Coronado Family Reunion - 1973

We just had a Coronado Family Reunion on March 2, 2024 and had a great time comparing notes and meeting new relatives.

In 1973 it must have been just as much fun and a chance to see family relatives once again.  My mother, Cecelia Coronado Phipps and Helen Coronado Jenkins arranged the reunion and celebration of Hess Coronado McIntosh's 85th birthday.  The event was held in Helen's side yard in Napa on Wednesday, July 1, 1973.

My cousin, Catherine McIntosh, reminded me that she took the photo below and other group photos that became a record of Coronado family members at the reunion and birthday celebration. More group photos will be added in future posts.  This photo is the seven brothers and sisters of Mariano & Louisa Coronado who were able to attend the reunion:

Standing left to right: Cecelia Coronado Phipps, Frank Coronado, Marian (Toots) Coronado Orsi, Paul Coronado.

Seated left to right: Marion (Dutch) Coronado, Jesusita (Hess) Coronado McIntosh, James Coronado

This is truly a handsome family grouping!

(This is a corrected post with the correct date of the reunion and photographer who took the photo.)

Summer Outing at Dillon Beach - 1920

Here is a photo of members of the Coronado family taking a summer visit to Dillon Beach, CA, a Pacific Ocean beach, about 20 miles west of Petaluma.  The photo was taken about 1920.  They were obviously not dressed to get into the water.

Pictured left to right in the back: Ione & Marion (Dutch) Coronado, Jim Coronado, Marian (Toots) Coronado.  On the right is Louisa & Mariano Coronado.  Dutch & Ione's children are Marion (with the dog) and Helen.

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.

Remembering My Childhood (Cecelia Coronado) - Part Two

(This is the second in a series of posts based on audio recordings made by my mother, Cecelia Coronado Phipps in 1983.)

Mama and Papa started out very poor, with a very small little place.  When they were first married, they lived at the Blue Rock Springs.  Mrs. Madrid was my father's sister.  Mr. Manual Madrid was my mother's cousin.  Angela and Manual Madrid lived at and owned the Blue Rock Springs, which was farther out toward the hills, which had natural mineral waters.  That's where Mama and Papa lived when they were first married.  I believe that Dolph was born there.  Marianita was also born there.  She later died at the age of 10[1]. ... Mama always said that she was just too perfect to live.  She was such a beautiful child and just perfect in every way.  She never gave her one minute’s problem or worry. ... They never got over the loss of this one little girl even though they lost two little boys. ...

They wanted to get away and live on their own, so they came ... and bought this 3-5 acres of property bordering the road that is now the Napa Highway.  At that time it was just a path from Vallejo to Napa.

They started out on a very small scale, with a little bar where he sold beer – 5 cent beer and Mama made big kettles of chili beans.  You got a 5 cent beer, you got a bowl of chili beans if you wanted. ... They eventually enlarged the house, very gradually, of course, and added other rooms downstairs and enlarged the bar.  They eventually made six bedrooms upstairs.

The Beanery with living quarters on the second floor

Mama was pregnant with Frankie in September[2].  In those days it never did rain in California in September.  But this year it did.  Papa was building the upstairs and the skies opened up and it stormed on poor Mama.  She recalls walking around in water, I don't know how deep, and trying to take care of all the children.  Here she was expecting Frank, expecting the baby.  The next day she gave birth to brother Frank.  The doctor came.  All her babies were born at home.  The doctor came and said that he can't possibly live.  "I'll come by in the morning but he can't possibly live."  Only God knows what Mama did. She prayed over him.  She got her little tiny lamp that I still have.  All her prayers were answered, because in the morning when the doctor arrived, he said, "I can't believe it. It's just like a miracle."  He was premature, a "preemie", and in those days what could they do for a "preemie"?  He was healthy enough, but he just didn't grow.  His little legs were shorter than they might have been otherwise, but he had the build of Papa.  He had good broad shoulders, a good build, but his legs were shorter – not stunted at all, but he was just short. ...

They did get these six bedrooms built upstairs. ... I remember so well, going upstairs where Dolph had his bedroom.  He would go to town the night before.  He went out a lot and had many friends.  He would bring back a whole big sack of bananas.  I knew that I could go up to his bedroom in the morning and knock on the door.  He would say "Come in" and he would have this big sack of bananas for me.  Well, I eventually got the nickname of "Nanas", because I loved them so.  But I was so tiny and I had to go down this great long staircase, about 25 or 30 steps down this long staircase.  My brothers, Doc, Frank and Paul, would be jumping around me and poking holes through the bag. They would have most of the bananas by the time I had gotten down to the main floor.  But I was happy to have whatever I could get.  This hap­pened very often and this is one of the very nice things he always did for me.

Dutch had one of the front bedrooms.  Dutch got his name because when he was little he had curly hair and his hair was brown, instead of black like all the rest of the kids.  So they said that he looks like a little Dutchman.  I don't know who said this, but that nickname stuck with him. ...

Louise had a bedroom.  Louise became a nurse.  Dutch got her a job at the hospital where he also met his future wife, Ione.  Louise met her future husband and left home very early.  So we never saw her very much.  She lived in town but we just did not see too much of her.  She didn't cling to the family like all the rest of us did and didn't come home as often. ...

Now comes Jimmy.  Jimmy was a terrific brother. He was quiet and gentle, but had a good sense of humor too.  He was the photographer in our family.  He was always taking pictures.  If he hadn't done that, we would not have the many pictures that we enjoy to this day – of the old cars, the family reunions, the family get-togethers on Sundays for dinners. ... He met and married the first girl he ever went with.  He worked for one of the bakeries in Vallejo and he ran a delivery truck. ...

Facing the front and all around the corner of our property, Papa had planted a Cyprus hedge, which made it very private, even though it faced the main road at that time.  There was a picket fence right by the garden gate and next to it was our front porch, which led into the parlor.  Inside this little picket fence gate was a huge grapefruit tree, that was very tall and went above the second story bedroom, which my sister Marian, affectionately known as "Tootsie", and I shared.  She had a habit of walking in her sleep.  Sometimes I would awaken and find her going out the window.  Well there was little place that we used to play dolls out there on a little lean-to, but the fact seeing her going out in her sleep was more than I could handle.  However, instead of catering to her, I would scold her and I'd say, "Tootsie! You get right back in here!"  And she would mind.  Normally she wouldn't under normal circumstances, but she would[3].  Those were kind of frightening experiences for me.  We shared this bedroom all through our school years.  We would enjoy getting out there in the daytime to play with our dolls and pick some grapefruit.  They were huge things – very good and juicy. We had lemons too in the yard.

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[1] Actually Marianita died at age 5.

[2] September 1900.

[3] Toots gave her version of this story in a conversation with John Coronado in 1994: “She said that there were times when she would fake the sleep walking.  She would put a sheet over her head and get up and start walking around.  When Cecelia would take her arm and lead her back to bed, she would pull the sheet off and scream at Cecelia to scare the dickens out of her.”

Introduction to the Family

The purpose of this website is to document and explore the family history of the Coronado Family who lived in and prospered in Napa and Solano Counties in northern California starting in the 1850s.  I hope that this website will become a forum for exchange of information, pictures and stories and that all Coronado relatives and friends will join in the discussion.

My maternal grandfather, Mariano (Marion) Coronado (1859-1934), and grandmother, Louisa Madrid (1862-1950) were married 24 November 1884 at St John the Baptist Catholic Church in Napa.  Both Mariano and Louisa were born in and grew up in Napa.

Family history says that the dashing Mariano was smitten by Louisa’s charms the first time he saw the pretty young lady in the front yard of her home in the “Spanish town” area of Napa.  He vowed to himself at the time that he would marry her.

 

Louisa

Mariano

After their marriage they lived for a time in Napa and then moved to Vallejo by 1887 where Mariano worked on the Tobin Ranch.  Mariano purchased 3 ½ acres of land in August 1891 on the Vallejo Napa Road – the main road between Napa and Vallejo – about three miles north of Vallejo proper.  He and Louisa raised their family there from the late 19^th Century into the early 20^th Century.  They owned the Coronado Inn (sometimes called the Three-Mile House) – Mariano ran the bar and Louisa prepared the food to go with the drink.

They raised a large family - in all they had 13 children, 10 of whom lived past childhood.  The children were fiercely independent and lived highly successful and interesting lives in and around Vallejo and Napa as well as elsewhere in California.  The family contributed to the growth and history of pioneer days in the State

How Mariano and Louisa were able to get all ten children together at one time for a picture will remain a mystery.

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Who were these Coronado children and what did they do?  Where did Mariano’s father and mother come from and why did they settle in Napa?  In subsequent posts to this website, we will explore more details of our Coronado family and its history.