Life at the Napa Valley Ranch 1875 - 1887

When we last left Loretto and Guadalupe Coronado in the previous post they were living with their five children on a ranch from 1875 to 1887 in the foothills of the Napa Valley, 3 miles northeast of Yountville and about 10 miles from the center of Napa (where they lived prior to 1875).  This remote location, high on a rocky hillside, is in the general area that is now well known as the fabled Stag’s Leap Winery as well as the County reservoir.

It was a rugged existence for the family being a good distance from neighbors.  Loretto had picked his 160-acre homestead land in a hilly area where there must have been water available from the creeks that existed in the area.  He built a small house (16 ft. X 20 ft.) and enclosed 10 acres with a stone and mesh fence.  He had a 1,000-vine vineyard, 50 fruit bearing trees, a grain crop and a number of farm animals.[1]  Household income must have come from the sale of grapes, fruit from the trees and grain.

Marciano Coronado

Loretto and Guadalupe had five children, three boys and two girls.  Mariano (my grandfather), Marciano and Ignacio (sometimes called Enos) were the middle children.  The two girls were the eldest (Angelita) and the youngest (Pauline) of the five children.

Newspaper accounts provide an insight into what life was like for the young settlers and their family.  But the newspaper stories can be also rather grisly.

In a previous post I described from a newspaper account how my great-grandfather, Loretto, was in a terrible accident in March 1886 when his horse drawn carriage went off the side of a cliff and on the way down to the gulch the cart rolled over Loretto a number of times before hitting bottom.  He survived with unspecified internal injuries and bruised shoulders and face and was in considerable pain.  This happened as he was ascending the grade near his home.

Another newspaper account did not deal directly with the family, but the event happened on the family property in February 1884.  A fatal accident occurred on the ranch of Loretto Coronado when a man named John Gray was chopping down a tree:

He had chopped off a large limb of a tree just above his head, the top falling to the ground, the butt resting against the trunk of the tree.  He then proceeded to chop the tree down, which fell in a direction nearly opposite to that which the limb fell.  The deceased apparently had forgotten about the severed limb, which dropped down when the tree fell, catching his head and shoulders between it and the stump, crushing his face almost to a jelly.[2]

Pauline Coronado & Her Mother

The newspaper report does not say why John Gray was on the Coronado property or whether he had been hired by Loretto.

A much happier account appeared in a history of Atlas Peak and Foss Valley (the general area where the Coronado property was located).  Guadalupe Coronado and three of her children (Marciano, Ignacio and Pauline) attended a masquerade party at a neighbor’s residence on 1 January 1885.  There were glowing accounts in the local newspaper of the excellence of the costumes, including a clown, Negro minstrel and Irish peasant.  A 12 o’clock supper was served and there was music played by local musicians.[3]  There was no reason provided that Loretto was not in attendance, but maybe the party was for the younger people and mama was the chaperone.

So, in summary, life on the ranch could be tough, but there were avenues for social interaction and enjoyment.

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

[2] Napa County Reporter, Napa, California, 15 February 1884, 1:7, accessed by microfilm at the Napa County Library, Napa, California.

[3] Setty, Cecelia Elkington, Atlas Peak, A History of a Napa County Settler, 1870-1902, Napa County Historical Society Property No. 05.04.1, pages 213-214.

Frontier Days in Napa: The Coronado Family 1850s and 1860s

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.

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[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.

Where Was Loretto Coronado Buried and Why?

When last I reported about my great-grandfather, Loretto Coronado, he had died on the streets of Yountville, California – a small village just north of Napa City.  He was 60 years old.

He left an estate valued at $600 according to the probate of the estate[1] -  of that amount $500 was the value of the 160 acres of land and $100 was the value of farm animals and equipment.  As far as I can tell there was no cash to pay for his burial.

It happened that Napa County had set aside a portion of the Tulocay Cemetery in Napa for those families that could not pay for burial.  In Cemetery records it is listed as “County Burials”.  It would be reasonable for a local jurisdiction to have such a burial area identified and set aside for those who have died without family or those families who could not afford a burial.  In years past these areas might be called potter’s fields or common graves.

On a visit to Napa last year I went to Tulocay Cemetery to research their records.  Indeed I found Loretto in the “County Burial” records.  He died on October 27, 1887, with the coroner listing the cause of death as “old age”[2].  He was listed as “County Burial Number 438”[3].

According to Peter Manasse (former high school classmate of mine and manager of the Tulocay Cemetery) over the years wooden markers identified the spot where someone was buried in the “County” section.  There were also metal points placed at the burial site.  Peter said that there had been a fire many years ago, probably destroying any wooden markers, and he said that many of the metal points had sunk into the earth.  So in the “County” area of the cemetery it was hard to be certain where particular bodies were buried.[4]

After Loretto’s death in 1887, his wife, Guadalupe, sold the 160 acres of land in the Napa hills and lived in the City of Napa at 21 Vallejo Street for a while with her son, Enos, and daughter, Pauline[5].  She died on August 5, 1902[6] at the age of 72.  Since this family could also not afford a burial site, Guadalupe was also buried in the “County” section.  She was listed as “County Burial Number 827[7].

So today there is a large expanse of grass in the “County” area with a few gravestone markers placed here and there.  All the markers were likely added years after the original burials.

I felt there should be a permanent marker showing where our ancestors were buried – so that others would not have to look up the information in the cemetery records.

So I arranged to have a “pillow-style” granite marker created and placed in the unmarked “County” area of the cemetery.  Both Loretto and Guadalupe Coronado names are listed on the stone.  The single stone with both names was placed in the general location of where Guadalupe was buried, on a grassy rise overlooking Napa.

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[1] Probate of Estate, Letters of Administration for Loretto Coronado.  Napa County, California, Superior Court records, 1887, case number 278, Loretto Coronado.

[2] Napa County, California, County Recorder, Register of Deaths, Book 1, Page 43.

[3] Tulocay Cemetery, Napa, California, County Burials, page 216.

[4] The majority of Tulocay Cemetery is laid out in Blocks and Lots with careful records of who purchased the lots and who is buried at each site.  It is only the “County” section of the cemetery where it is difficult to identify who is buried where.

[5] Ancestry.com database online.  1900 United States Federal Census, California, Napa, Napa, District 0096, page 19.

[6] Napa County, California, County Recorder, Register of Deaths, Book 1, Page 53; and Ancestry.com database online. 1900 United States Federal Census, California, Napa, Napa, District 0096, page 19 for Guadalupe's date of birth.

[7] Tulocay Cemetery, Napa, California, County Burials page 237.

Loretto Coronado Dies in Yountville

In earlier posts (Loretto’sLand - Part One and Loretto’s Land - Part Two) I discussed how my great-grandfather, Loretto Coronado, and his wife, Guadalupe Villa Coronado, raised a family in the Napa Valley beginning in the 1850s.  I wrote about how he applied for and eventually received 160 acres of homestead land and planted one of the early vineyards in the Napa foothills.

Guadalupe Villa Coronado and her husband Loretto Coronado.  This is the only known photo of Loretto and was probably taken about 1885, shortly before his death.  Guadalupe lived until 1902, when she died in Napa at 80 years of age.

But then in March 1886 Loretto was involved in a terrible accident when his horse went off the steep road on the way to his farm and pulled the buggy with Loretto over the side of the road – apparently the horse and buggy rolling over Loretto several times.  He suffered dangerous internal injuries as well as bruises to his face and shoulders.

About a year and a half later in October 1887, the following items about my great-grandfather appeared in the local newspapers:

Died from Drink

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     Loretto Coronado, a Mexican, who is well known in Napa, was found dead in Yountville Wednesday morning, with an empty whisky bottle lying beside him.  Coroner Lawrence went up and held an inquest.  The verdict of the jury was that Coronado came to his death from exposure and drink.

     The funeral of Loretto Coronado took place yesterday.  The interment was in the Napa cemetery.[1]

Found Dead

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     Thomas Hopper came down from Lake County yesterday, stopping at Yountville Tuesday en route.  He says at an early hour Wednesday, Loretto Coronado, a well known Spaniard, was found dead in the street of Yountville, opposite Mrs. Gill’s.  Beside him lay an empty whisky bottle and it is supposed that overdoses of the tangle-leg[2] caused his death.  He had been on a long spree and had of late been indulging freely.  The Coroner was sent for.  Coronado leaves a large family.

LATER

     Coroner Lawrence and James Giles returned from Yountville at 1:30 o’clock this afternoon.  At the inquest the jury found that deceased was a native of Mexico, aged 60 years and that he came to his death through drinking and exposure.[3]

I was originally bothered by the manner of Loretto’s death when I first learned about it.  But on reflection I’ve tempered my thoughts.  He was 60 years old living in the 19^th Century when life expectancy was less than it is today and access to medical care was limited.  Loretto led a long and tough life – farming in the rough foothills of the Napa Valley and raising a family of five children.  To add to this was his horse and buggy accident in the previous year which may have and probably did leave him in constant pain.  On the other hand, coroners in the 19^th Century were not necessarily medical doctors and there was no autopsy performed.  He could have died of an unnoticed ailment with whisky and exposure to the elements a contributing cause.

Loretto left his estate, valued at $500 for the 160 acres of land and $100 for farm animals and equipment, to his wife Guadalupe.  Apparently unable to sign her name, Guadalupe marked the probate court documents with an “X” and appointed her son Marciano as administrator of the estate.[4]

The probate court documents[5] tell us a few things about the family Loretto left behind in 1887.  Living in Napa were his wife, Guadalupe (63 years old)[6], son Marciano (26 years old) and Ignacio (22 years old) and daughter Paula (19 years old).  Mariano, my grandfather, was 28 and living in Vallejo with his new wife Louisa and their two children.  Angelita Coronado, the eldest (age 29) had married Manuel Madrid the previous year and was living in Vallejo.

In a future post, I will discuss the circumstances and location of Loretto’s burial in Napa’s Tulocay Cemetery.

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[1] Napa County Reporter, Napa, California, 28 Oct 1887, 3:3, accessed by microfilm at the Napa County Library, Napa, California

[2] “Tangle-leg” or “tangle-foot” was a colloquialism for any intoxicating liquor.  A Dictionary of Slang and Colloquial English by John Stephen Farmer and William Ernest Henley, G. Routledge & Son, 1905, page 465.

[3] Napa Register, Napa, California, 28 Oct 1887, 3:4, accessed by microfilm at the Napa County Library, Napa, California.

[4] Probate of Estate, Letters of Administration for Loretto Coronado.  Napa County, California, Superior Court records, 1887, case number 278, Loretto Coronado.

[5] Ibid.

[6] If the estimate of her age is correct, Guadalupe was relatively old when she began to have children (34) and when she had her last child (44).

Loretto Coronado's Terrible Accident

From the mid 1870s to the mid 1880s, Loretto Coronado, his wife, Guadalupe, and his five children lived on a 160-acre ranch in the foothills of Napa Valley east of Yountville.  He was not a wealthy man, so how could he have acquired such a large piece of property?

In May 1875 Loretto submitted a homestead application[1] for 160 acres of land under the federal government’s Homestead Act of 1862.  He was immediately approved (but see the endnote below).  The land was quite rugged and rocky and was a steep ride by horse up from the valley floor.

Over the next eight years, Loretto built a small house (16 ft x 20 ft) and enclosed 10 acres with a stone and mesh fence.  Inside the fence he had over 50 bearing fruit trees, 1,000 grape vines and a corral[2].  He was one of Napa’s first viticulturists.

But in March 1886, just shy of his 60^th birthday, Loretto was in a terrible accident as he was returning to his ranch – an accident that would trouble him for the rest of his life.

This is the account from the local newspaper:

On last Monday afternoon at about four o’clock as Mr. L. Cornado (sic) was ascending the grade near his home in Foss Valley the horse became frightened, and backed off the grade.  The vehicle was overturned and Mr. Cornado thrown out, the horse and buggy in its descent to the gulch below rolling over the gentleman several times.  Mr. Cornado was picked up in an insensible condition and conveyed to his home by friends.  It was found on examination that he had received dangerous internal injuries, besides having his shoulders and face bruised considerably.  A physician was called in and rendered necessary medical assistance, and at last accounts the injured gentleman was getting along well, though suffering considerable pain.  The buggy was broken up considerably.  The horse however escaped with only a few slight cuts.[3]

I am glad that the horse was in good condition, but the injuries my great-grandfather, Loretto, must have endured are hard to imagine.  He died a year later, but that’s another story.

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[1] Homestead Application No. 1956, Land Office at San Francisco, California, 5 May 1875.  There were some issues with this application and a new application was submitted in 1883, but this is a story for another post. 

[2] Homestead Application No. 2158 and Final Certificate No. 2158, Land Office at San Francisco, California, 13 March 1883.

[3] Napa County Recorder, Napa, California, 26 March 1886, 1:7, accessed by microfilm at the Napa County Library, Napa California.