betting was a central and high-stakes component of both horse races and el gallo during Californio celebrations. Because hard currency was often scarce, bets were frequently made using more "portable wealth" from the ranchos. It was common for prominent rancheros to bet large sums of money, but more often they wagered hundreds of cattle, sheep, and horses on a single race. Races were often impromptu, two-horse sprints held on improvised tracks, such as the dusty stretch of Upper Main Street north of the Los Angeles Plaza. Winning a race brought immense prestige to a family's hierro (brand), while a loss could mean a significant redistribution of livestock between rival families like the Lugos and Perez’. 

Jose Luis Lugo’s mother and stepmother are sometimes referred to as the "Two Franciscas" and are often confused as the same individuals in some research. Maria Francisca "Pancha" Perez was Felipe Lugo's legal wife, but baptismal entries for children like José Luis and his sister Felipa de Jesus (born 1832 to Felipe and Pancha) sometimes name Francisca Maria de Jesus Perez as the mother. The confusion stems from their nearly identical names and the fact that both families were prominent in the same California missions during the same era. While Francisca Maria de Jesus lived her life as the wife of Mariano Silvas, Maria Francisca "Pancha" became the matriarch of the Felipe Lugo branch of the Lugo family. Pancha Perez was Jose Luis Lugo's step mother and Mariano Silvas was his stepfather.

José Luis Lugo married Maria Eustaquia de la Concepcion Verdugo (1828-1870) on July 4, 1850, at Mission San Gabriel Arcangel. Witnesses to the marriage included Ramon Vejar (1830-1925). The marriage united two of the most significant landowning families of early Los Angeles: the Lugo and Verdugo clans. Eustaquia (often called Concepcion) was born around 1832 at Rancho Los Feliz. The rancho was originally granted to José Vicente Feliz (1740-1809) in 1795 and was granted to María Ygnacia Verdugo (1787-1861) (widow of Juan Josef Anastacio Feliz (1783-1840), (a nephew) by 1843. Maria Ygnacia was a daughter of Jose Maria Verdugo (1751-1831) of Rancho San Rafael, received in 1784. The mission marriage record notes that José Luis, age 20, was a native of Rancho de Santa Gertrudis, then still a part of Rancho Los Nietos. The record identifies him as the son of Francisca Perez and the "hijo adoptivo" (adoptive son) of the late Mariano Silvas, while confirming that his biological father was Felipe Lugo. Concepcion Verdugo was the daughter of Jose Joaquin Verdugo (1795-1832) and Magdalena Vejar (1799-aft. 1850). Jose Joaquin the son of Leonardo Verdugo (1761-1824) and Maria Josefa Vincenta Rubio (1780-1830), the daughter of the Belgian Soldado Matheo Rubio and his mestizo wife Maria Ursula Dominguez, the daughter of Juan Jose Dominguez (1736-1809) of Rancho San Pedro, granted also in 1784, and the Cochimi neophyte Maria Paja Yrinea (c.1750-1805). Jose Luis and Concepcion’s children included Maria Rafaela Francisca (1851), Manuela (1852), Jose de la Luz (1854), Hilario (1861), and Ramon Jose (1864). Only Maria Rafaela Francisca has records of marriages and children.

Concepcion Verdugo was an older sister of Jose Joaquin Juan Pedro Verdugo (1832-1889) who would later marry Maria Basilia Silveria Perez in about 1862. Basilia was the half sister of Pancha Perez. Concepcion Verdugo and Jose Joaquin Juan Pedro Verdugo (born January 26, 1832) were children of José Joaquín Verdugo and Maria Josefa Magdalena Vejar. The other siblings included the eldest daughter Juana Maria Resurreccion Verdugo (who married Ranchero Teodoro Romero then Jose del Refugio Zuñiga (1820-1890)); Maria Dolores "Isadora" Verdugo (1823-1868) (married Juan Villalobos (1816-1854) then Jose Facundo Reyes (1824-1870)), Maria Salvadora Verdugo (1825-1908) (married Rafael Yescas (?) then Juan Castillo (1878-?)), and Juana Maria Eleuteria "Tia Chatta" Verdugo (1831-1915) (married Jose Anastacio Alvitre (1822-1911)).

José Luis Lugo married the older sister (Concepcion), while his stepmother’s half-sister (Basilia) married Concepcion’s younger (and only) brother (Jose Joaquin Juan Pedro). This web of marriages was typical for the Rancho era of California, and served to consolidate land interests and social standing between the Lugo, Verdugo, Perez, and Vejar clans. Maria Basilia Silveria Perez was the illegitimate daughter of Maria Asumpcion Ontiveros and Jose Tiburcio de Buenaventura Alvarez. Because Maria Asumpcion Ontiveros was the mother of both women (having children with Esteban Perez and later, Jose Tiburcio Alvarez), Maria Basilia Silveria Perez and Maria Francisca "Pancha" Perez were maternal half-sisters. This distinction is crucial for correctly mapping the Alvarez-Perez-Lugo lineage, as it separates the descendants of Esteban Perez from those of Jose Tiburcio Alvarez. 

Basilia Perez and her niece Maria Dolores Uribes (1832-aft. 1865) (daughter of Maria Luisa Perez (1807-1840) and Ricardo Uribes (1807-1854)) were both raised in the household of Felipe Lugo and Pancha Perez. This illustrates the household dynamics of the Lugo family during the mid-19th century. While Felipe Lugo and Pancha Perez had their own large biological family, their home on Rancho San Antonio served as a central hub for extended kin. This arrangement clarifies the close social bonds that led to the subsequent marriages. Though Basilia Perez was the daughter of Maria Asumpcion Ontiveros and Jose Tiburcio Alvarez, she was raised by her half-sister Pancha, and she is often identified with the Perez/Lugo household in later records. Maria Dolores Uribes (listed in the census record as Ma. Peres), was the illegitimate daughter of Maria Luisa Perez and Ricardo Uribes, and was Pancha’s niece. Her presence in the Lugo home further illustrates the "extensa familia" (extended family) structure common in Alta California.

Being raised in the Lugo household likely placed Basilia in the social circle of José Luis Lugo and his wife, Concepcion Verdugo, and perhaps facilitated her second marriage to Concepcion's brother, Jose Joaquin Juan Pedro Verdugo. The household structure often makes census records from 1850 and 1860 difficult to interpret without the specific context regarding who was a biological child versus a ward or relative.

In a second November 1870 marriage for Jose Luis Lugo, he wed Maria Antonia del Sacramento Olivas (1838-1885). She was the daughter of Jose Domingo Olivas (1807-1848) and Maria de las Nieves Silvas (1815-1855). Prior to the birth of Antonia Olivas, Domingo Olivas had two daughters with Maria Luisa Perez, Maria Gregoria "Gertrudis" Olivas (1825-?) and Maria Pulqueria (Olivas) Perez (1832-?). There is no marriage record. Maria Tomasa Ontiveros was the madrina for Gregoria Olivas at her October 1825 baptism. Domingo Olivas was the son of Juan Matias Olivas (1759-1806) and Maria Juana de Dios Ontiveros (1768-1846), the sister of Asumpcion Ontiveros and the aunt of Maria Luisa Perez.

We find 13 year old Ventura Perez (1821-?) and 12 year old Pulqueria Perez in the respective 1836 and 1844 censuses of Los Angeles in the Felipe Lugo household. "Ventura" was often a shortened form of Maria Buenaventura, a common female name. Based on the 1836 and 1844 padrones and mission records, these individuals were members of the extended family of Pancha Perez and Felipe Lugo. Maria Buenaventura Perez (Ventura) was likely another daughter of Maria Asumpcion Ontiveros and Esteban Perez (both deceased), and was a full sister of both Pancha and Maria Luisa Perez. And, like her younger half sister Basilia, was raised in the Felipe Lugo household.

Pulqueria Perez was a daughter of Maria Luisa Perez and possibly of Domingo Olivas or of Ricardo Uribes. Upon Maria Luisa Perez’s death, Pulqueria ended up in the home of her aunt rather than in an Olivas home which may, or may not, be indicative of parentage. Regardless, Pulqueria Perez is thought to have married and had children with Benedicto Valenzuela (1817-?). The presence of Ventura and Pulqueria (and Basilia and the other Ma. Perez…likely Maria Dolores Perez) in the census highlights that José Luis Lugo (son of Felipe Lugo and Francisca Maria de Jesus Perez) was likely often in the household dominated by his stepmother's (Pancha's) extended family. This explains why Basilia Perez and the other girls were so integrated into the family that they remained tied to the Lugo/Verdugo social circles for their own marriages.

Maria Dolores Uribes was the daughter of Maria Luisa Perez, the sister of Pancha Perez and the half sister of Basilia. With the passing of Maria Asumpcion Ontiveros (mother of Pancha and Basilia) and Maria Luisa Perez (sister to Pancha), Pancha Perez stepped in as the maternal figure for her younger sister (Ventura), half-sisters (Basilia and Pulqueria) and niece (Maria Uribes). The girls integration into the home explains their lifelong proximity to the Lugos. Ventura and Pulqueria as daughters of Asumpcion Ontiveros and different fathers were Basilia and Pancha’s maternal sisters and half-sisters.

Summary of the "Lugo Ward" Connections

Individual         Relation to Pancha Perez Biological Parents

Basilia Perez         Half-Sister (Maternal) Asumpcion Ontiveros & Tiburcio Alvarez

Ventura Perez         Half-Sister (Maternal) Asumpcion Ontiveros & Esteban Perez

Pulqueria Perez         Niece          Luisa Perez & Domingo Olivas (?)

Ma Dolores Uribes    Niece Luisa Perez & Ricardo Uribes

José Luis Lugo         Step-son    Felipe Lugo & Francisca Ma de Jesus Perez

José Luis Lugo and Basilia Perez grew up essentially as “satellite” siblings in the Lugo home, even though they shared no biological parents—their connection was entirely through the "Lugo-Pancha Perez" marriage. And the extent of Jose Luis Lugo’s presence in the home is not known. Nothing illustrates the family connection better than a letter dated May 12, 1867 from Maria Francisca 'Pancha' Perez to Basilia Perez sent from “The Mission” clearly indicates the family relationship of the two women as sisters:

Senora Dona Basilia Perez

My Dearest beloved and kind sister, I hope to find you in good health and also all your family.

I really regret not having notified you, because we did not think he was going to die so soon because from the time he became ill he lasted only five days. Sister, I did not write when Rafael was ill because Chico Vejar told me in those days you were going to come and I waited every day for you and you did not come. But on the 22nd of this month there will be a Mass in Santa Ana for all the friends and relatives that did not come to the funeral. It will be the day that marks one month since his death. We all here plan to go.

Greetings to Merced and receive greeting from Felipa and Yona and all the rest of the family in my home. I know you understand the grief I feel in my heart and you alone understand. I am always affectionately your servant.

Francisca Perez de Lugo

The letter recounts the death of Jose Rafael Tiburcio Lugo (1834-1867), the son of 'Pancha' Perez and Felipe Lugo. Chico Vejar is Francisco Salvador de Jesus Maria Concepcion Vejar (1829-a.1869), the son of Juan Nepomuceno Ricardo Vejar (1805-1870) and Maria de la Trinidad Soto (1809-1860). Chico Vejar was married to Felipa de Jesus Lugo, the eldest daughter of Felipe Lugo and ‘Pancha’ Perez. Maria Basilia Perez was a member of the Lugo household from at least the age of 10 years old until she was 18 years old per the 1836 and 1844 Los Angeles Census, with Jose Rafael and Felipa at ages 1 year old and 3 years old in the 1936 count. “Greetings to Merced” may refer to Maria de la Merced Lugo (1815-1903), one of Felipe Lugo’s siblings and the wife of Francisca Perez’ brother Jose Perez.

Basilia Perez’ first marriage was to Pedro de Alcantara Lopez (1830-?), he was the son of Jose Tiburcio Lopez (1808-1852), (the son of Jose Maria Claudio Lopez (1767-1833) and Maria Luisa de Cota (1777-1851)) and Maria de Los Angeles Guillen (1812-1892), (a daughter of the famed Maria Eulalia Perez (1768-1878) and Jose Miguel Antonio Guillén (1768-1819)). Basilia and Pedro Lopez had 2 sons together. The older son, Jose Bernabe "Chato" Lopez (1852-1943), married, first,  Rosa Villalobos (1851-1892) and second, Maria Silveria Esiquia Asufina Lopez (1846-1907). Rosa Villalobos was the daughter of Maria Dolores "Isadora" Verdugo (sister of Jose Joaquin Juan Pedro) and Juan Villalobos. Silveria Lopez was the daughter of Jose Bernardino Lopez (1812-1854) (a brother of Jose Tiburcio Lopez) and Maria Rafaela Crisanta Perez (1815-?) (a sister of Francisca Maria de Jesus Perez). The younger son, Ramon Nonato Lopez (1854-1922) married Maria Juliana Manriquez (1849-1931), she was the daughter of Juan Bautista Manriquez (c.1809-aft.1880) and Maria Jacova Villalobos (c.1812-aft.1880)  and sister of Juan Villalobos).

Raised essentially as a daughter in the Felipe Lugo home, Maria Dolores Uribes would later marry Jose Maria Morales (1816-1856). Their son, Jose Martin Morales Cruz (1854-1904), would, by that logic, have likely been treated as a grandson within the Lugo family circle, growing up alongside the children of José Luis Lugo and Concepcion Verdugo, as well as the extended families of the Lugo-Perez children’s families. Following Jose Maria Morales death, she married Jose Marcial Cruz (1829-?) who adopted Martin Cruz. 

Basilia Perez’ second marriage to Jose Joaquin Juan Pedro Verdugo was likely in about 1864-65 based upon the September 1865 birth of their first daughter, Maria Mauricia Faviana Verdugo (1865-1937) Their second daughter, Maria Margarita Verdugo (1866-1924) married  Jose "Vicente" Nicolas Melendrez (1864-1905). He was the son of Vicente Melendrez (c.1825-1914) and Maria Buena Ventura Alvitre (1819-aft.1880) (the sister of Eleuteria "Tia Chatta" Verdugo’s husband Jose Anastacio Alvitre). 

Maria Dolores Uribes’ son Jose Martin Cruz married Basilai Perez’ daughter Mauricia Verdugo. Another significant union between the Lugo-Perez-Uribes household and the Verdugo family. By marrying Maria Mauricia Faviana Verdugo, Jose Martin Morales Cruz wed his "social" cousin—the daughter of the very people who were his mother's close companions in the Felipe Lugo home. Maria Mauricia Faviana Verdugo was born on September 22, 1865, likely in San Bernardino, where she was baptized at Jurupa. The marriage of Martin Cruz and Mauricia Verdugo essentially "closed the circle" of the families raised by Felipe Lugo and Pancha Perez. Mauricia’s mother (Basilia) and Jose Martin’s mother (Maria Uribes) were two young girls raised as wards/sisters in the Lugo household. Martin and Mauricia had several children, including Rosa Maria Cruz (1896-1977), Aurelia, James Reginald, and William J. Cruz. 

Their marriage highlights the intense interconnectedness of the early California Rancheros,

Jose Martin Cruz was the "nephew" of Pancha Perez (through his mother Maria Uribes). Mauricia Verdugo was the "niece" of Pancha Perez (through her mother Basilia Perez).

Because their mothers were raised together in the Lugo home, Jose Martin and Mauricia would have grown up in the same intimate social circle before their marriage. Following the death of Jose Martin Cruz (prior to 1910), Mauricia remarried Albert E. Manriquez (1872-1927) in 1913 in Los Angeles. 

The family history for Jose Luis Lugo can be partially untangled as follows:

*Birth & Biological Parents: José Luis Lugo was born on May 6, 1831, and baptized at Mission San Gabriel. His biological father was Felipe Lugo, and his biological mother was Francisca Maria de Jesus Perez.

*Stepfather (Mariano Silvas): As noted, Francisca Maria de Jesus Perez (daughter of Crispin Perez and Tomasa Ontiveros) married Mariano Silvas on January 17, 1832. This occurred less than a year after José Luis’s birth, making Silvas his stepfather.

*Stepmother (Pancha Perez): Maria Francisca "Pancha" Perez (daughter of Esteban Perez and Maria Asumpcion Ontiveros) was the woman who married Felipe Lugo. She is often erroneously cited as the mother of all his children in general records, her role in this specific lineage was that of a stepmother to José Luis.

*Context of the Confusion: The names "Francisca Maria de Jesus Perez" and "Maria Francisca Perez" are nearly identical, and both women were from the same Perez families that lived near the Rancho San Antonio and Rancho Potrero de Felipe Lugo area. Francisca was from the Perez y Nieto family while Pancha was the daughter of Esteban Perez of the Rio Yaqui in Sonora.