Early Coronado Family Life in Vallejo

Mariano Coronado and his future wife, Louisa Madrid, grew up in the Napa area.  Mariano lived with his family in the foothills of Yountville and for a while in the Salvador area just north of Napa City.  Louisa lived in Napa City and then in the Yountville area.

Although Mariano and Louisa were married in Napa in 1884 and their first child, Marianita was born in Napa in 1885, they were to raise their large family in Vallejo, just south of the Napa County line.  An intriguing question is: why did they move?

Mariano’s good friend, and witness at his wedding, Manual Madrid[1], had moved to Vallejo in 1880 where he worked on the 1,000-acre Tobin[2] ranch.  In his third year there, he was promoted to manager of the ranch and remained in charge for twelve more years.

I suspect that shortly after his marriage and birth of his first child, Mariano worked on the Tobin ranch with Manual.  Mariano and his family may also have lived in a home on or near the ranch.  Mariano and Louisa’s next three children were born in Vallejo[3]: Dolph in 1887, Hess in 1888 and Guadalupe in 1890.

In early 1891, first-born 5-year-old Marianita took ill with tuberculosis and died on 26 January 1891.  Her death certificate[4] said that she died at the Tobin Ranch, supporting my premise that the Coronado family lived on the ranch.  Misery in the family continued when Guadalupe, who had just been born in 1890, suddenly died on 11 April 1891.

I can only surmise that Mariano finally decided through the grief of their lost children that his new family needed a home of their own.  He didn’t look very far and found a good piece of land not far from the Tobin ranch – about 1 ½ miles away.  The land was between the main road that led from Vallejo towards Napa - and the Southern Pacific railway.  It was a long stretch of land, trapezoid in shape – about 3 ½ acres.

On 22 August 1891, M. P. Coronado[5] paid Simon Corcoran[6] $300 in gold coin for the land, likely savings from wages earned working on the Tobin ranch.

The map to the left is the area north of Vallejo and just south of the Napa County border.[7]  The blue arrow shows the strip of land that M.P. Coronado purchased – between the Napa-Vallejo Road and the Southern Pacific railroad line.  The first red arrow points toward one of the Tobin ranches (1,000 acres in size) that was likely the farm where Manual Madrid and Mariano Coronado and families lived and worked.  It is located about 1 ½ miles from the newly purchased Coronado property.  Just southwest of the Tobin Ranch is another red arrow showing the Vallejo Sulphur Springs location.  After 1895, Manual Madrid would manage and then own this Sulphur Springs – renaming it Blue Rock Springs, which became a well-known resort.

This is a detail showing the 3 ½ acres that Mariano purchased[8].  The Napa-Vallejo road and the railroad are the vertical lines that surround the property.  Note that there is a road that intersects the Napa-Vallejo road just south of the family property.  It was called the Sulphur Spring Road – and was the main road that led to the Sulphur Spring resort and passed by the Tobin Ranch.  Mariano would later open a restaurant and bar at this important intersection.[9]

I don’t know if there was a house on the property that Mariano bought in 1891, but my guess is that there was not.  That meant that Mariano may have organized friends and neighbors to help him build his new home.  He would eventually plant the area with trees (eucalyptus along the road, fig, quince, apple, peach, pear and grapefruit), vegetables, and raised cattle, pigs and horses on the property.

To the right is a photo of the first Coronado home, a modest one story, which Mariano built on his acquired land.[10]

Below is a close up photo of the family on the porch.  Based on the ages of the children these photos were taken in 1899.

Mother, Louisa Coronado, holding baby John (Doc) (3 months old).  Hess in
the middle row (11).  Dolph (12), Jimmy (2), Dutch (7) & Louise (6) in the
bottom row.

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[1] According to my mother, Cecelia Coronado Phipps, Manuel Madrid and Louisa Madrid were cousins.  I haven’t been able to confirm this, but I know that they lived next door to one another in the 1870 Census.  As further evidence of the close family relationship between Manuel and Mariano, Manual Madrid courted Mariano’s sister, Angelita Coronado, and married her in Napa on 18 July 1886.

[2] James F. Tobin was an Irishman born in 1830.  When nineteen years old he moved to America, and settled initially in New York.  In 1855 he moved to California, first San Francisco and then Vallejo.  His first occupation was as a butcher, but he then moved into farming and stock-raising activities.  By 1880 he owned 3,000 acres in the Vallejo area.  History of Solano County, …, A Full and Particular Biography of Its Early Settlers and Principal Inhabitants, Wood Alley & Co, San Francisco, 1879, page 394.

[3] Church baptism records show the children were born in Vallejo; the records are not specific about the actual location.

[4] Certificate of Death, City of Vallejo Death Records, 1891, page 350, accessed from Solano County Genealogical Society Library.

[5]  Mariano began to use his initials “M.P.” instead of his Spanish first name.

[6]  Simon Corcoran bought land from John Williamson the previous year.  The property he sold to M.P. was part of his larger purchase.  The property purchased by M.P. on 22 August 1891 is recorded in the Solano County, California, land records, Book 112, Page 154.

[7] This map is a portion of the Historical Atlas Map of Solano County, Compiled, Drawn and Published from Personal Examinations and Surveys, By Thompson and West, San Francisco, Cal., 1878, page 46-47, map no. 7.  Current GPS coordinates for the locations on the map: blue arrow (family property): https://tinyurl.com/y2u4gqcu ; north red arrow (Tobin Ranches): https://tinyurl.com/y6qhotlt ; south red arrow (Vallejo Sulphur Springs): https://tinyurl.com/y6hzz6vo  (My son, David, identified these current GPS locations and recommended that I include them.)

[8] Ibid

[9] The Sulphur Spring Road is generally where Lewis Brown Drive exists today along with Highway 37.  What used to be the Napa-Vallejo Highway now follows the alignment of Lincoln Highway or Broadway.  The main highway from Vallejo to Napa is now Sonoma Blvd or Highway 29.

[10] These two photos of the first Coronado home and the family are colorized versions of the original black & white photos in my files.  I used the online My Heritage genealogy website which uses a computer generated method of colorizing photos.  They turn out to be clearer than the original black & white photos.

Adolph Coronado - The Land Developer

Adolph Coronado, the eldest son of Mariano and Louisa Coronado, was always an entrepreneur.  He was an auto dealer and a boxing promoter.  But later in life, when he “retired”, my uncle became a land developer.  The news article that follows was published in the Napa Journal[1] in 1936 as he was beginning to develop residences in an area just north of the Napa State Hospital, which was a prominent landmark that visitors passed as they entered the City of Napa from the south.

Dolph, as we knew him, would eventually build many houses on the large tract of land he owned.  He named one street Coronado Avenue, which is the street where he lived.  I grew up across the street from him in one of the houses on Coronado Avenue that Dolph built for his mother, Louisa Coronado, her daughter and my mother, Cecelia Coronado Phipps, and my father.  We moved into the house in 1948.

____________________________________________________

20 COTTAGES CONTEMPLATED FOR

TRACT OF A. B. CORONADO

Early Development of Acreage Seen;

Cost Said to Be $40,000

Plans for development of privately owned acreage adjoining Napa State hospital into restricted residential districts were disclosed here yesterday.

The disclosure came with announcement that Adolph B. Coronado, owner of a tract of 41 acres, has under consideration extensive building plans which he proposes to complete within the next two years.

Coronado’s plans, call for the installation of two paved streets through his tract during the coming spring season, these improvements to be followed by the erection of four modern cottages each year until a total of 20 homes occupy the area.  The site fronts on Imola lane, directly opposite the state institution.

STREET PLANS

At present there are four cottages on the Coronado tract besides the owner’s home.  They are under rental to employees of Napa State hospital and have been continuously since completion.

TO COST $40,000

In disclosing plans for the project yesterday, Coronado asserted that over a period of five years the cost of improvements will aggregate approximately $40,000.

The present tentative plans of Mr. Coronado call for the building a score of detached bungalows.

A NECESSITY

“I feel that the establishment of a residential district in this locality will serve a useful purpose and bring me satisfactory returns,” said Coronado yesterday.  “There is a plan under way, I understand, to provide for the general expansion of the state hospital.  That means that additional living quarters will have to be provided for from three to four hundred employees and if those accommodations can be provided at small cost and convenient to the hospital, the homes will be occupied throughout the year.”

Coronado took over the acreage several years ago and has gradually developed them with much success.  The homes on the tract at present are modern in every respect.  Among the numerous features is the water supply furnished direct from a 220 foot well.

The Development Tract in 1940

AUTO PIONEER

Prior to taking over his present holdings Coronado for years was engaged in business at Vallejo.  Until retirement several years ago he was the second oldest automobile dealer in point of service, having established the first Overland, Willys-Knight agency at the navy yard city in 1910.

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[1] The Napa Journal, February 18, 1936, page 1, column 1

Marian Coronado Remembers - Part Two

This is a continuation of the September 12^th post where cousin Gary Coronado interviewed our Aunt Toots on April 16, 1984 about her early life in the Coronado family in Vallejo, California.[1]

Q. Where did you kids go to school? What was it like?

A. Frank, Celia and I went to Vallejo High.  We also went to Saint Vincent’s.  I can remember walking along the railroad tracks to school.  Our parents made us walk this route because it was safe.  It would take about two hours.  We would stop to meet classmates at Flosden Acres.  After school we would go to visit Jimmy and Juanita[2] on Kentucky Street.  Sometimes, if it was late we would stay overnight.  Most of the time, however, Papa would pick us up in the afternoon and drive us home.  And sometimes, he would drive us to school in the morning.

Q. What special memories do you have? What did you do for family fun? Vacations?

A. The ordinary things that families do.  I loved Christmas.  Because Dolph[3] was a young and successful businessman, he would make things special for us.  He would dress as Santa Claus, dropping off candy, a stack of bananas, oranges, etc.  In particular, he would take great care to see that Celia and I had a special day.

Since the restaurant and bar was part of our home, there was never any mystery to drinking.  Papa would say, “You can have anything you want to drink.”  Celia and I never liked the taste of liquor.  I did, occasionally like the taste of a Creme de Menthe drink.

Jimmy and Juanita would take Papa, Mama, and us to Monterey for a holiday.  We would stay in a hotel.  I also recall travelling to San Luis Obispo for a vacation.

Q. Was our family poor? Wealthy?

A. Well, Gary, Papa was a very able businessman.  The fact was, however, he had ten kids.  He had to be successful in order to provide for us.  Most of our needs were provided for by our ranch.  We had chickens to provide us with eggs, ducks, a milk cow, peacocks, canaries, and a garden.  He also butchered his own meat.

We always had plenty to eat.  We had beans for breakfast, bean sandwich for lunch and more beans for dinner!  That was all right with me because I liked Mama’s beans!

Q. Any particular event in your young life that comes to mind?

A. When I was about fifteen, we had a tragic fire.  It completely destroyed the Inn.  It was caused by defective wiring.  While the Inn was being rebuilt, we had to live in a tent near an orchard.  The new Inn was smaller.  Later, Papa built a home on our property.  It was north of the Inn.

Q. Did you ever go to the Sulfur Springs Hotel[4] to visit our relatives?

A. Indeed.  It was a glorious place.  There was a stage that transported tenants from town.  Manuel Madrid was the owner.  He was a nice, pleasant Spanish man - quiet, soft spoken.  A perfect host and businessman.  He and his wife had a very good business sense.  They were very successful.

They also bottled and sold mineral water that came from the Blue Rock Springs.  It had medicinal qualities.  They shipped it all over the U.S.  It didn’t have a sulfur taste to it.  It really tasted very good!

All of the Madrid family lived on the resort grounds: Babe, Frank and Manuel.  Also the girls, Angelina and Carmelita.

Many “big shots” gathered and stayed there.  Also prize fighters used the hotel and facilities for training.

As kids we often visited for family gatherings - mostly, picnics.  We always enjoyed the excitement of the resort.

Q. What was your first business venture?

A. I opened a restaurant a short distance from Papa's Inn.  It was south of our home, toward Vallejo and on the opposite side of the Napa Road.  It evolved into a good business in a short time.  I called it “Toot’s Barbecue”.  People enjoyed coming for dinner.  I served good, hearty meals.  Twenty-five cents for breakfast!  It was good experience for my future restaurant venture at Russian River.

O. What was Paul like when he was young? Kay? Johnnie Junior?[5]

Toots' daughter, Kay

None of the cousins wanted their picture taken!
Back row: Juanita & John Jr.
Front row: Jane, Jim, Kay, Paul [6]

A. They were all wonderful kids. Paul was the reliable one.  He was very protective.  He would wind the clock and lock all the doors at night. Sometimes, Kay would come home late and not be able to get in!  I had to chase all the boys away from Kay.  We always had to wash Junior’s hands and face.  He liked to play in the dirt!  Mama would not allow him to have dinner until he washed.  They all got along well together.

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[1] Adapted from The Coronado Newsletter, May 1994

[2] James (Jimmy) Coronado was Toots’ brother.  Juanita was Jimmy’s wife.

[3] Dolph Coronado was Toots’ oldest brother.

[4] The Sulfur Springs Hotel was a few miles from the Coronado family property and was owned and operated by Manual Madrid & his wife Angelita Coronado Madrid.  Angelita was the oldest child of Loretto and Guadalupe Coronado and the sister of Mariano Coronado, my grandfather, and Toots’ “Papa”.

[5] Paul and Kay (Kathleen) are the son and daughter of Marian (Toots) Coronado Orsi.  John Junior was the son of John (Doc) Coronado, Toots’ brother.

[6] Juanita, Jane and Jim are children of James (Jimmy) and Juanita Coronado.  John Jr. was the son of John (Doc) Coronado.  Kay and Paul are the children of Toots.  Photo was taken by James Coronado about 1933.

Early Deaths of Children of Mariano & Louisa Coronado

My grandparents, Mariano and Louisa Coronado had thirteen children born between 1885 and 1906.  Ten children lived to be adults and three children died at an early age.

Marianita Coronado

The firstborn, Marianita, was born 27 July 1885[1] in Napa, before the family moved to the Vallejo area.  According to my mother’s memory of what her mother used to say about Marianita: “She was a perfect child”.

Three more children were born in the next few years: my Uncle Dolph, my Aunt Hess, and my Uncle Guadalupe Serapio, born 30 September 1890[2].

However, when the new year of 1891 began, 5-year-old Marianita fell ill and died on 26 January 1891.  I don’t know whether the death was sudden, but the physician recorded on the death certificate that she died of tubercular meningitis[3] – an infection of the tissues covering the brain and spinal cord (meninges)[4].  It must have been a terrible shock and a very emotional time for the young family.  They were living on the Tobin Ranch in Vallejo and had not yet purchased the land on the Napa Vallejo Highway that would become their family home and business location in later years.

Even though Mariano and Louisa lived in Vallejo, Mariano’s family friend and brother-in-law, Manuel Madrid, offered burial space for Marianita in the cemetery plot in Napa that he had bought for his father.  Mariano’s younger brother, Marciano, was already buried in the plot.  Mariano & Louisa accepted Manuel’s offer and Marianita, their beloved first child, was buried on 27 January 1891 at the Tulocay Cemetery in Napa.[5]

But tragedy struck again three months later when 7-month-old Guadalupe fell ill in March and died 11 April 1891[6].  On the death certificate, the physician noted that he had cared for Guadalupe from 20 March 1891 until the day he died and the cause of death was “dentition”[7].  Dentition was listed as a cause of death in this period of time because of issues surrounding the baby’s teething.  The teething process and infection or fever related to teething was a problem for doctors into the early 20^th Century.  In addition, they did not have antibiotics to treat such an infection.[8]

The 7-month old Guadalupe was buried next to his sister in the Napa Tulocay Cemetery on 12 April 1891[9].  It must have been a very difficult year for the young Coronado family.

When I visited the Tulocay Cemetery earlier this year, both Marianita and Guadalupe were listed in cemetery records, but there was no marker on the cemetery plot.  I arranged to have a stone marker prepared and placed on the plot to properly identify the location of where the young Coronado children are buried.

A third young Coronado child, Juan Pilar, died in 1897 and was buried in the Vallejo cemetery, but I will save the specifics for another time.

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[1] There are no birth or baptism records that I could find for Marianita.  The birth date is a calculated one based on her date of death and the number of years (5), months (5) and days (30) that she was alive.  Certificate of Death, Marianita Coronado, City of Vallejo Death Certificate, Book 1, Page 350, located at Solano County Genealogical Society Library.

[2] Baptism, Guadalupe Serapio Coronado, St. Vincent’s Church Baptisms, Book 1, Page 479, located at Solano County Genealogical Society Library.

[3] Certificate of Death, Marianita Coronado, City of Vallejo Death Certificate, Book 1, Page 350, located at Solano County Genealogical Society Library.

[4] http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000650.htm

[5] Death Record for Marianita Coronado, Office of County Clerk, Solano County, California.

[6] Certificate of Death, Guadalupe Coronado, City of Vallejo Death Certificate, Book 1, Page 362, located at Solano County Genealogical Society Library.

[7] Ibid.

[8] Here is the explanation of the medical term from a genealogy glossary: "Dentition or Teething - The entire process which results in the eruption of the teeth.  Nineteenth-century medical reports stated that infants were more prone to disease at the time of teething.  Symptoms were restlessness, fretfulness, convulsions, diarrhea, and painful and swollen gums.  The latter could be relieved by lancing over the protruding tooth.  Often teething was reported as a cause of death in infants.  Perhaps they became susceptible to infections, especially if lancing was performed without antisepsis."  http://genealogy-quest.com/glossary-terms/diseases/medical-terminology-beginning-letter-t/

[9] Death Record for Guadalupe Coronado, Office of County Clerk, Solano County, California.

Remembering My Childhood (Cecelia Coronado) - Part Six

 (This is the sixth in a series of posts based on audio recordings made by my mother, Cecelia Coronado Phipps in 1983.  Here she remembers her brother, Dolph, and his first wife, Etta.)

Dolph and Etta

Dolph was the oldest of the brothers.  He was rather spoiled.  He was very brilliant and handsome and well liked by all the girls, so he had many girl friends.  He had his own thoroughbred horses, the best horses and the best carriages in Vallejo.  He married a beautiful young lady, Loretta (Etta) Kelleher, who was an only child.  She was born and raised in San Francisco.  Right after the earthquake, her mother and father came to Vallejo.  I understand the mother never forgave the father from taking her out of San Francisco – she loved San Francisco.  What a wonderful father she had.  He was maitre d' at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco – a perfect gentleman and very handsome. ... I never knew the mother very well.  She was an expert seamstress.

The only work Etta ever did was at a candy store in Vallejo, where she dipped chocolates.  That was her profession, she dipped chocolates.  Her mother made all of these beautiful dresses for her.  She was the best dressed young lady in Vallejo.  She was Miss Vallejo at one time – a beautiful girl.  But she wanted to learn how to sew.  One day she bought some beautiful material, what she thought was beautiful.  She brought it home and she thought her mother would teach her how to sew.  Well I guess her mother was a little bit offended at this.  She just took that beautiful material and tore it to shreds.  Well Etta lost hope then.  She never learned to sew or cook.

Eventually Dolph married her and they had two girls, Lillian and Dorothy – very special young ladies.  Lillian was beautiful.  She inherited the coloring that my mother had, which none of the rest of us had - high color in the cheeks, which just does not rub off.  My mother would tell us that when she was tiny, the kids would get her on the ground and try to rub the rouge off her face, but it was natural. ...Lillian was plump and Dorothy was dark – had dark hair, olive skin, like her Dad.

The mother, Etta or Loretta was my godmother.  My middle name is Loretta, Cecelia Loretta.  Loretta died before she was fifty, and her daughters, Lillian and Dorothy, also died before they were fifty.

It was a difficult life for Etta.  She was such a good person.  But she only knew happy times.  It was difficult for her to cook and never could sew.  Both the girls became very good at both. ... Frankie was her little chauffeur.  He lived with them for a while and he chauffeured Etta around and the girls.  There was one party after another, picnics, parties, and all good times.  Dolph was busy at work at the garage.  He had the original Coronado Garage in Vallejo.  Later Frank had the Coronado Garage, and brother Paul worked for him.

Dolph Coronado driving his new 1912 Overland on the Old Napa Road bordering the Coronado property in Vallejo.  His father, Mariano Coronado, planted the eucalyptus trees along the road.

Remembering My Childhood (Cecelia Coronado) - Part Four

(This is the fourth in a series of posts based on audio recordings made by my mother, Cecelia Coronado Phipps in 1983.  Here she begins to talk about her brothers.)

Doc Coronado practicing the violin

Doc and Paul

Now there was brother Doc.  How he got that name, I don't know.  Someone said they called him "Old Doc Yak". I think that was in the comics at that time.  But that name stuck with him, even after he became a sergeant on the police force. ... Doc was the one in the family who was musically inclined. He played the violin.  Then there was Paul.  He was the one brother who was more quiet and serious – the youngest of the six boys.

Frank

Now Frank was always "tee-heeing" and laughing and smiling.  There was no one to compare with Frank.  He had a constant smile on his face always, where Paul was more serious.

They tell this story about my brother Frank.  Mama and Papa were in the summer kitchen which was adjoining the regular kitchen and they saw a splash in the watering trough.  They ran out there and found Frank had fallen in.  So they pulled him out and dried him off.  He was always doing things.  More things happened to this little guy.  He was a lovable brother.

Since I spoke of my brother Frank, let me tell a few more incidents in his life.  My older brother, Dolph, told me that one time when Frank was real little, maybe two years old, he was sitting on the fence.  Across the road there was a big ball game going on.  Dolph had perched him up on the corner of this fence, because he wanted to watch the game.  Somebody hit a home run and knocked Frank completely off the fence and he was unconscious!  Dolph ran to him and picked him up and brought him home to Mama.  Mama was the all-around nurse and doctor.  What she did only God knows.  She brought him to and he insisted on going back because he wanted to see the rest of the game.  So they let him go back.  That was one of his injuries.

Frank Coronado with his mother, Louisa

In later years, Papa was taking my sister Toots and me to school in Vallejo. One day he was picking us up after school, driving us home, when we went by the high school that Frank attended.  We said, "Oh, something is happening there.  Look, the ambulance has come and somebody got hurt." Well, when we got home, we were notified that it was my brother Frank. He got hit by a ball and was taken to the hospital for a while and then they brought him home.  Poor Frankie – he has had so many injuries.

As he got older, he was going up Main Street hill on a motorcycle, and the darned motorcycle just flipped right over with him and he hit his head on the sidewalk.  That put him out for awhile.

Another injury was when he was in Nevada.  He was driving on one of the streets.  Some kids were playing ball.  Wouldn't you know that the ball came right through the window that he had down and hit him again on the head.  He had a lot of injuries to his head but we loved him dearly.  He was a terrific brother.  We had a lot in common.

This ballpark where Frankie was hit by the ball – I understand that big league games were played there.  So it was quite an important spot around that area.  Also, the first airplanes landed there.  We have pictures to show it – one-seaters with open cockpit. ... I was born in 1906 so that goes a long way back.