Coronado Family Reunion - 1973 - Additional Photos

The previous post described the happy Coronado Family Reunion of 1973 in Napa and provided a photo of seven of the 10 Coronado brothers and sisters who were able to attend.  Catherine McIntosh took the photo and sent me two other photos that she took at the same event, memorializing other relatives who attended.  I remember seeing these photos and others taken at the reunion, but my growing family and I were living on the East Coast and we were not able to attend.

These are the sons and daughters of the "10" who were able to attend the 1973 reunion:

Standing left to right: Robert McIntosh, Paul Orsi, Gary Coronado, Bob Coronado.

Seated left to right: Harrison McIntosh, Helen Coronado Jenkins, Dorothy Coronado McKenna

Robert and Harrison McIntosh are sons of Hess Coronado McIntosh.  Paul Orsi is the son of Marian (Toots) Orsi.  Helen Jenkins is the daughter of Marion (Dutch) Coronado.  Dorothy McKenna is the daughter of Dolph Coronado.

This photo includes the grandchildren of the "10" who were present at the reunion:

I can identify 4 of the 6 people in this photo, but I don't recognize the girl standing on the left or the boy seated in the middle.  Claudia McKenna Moelk is standing in the center with Gerri Eichler Handschumacher next to her on the right.  Seated on the left is Juanita Coronado Lecair and seated on the right is Catherine McIntosh.  [Update: Jim Orsi recently says the girl in the upper left is his sister, Julie Orsi Rus, and the boy in front center is his brother, Jeff Orsi.  Jim, Julie and Jeff are children of Paul and Betty Orsi.]

Claudia is the daughter of Dorothy McKenna and granddaughter of Dolph Coronado.  Gerri is the daughter of Lillian Eichler and granddaughter of Dolph Coronado.  Juanita is the daughter of Marion Coronado and granddaughter of Dutch Coronado.  Catherine is the daughter of Harrison McIntosh and granddaughter of Hess Coronado McIntosh.

This is a more informal photo of the reunion showing the side yard and extent of the tables set up in Helen's yard for the 1973 reunion.

Surrounding the table are Robert & Helen McIntosh, Al Orsi (husband of Toots), Harrison McIntosh, Frank Coronado and Helen Coronado Jenkins.

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.

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.

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.

Baptism of Mariano Coronado

Mariano’s baptism took place at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, Napa, CA, on 30 April 1859.  According to St. John’s Church history[1], the first entry in their baptismal and marriage books was on October 1, 1858, so Mariano’s baptism registry was in the early days of the church.

Here is a copy of the baptism entry from the church records.[2]

The record lists his birth as 17 April 1859 (couldn’t find his birth-date anywhere else).  Notice that his full baptized name (in Latin[3]) is “Josephus Anicetus Mariana de Jesus Coronado”.  He was “Manama” in the 1860 Census[4] at age one and he was “Maryannie” in the 1870 Census[5] at age eleven (and listed as female).  On his marriage license he was “Mariano”.[6]  Later in life he became known as Marion Coronado and M.P. Coronado (for Marion Pascual Coronado).

According to the baptism entry, Mariano or Mariana is the son of “Jesu Laureto Coronado” and “Guadalupa Bie”.  Although there were variations in spelling over the years, because many of the data records depended on the name as spoken to the recorder, Mariano’s parents were Loretto Coronado[7] and Guadalupe Villa[8].

Witnesses at the baptism were “Raphalus Corona” and “Florentina Enos”.  Witnesses to a baptism are usually relatives or close friends of the family.  “Raphalus Corona” could have been Rafael Coronado, a man who lived close to the Loretto Coronado family in the Spanish-town area of Napa.  He might have been a brother or cousin of Loretto, but I have not been able to prove any direct connection.  But both men had the same last name, lived close to one another and were about the same age.

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[1] St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, Napa, Napa, California, Our History, How We Got Started, 2010.  http://stchurch.stjohnscatholic.org/about_history.php  The Catholic Church community in Napa had been holding services in makeshift locations.  A physical church building was not completed until June 1860.

[2] Copy of the church files obtained by Donna Alfonso from the clerk at the St. John the Baptist Church, Napa, Napa, California, April 1987.  Copy is in the possession of Hal Phipps.

[3] Catholic Church records in the middle of the 19^th Century were commonly written in Latin.

[4] 1860 U.S. Census, Napa, Napa, California, page 113, family 896, digital image, Ancestry.com from National Archives microfilm M653, roll 61.

[5] 1870 U.S. Census, Napa, Napa, California, page 54B, family 441, digital image, Ancestry.com from National Archives microfilm M653, roll 75.

[6] Marriage License, Mariano Coronado & Louisa Madrid, Napa Township, Napa county, California, recorded 24 November 1884.

[7] Variations: Loreto Coronado, Loretta Coronado, Loreta Coronado

[8] There were many variations in her name because she may not have been able to write her name and the spelling was dependent on a spoken language and a recorder who may not have understood the Spanish language.  For example, the letter “V” is pronounced as a soft “B” and the double “ll” was pronounced as a “Y”, such as in the word “yea”.  Variations to her name: Guadalupe Bia, Guadelupe Ville, and Guadalupe Via.