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.

The Coronado Home & Businesses through the Years

In the last posting I described how the Mariano & Louisa Coronado family moved from Napa to Vallejo and how they eventually settled and built a home on a 3 ½ acre property on the Napa-Vallejo Highway.

In this post, I show how the original house grew as the family grew – from a one-story house to 2-stories and the addition of the Coronado businesses – initially calling the establishment “The Beanery” and then later “The Coronado”.  Remember in past posts, we found that Louisa (in addition to taking care of a rapidly expanding family) used to make big kettles of chili beans for customers.  When they bought 5-cent beer they were entitled to a bowl of chili beans.  Thus, the term “Beanery”.

Here are a series of historic photos of the Coronado residence – starting with the one-story house that was built between 1891 (when Mariano bought the land) and 1899[1].  These photos also document Mariano’s entrepreneurial spirit of responding to market demands.

The Coronado Homestead 1899

In the first photo above, Louisa is sitting on the arched side porch with her 6 children.  A slim Mariano is seen faintly standing next to the side porch.  There seems to be a dog posed in the front yard.  It is definitely a one-story house and probably snug for the young family.  (Note the arched side porch, the placement of the front door, and the two windows between the front door and the arched porch, one window higher than the other.  This helps determine that all these house photos, taken in different years, are the same house.)

The Homestead with Residential Second Floor & First Floor "The Beanery" - post 1900s

A second story is added to the original one-story house sometime after 1900 as the family needs grew (See the second photo above).  “The Beanery” business is added on the main floor.  The sign painted over the front door reads: “The Beanery. All kinds of wines 5c, 10c. M.P. Coronado, Prop.”[2]  Two potential customers are standing in the front and maybe that’s an older and younger Coronado child and dog standing and sitting near the residential side entrance.

Commercial Conversion - "The Coronado"

The third photo (above) shows the two-story home with the placement of “The Coronado” sign above a double-door entrance to the left of the photo.  There appear to be tables set up in the front under the tree and under the roof overhang – maybe for customers.  I can’t be sure, but there seem to be two people in the shadow of the side arched porch.

Expansion of "The Coronado" 1912

The fourth photo (above) of the two-story Coronado house taken in 1912[3] shows that there is a one-story addition on the left that looks like it may have expanded the interior space of “The Coronado” business.  In addition, M.P. Coronado also started another business to keep up with the times.  On the far right in the photo is a hanging sign that reads: “Gasoline, Oil and Carbide[4] for Sale Here”.  It was the beginning of an auto filling station business.

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[1] I estimate that the first photo was taken in 1899 based upon a more detailed photo of the family on the arched porch.  All the photos were originally black & white but were "colorized" using the MyHeritage website.

[2] Mariano Coronado became known as M.P. Coronado at least by 1891.

[3] This photo is from cousin Catherine McIntosh.  Her grandfather, Harry McIntosh, wrote the following about the photo: “The Coronado home, bar & cafe in 1912. The two larger cars are Overlands from A.B.Coronado's dealership in Vallejo. The small car is a Ford c1908 model that was rebuilt and owned by Harry McIntosh.”

[4] Carbide was used in the carbide headlamps of the cars for driving at night.

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.

Frank Coronado Mishap

The following is an article written by cousin John J. Coronado, Jr. for a 1994 edition of The Coronado Newsletter.  John was the son of John (Doc) Coronado.

He describes a harrowing experience for the young Coronado family on the ranch in 1910.

__________

This is a short story about my uncle, Frank Coronado, told to me many years ago by my father, Doc Coronado.

The Coronado boys were all raised on the Coronado ranch and were all expert horsemen, because they had all learned how to ride at a young age.  They were on their own if they wanted to saddle up a horse and head for the hills for a ride.  In 1910, when this story takes place, Jim was 13, John (Doc) was 11, Frank was 10, and Paul was 9.

One day Uncle Frank saddled up a horse and went out riding.  Some of the other kids saw him leave the ranch. It was mid-afternoon when he left and it was assumed that he would return for dinner, since none of the kids ever missed dinner.

But Frank did not show up at the dinner table and his father, Mariano Coronado, grew worried.  He ordered his other sons and some farm hands to saddle up and head out to look for him.  They spread out and formed a line and rode up to the first hill.  There was a grove of oak trees at the top and they spotted Frank immediately.  He was hanging in one of the trees.  He had ridden under the tree and a sharp branch had entered the back of his neck and was lodged at least a foot along his back.  Frank was out cold and wasn't moving.  Nobody seemed to know what to do, so two riders headed back to tell his father and to get medical help.

Mariano ordered the two to ride as fast as they could to get the doctor and get him back here as fast as possible. Mariano ran for the barn and got a saw and some rope.  He quickly saddled his horse and headed for the scene.

Frank Coronado, as a young man,
 with his mother, Louisa

When Mariano arrived, he could see that the ranch hands had tied rope around Frank in several places, like a harness.  He lassoed a big limb high above Frank and tied it to the harness.  Several of the group pulled on the rope and took the weight of Frank off the limb.  A ranch hand was already in the tree and had the saw ready to cut the limb.  When it was cut, Frank was lowered down to a saddle horse and secured in the saddle with more rope.

The group and Frank arrived at the ranch house about the same time that the doctor arrived.  The rope was cut off Frank and his father carried him into the house so the doctor could look at him.  As it turned out the wound was not as bad as it could have been, nothing deep, just surface cuts.  Frank was given a shot, the branch was removed, and he slept until the next day.  When he woke up, he asked about his horse.  His brothers went out to search and they found the horse grazing in the hills by Blue Rock Springs.  Frank was happy to know his horse was back.  He was a strong kid and recovered fully in a short time.

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.

Marian Coronado Remembers - Part One

Cousin Gary Coronado[1] visited and interviewed our aunt, Marian Coronado, on April 16, 1984 at her home in Calistoga, California.  She was always known as “Toots” or “Aunt Toots” all our lives.  I don’t remember where the name came from.  She was the next to last child born to Mariano and Louisa Coronado – the 12^th of 13 children (the 9^th of the children to live to adulthood).  Toots was born 28 August 1905 in Vallejo, California, and passed away 20 July 1998 in Calistoga.

 

Young Marian Coronado as a glamorous
Senorita

Gary wrote up the interview in question and answer form and I published it in the May 1994 issue of the Coronado Newsletter[2].  This is a portion of that interview.

Q. How much do you know about our family history before you were born?

A. Not a whole lot.  I recall Mama telling the story of how she met Papa.  She was working for a wealthy family, cleaning house.  Mama met Papa in Yountville.  She used to point out the location when we drove by.  The story goes that she took a walk and met Papa near the Napa River Creek.  As you know Papa lived near Yountville.  That was the start of a long, happy, productive relationship.  They were a good team together.

Q. Where were you born?  Describe your home as you remember.

A. All of us kids were born at home.  We were all born in the old antique bed.  I believe it is still in Celia’s home.  I am number nine!

We lived in a two story home.  Our living quarters were above the Inn.  The ground floor was Papa’s place of business.  There was a bar, a dinner room and a dance hall.  We also rented a few rooms.  The boys slept in a bunk house away from the Inn.

Q. What's your earliest memory?

A. My earliest memory is of Grandma Coronado cooking and preparing dinner for our family.  I remember her flapping tortillas over a wooden stove.  There was plenty of eucalyptus wood to burn.  Alongside of the tortillas she would always have a big cast iron pot of simmering chili beans.  She would stack the hot tortillas between flour sacks to keep them warm.  The tortillas never lasted very long because they were our favorite after school snack!  There was always rich butter.  Grandpa Coronado had one milking cow.

In a large round wooden barrel with a crank, Mama would separate the cream from the milk.  The cream was made into butter, the milk into cottage cheese.  She rolled the cottage cheese into little balls, and then poured cream over them.  They were eaten with beans and tortillas.  So good!

My mother loved cooking outdoors and seldom used the kitchen in the house.  She would set aside one day a week to bake desserts.  Our favorites were large sheets of marble cake and ginger bread.  She would have to lock the desserts in cupboards so the children wouldn’t eat it all before dinner.

Q. What was Grandpa like when he was young?  Describe your relationship with him?

A. Papa had a stern, serious manner.  He was a good provider and father.  He was also an Innkeeper, rancher and a vaquero.

He left Mama in charge of the girls.  Mostly, he was in charge of the boys.  He would wake us every morning.  He would only call us once: “Get up, Toots.  Get up, Celia.”  We would respond by pounding on the wood floor with our shoe.  Sometimes, we would roll over and go back to sleep.  He didn’t care if we were late.  And he would just call once.

His pride and joy was his breeding horse, Prince.  People would bring horses to Papa in order to breed them with his prize stallion.  This was also a source of income for us.

He was political.  He liked to discuss politics with his customers.  He was a Democrat.  He wasn’t shy offering an opinion about a political issue.

Papa Coronado, relaxing outside and
getting ready for his siesta

On Sunday he would insist that we all go to Mass.  He would always attend with us.  We had our family pew near the front of the church.  It was in front of the Blessed Virgin statue.  Your father (Doc) would drive the family to church.  Imagine, a twelve year old as a chauffeur.  He wore goggles and a long coat.  We would head off in the morning, arriving about an hour before mass.  Papa was always early, never late.  Any type of gathering required an early arrival.  This was a habit for him in his business, and in his life.

Eating was his number one pastime.  He loved to eat and then, siesta in the afternoon.  Papa always slept upright in his chair outdoors.

Q. What was Grandma like when she was young?  Describe your relationship with her.

A. Mama was the sweetest, kindest lady.  She never raised her voice.  She left that up to Papa.  Mama was in charge of the girls.  She was so kindly, we never wanted to do anything to disappoint her.  Our relationship with her was one of love.

She would collect rainwater in crock-like vessels.  She used the water to wash her face.  She had a beautiful complexion.  Mama also used the water to wash her hair.

Mama’s hands were always busy crocheting and embroidering things for our church and friends.  Most of the applique and embroidery work were done on flour sacks.  She had an old Singer sewing machine, but she rarely used it.  We also had an Apex washing machine.  It was rarely used.  She washed all of her clothes by hand on a washboard in a tub.  Then, instead of hanging them on our round clothesline, she would spread them on top of bushes, alfalfa and fences to dry.

Q. Tell me a story about Grandma that will give us some insight into her personality.

 

Mama Coronado with Polly

A. Well, there are many examples.  I like to think about Mama with her parrot.  She had an old, green parrot named Polly.  He perched on a eucalyptus tree near the summer kitchen.  His cage was in the tree so he could go in and out as he pleased.  She would make toast, dip it into coffee and give it to her bird.  He would like it and would say, “Polly want a cracker” for more.  Polly liked Mama, but didn’t like us kids.  His wings were clipped so he couldn’t fly.  Polly was a mimic.  When Mama called us, he would repeat what she said and then laugh.  One day he crawled down the tree and walked around the yard.  He wandered across the fence to the railroad tracks behind our house.  A freight train came by and Polly wasn’t able to get out of the way.  He was killed.  When night came Mama missed him.  She went out to look for him and found some feathers scattered around.  Then, she found him crushed by the track.  Mama felt very bad about losing her faithful companion.  She mourned her friend for many weeks.

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[1] Gary is the son of John (Doc) Coronado, the 9^th of 13 children (the 6^th of the children who lived to adulthood).

[2] I edited and published the 8-page quarterly Coronado Newsletter from 1993 to 1997.  It contained family articles, news items, and family photos and I sent it to family members.

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.

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.