Spanish Town in Frontier Napa: Home
of My Great-Grandfather Loretto Coronado
The Napa of today bears little
resemblance to the Napa of the 1850s. It
was a young town, with parts of it – especially “Spanish town” still wild and
wooly. Approximately six blocks square,
Spanish town was located between the frequently flooding Napa River and Main
Street, an area, as we shall see, that had to contend not only with ravages of
nature but with “dance houses,” bars and houses of ill-repute.
It was here that Loretto and
Guadalupe Coronado, my great-grandparents, struggled to bring up their young family
in the growing City of Napa, which by the 1860 census had 2,378 residents
within its city limits.[1]
Also by that time, Spanish town had its
own St. John the Baptist Catholic Church which was to become a civilizing
influence on the community – but not yet.
 |
| The Spanish town area of Napa between the Napa River to the south and Main Street on the north. This is an 1866 subdivision map of the area. The yellow marked blocks would later be owned by Mariano Coronado and Manuel Madrid in the 1890s. |
It was into this neighborhood that
the five children of Loretto and Guadalupe were born: Angelita (1858), Mariano,
my grandfather (1859), Marciano (1860), Ignacio (1863) and Pauline (1865). They were surrounded by three others who
shared their Coronado family name and who were closely related to Loretto –
most likely his brothers. This assumption
is based on the fact that the families not only lived almost next to each
other, but were also godparents to one another’s children – a position of great
importance in the families at that time. The 1860 Census documents that Loretto, his
wife, and two first-born children lived a short distance away from his three
brothers in Napa. His occupation was
listed as a saloon keeper. Four
unrelated day laborers also lived in his household.[2]
Spanish Town: Fortunes &
Misfortunes of the Coronado Brothers: Rafael, Guadalupe & Dolores.
The rest of this blog focuses on
the fortunes and misfortunes of my great-grandfather’s brothers: Rafael,
Guadalupe and Dolores.
Rafael Coronado would have been the
oldest brother, born between 1820 and 1825.
Loretto – my great-grandfather - would have been the second oldest, born
about 1827. The two younger brothers,
Guadalupe and Dolores, were born about 1832 and 1842 respectively.
Rafael became godfather to young Mariano Coronado, Loretto's son and my
grandfather, at a baptismal ceremony at St. John’s Catholic Church in Napa on
30 April 1859.[3]
A year and a half later, Dolores became
godfather to Marciano Coronado, Loretto's next-born son, on Christmas day 1860.[4]
When the 1860 U.S. Census was taken
on 31 July 1860, it documented that Rafael was the head of the household which
included Souse (Susie?) Coronado, 20, his wife, and son, Rommineta Coronado, 2.
That same census, the 1860 census,
documented that the second youngest brother, Guadalupe Coronado lived a few doors down from Rafael. His household included his wife, Joachina, 26,
and two children: a daughter, Guadalupa, 5, and a son, Manuel, 3.[5]
Guadalupe had married Joachina
Valenzuela in Benicia on 26 June 1854.[6]
At that time, Rafael was 35 years
old and his occupation was listed as day laborer. The youngest brother, Dolores, who was 18 at
the time, lived in Rafael’s house and was also a day laborer.[7]
However, three years later, it
seems that Rafael’s occupation was a much livelier one. One hint we have that the Coronado family
fortunes had an interesting foundation is found in an 1863 newspaper account
that notes that Rafael was indicted "for keeping a Disorderly House"[8].
Taken to trial, the jury was unable to agree on his guilt.[9] But that was not the end of Rafael’s
newsworthiness. The very next month, a Jose
Beniordas was indicted by a grand jury for stealing a horse belonging to
Rafael.[10] But, these two run-ins with the law and the
press were only the beginning. The
youngest brothers, Guadalupe and Dolores were soon to make their own mark that
same year.
It was the youngest
brother, Dolores, who had the quick
trigger finger. In February 1863, Dolores, who was 21 at the time, was
accused by a jury of shooting
and killing Bias Amarenas. According
to the newspaper, one Sunday evening, Mr. Amarenas was shot at a ranchera near
the residence of Don Cajetano Juarez, about a mile from the City of Napa. A warrant was issued for the arrest of
Dolores, but he was not found.[11]
 |
| Tintype of Dolores Coronado, with Luisa Byers, godmother of Louisa Coronado, my grandmother |
From newspaper reports, it is clear
that Dolores not only later returned to Spanish town but ran a flourishing
saloon. For he was back in the news five
years later when, on Saturday evening, March 14, 1868, Daniel English was
killed and his brother Charles was seriously wounded during “an affray ... at a
low dance house kept by Dolores Coronado, in that portion of the suburbs of Napa
known as Spanishtown ...".[12]
According to the contemporary
newspaper account, Bulgar Raines, a notorious troublemaker, may have gone to
the saloon operated by Dolores with the express purpose of starting a fight. In
any event, Mr. Raines was fighting with another man about 9:00 PM that Saturday
night, when Dolores and Guadalupe Coronado and some of their friends tried to
break up the fight. Two other men known
as the English brothers tried to prevent the Coronado brothers from
interfering.
The next sequence of events is murky
– as saloon brawls tend to be, but it seems that Daniel English had a knife in
his hand and was shot by Dolores from a distance of about eight feet. Others reported that Daniel English also had a
gun, and someone took it away from him and shot him as well.
An example of frontier justice, the
jury found that the shooting by Dolores Coronado was justified and he was
released. Guadalupe Coronado, charged
with assault and battery, was also released. Bulgar Raines never appeared at the trial to
give testimony and there was some question as to whether he was the one who
took the gun away from Daniel English and shot him.[13]
Just one month later in April 1868
the luck of the two youngest Coronado brothers, Dolores and Guadalupe, was
about to run out. My next blog post will give the details.
[1]
http://www.bayareacensus.ca.gov/cities/Napa50.htm#1940
[2]
1860 U.S. Census, Napa, Napa, California, page 113, family 896, digital image,
Ancestry.com form National Archives microfilm M653, roll 75.
[3]
Record of baptism of Mariano Coronado, St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, 30
April 1859. Copy in the possession of
Hal Phipps.
[4]
Record of baptism of Marciano Coronado, St. John the Baptist Catholic Church,
25 December 1860. Copy in the possession
of Hal Phipps.
[5]
1860 U.S. Census, Napa, Napa, California, page 111, family 887, digital image,
Ancestry.com form National Archives microfilm M653, roll 75.
[6]
Solano County Marriage Record, Book 1, Page 21 (Solano County Vital Records,
Book 1, page 44), records at the Solano County Genealogical Society, Vacaville,
CA.
[7]
1860 U.S. Census, Napa, Napa, California, page 111, family 884, digital image,
Ancestry.com form National Archives microfilm M653, roll 75.
[8]
A charge of keeping a disorderly house is the typical charge against one who
maintains a brothel or other public nuisance, such as a saloon or bar.
[9]
Napa County Reporter, Napa, California, 19 December 1863, 3:1, accessed by
microfilm at the Napa County Library, Napa, California.
[10]
Napa County Reporter, Napa, California, 23 January 1864, 3:1, accessed by
microfilm at the Napa County Library, Napa, California.
[11]
Napa County Reporter, Napa, California, 7 February 1863, 2:1, accessed by
microfilm at the Napa County Library, Napa, California.
[12]
Napa County Reporter, Napa, California, 21 March 1868, 1:1, accessed by
microfilm at the Napa County Library, Napa, California.
[13]
Ibid; Secrest, William B., Perilous Trails, Dangerous Men: Early California
Stagecoach Robbers and their Desperate Careers, 1856 – 1900, Clovis, CA,
Word Dancer Press, 2002, pages 68-69; Dillon, Richard, Building Eden,
Chapter 12, Desperados (unpublished manuscript), page 1465, copy in possession
of Napa County Historical Society, Napa, CA.
