Loretto's Land - Part Two

At the end of Part One, Loretto discovered an error in his 160-acre land grant application after living on the land for two years and was pleading his case to the land office to allow him to amend his application.

The land office was sympathetic with Loretto’s plight.  They cancelled the initial application on June 6, 1877, but allowed him to submit a new application for the land he wanted and credited to the new application the $16 fee he already paid.

Loretto submitted a new land grant application on August 2, 1877[1] citing the land that he wanted to live on, raise his family, and farm.  The 1902 USGS map below[2] shows the land he was applying for in relation to the Napa Valley and the towns of Yountville and St. Helena.

 The excerpt of the 1951 USGS map below[3] is the detailed area of his application showing the rugged terrain that he was living in and farming.  In his application, Loretto stated that the small house he owned was in the lower right quadrant of his land – maybe on the relatively flat portion at the extreme lower right.
 

Loretto's 160-acre Land Grant

In order to finalize his application and gain title to the land, Loretto had to live on the land for at least five years, he had to be a US citizen, he had to show that he made improvements to the land, and he needed two witnesses to give testimony that he had done all of this.

Loretto became a citizen of the United States by an order of a judge in the County Court of Napa County on June 25, 1878.  There were two witnesses present testifying in support of Loretto’s application to become a citizen – one of them being Mr. Edington – the neighbor, whose land Loretto had incorrectly claimed in his initial application.

 Loretto’s final affidavit for his homestead claim took place on March 7, 1883.  He swore that he had continuously resided on the land since the spring of 1875.  He continued his testimony:

My house is 16 x 20 ft – 10 acres enclosed with fence – 200 yards of stone fence & the balance mesh fence – I have 56 bearing fruit trees, a vineyard of 1000 grape vines – a corral – I have cleared & grubbed 10 acres of land.  My improvements are worth $500 at least.

When asked how much of the land is cultivated and how many seasons crops have been raised, Loretto replied: “From 7 to 12 acres every season – I raise grain & orchard & vineyard.”  Two witnesses, J. F. Mero and Alexander Mero, verified his account.

The land office gave him a final certificate for the 160-acre parcel on March 13, 1883.  Loretto happily recorded the deed transfer in the Napa County land records on September 1, 1883.[4]

What remains a puzzle is that after Loretto’s death in 1887, three years later his heirs sold 440 acres of land – 280 acres more than the 160-acre land grant.  Part Three of this story (after additional research) will need to uncover how and under what circumstances Loretto was able to acquire so much more land when he was not a wealthy man.

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[1] Homestead Application No. 2874, Final Certificate No. 2158, Land office at San Francisco, March 13, 1883.

[2] United States Geological Survey, Napa, California, 1902.

[3] United States Department of the Interior, Geological Survey, Yountville Quadrangle, Napa County, California, 7.5 minute series (topographic), 1951, photorevised 1968.

[4] Napa County Recorder, Napa County Records, Book C, Page 271.