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's Land - Part Two

At the end of Part One, Loretto discovered an error in his 160-acre land grant application after living on the land for two years and was pleading his case to the land office to allow him to amend his application.

The land office was sympathetic with Loretto’s plight.  They cancelled the initial application on June 6, 1877, but allowed him to submit a new application for the land he wanted and credited to the new application the $16 fee he already paid.

Loretto submitted a new land grant application on August 2, 1877[1] citing the land that he wanted to live on, raise his family, and farm.  The 1902 USGS map below[2] shows the land he was applying for in relation to the Napa Valley and the towns of Yountville and St. Helena.

 The excerpt of the 1951 USGS map below[3] is the detailed area of his application showing the rugged terrain that he was living in and farming.  In his application, Loretto stated that the small house he owned was in the lower right quadrant of his land – maybe on the relatively flat portion at the extreme lower right.
 

Loretto's 160-acre Land Grant

In order to finalize his application and gain title to the land, Loretto had to live on the land for at least five years, he had to be a US citizen, he had to show that he made improvements to the land, and he needed two witnesses to give testimony that he had done all of this.

Loretto became a citizen of the United States by an order of a judge in the County Court of Napa County on June 25, 1878.  There were two witnesses present testifying in support of Loretto’s application to become a citizen – one of them being Mr. Edington – the neighbor, whose land Loretto had incorrectly claimed in his initial application.

 Loretto’s final affidavit for his homestead claim took place on March 7, 1883.  He swore that he had continuously resided on the land since the spring of 1875.  He continued his testimony:

My house is 16 x 20 ft – 10 acres enclosed with fence – 200 yards of stone fence & the balance mesh fence – I have 56 bearing fruit trees, a vineyard of 1000 grape vines – a corral – I have cleared & grubbed 10 acres of land.  My improvements are worth $500 at least.

When asked how much of the land is cultivated and how many seasons crops have been raised, Loretto replied: “From 7 to 12 acres every season – I raise grain & orchard & vineyard.”  Two witnesses, J. F. Mero and Alexander Mero, verified his account.

The land office gave him a final certificate for the 160-acre parcel on March 13, 1883.  Loretto happily recorded the deed transfer in the Napa County land records on September 1, 1883.[4]

What remains a puzzle is that after Loretto’s death in 1887, three years later his heirs sold 440 acres of land – 280 acres more than the 160-acre land grant.  Part Three of this story (after additional research) will need to uncover how and under what circumstances Loretto was able to acquire so much more land when he was not a wealthy man.

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

[2] United States Geological Survey, Napa, California, 1902.

[3] United States Department of the Interior, Geological Survey, Yountville Quadrangle, Napa County, California, 7.5 minute series (topographic), 1951, photorevised 1968.

[4] Napa County Recorder, Napa County Records, Book C, Page 271.

Loretto's Land - Part One

Loretto Coronado applied for a 160-acre land grant on May 5, 1875,[1] under the provisions of the Homestead Act of 1862.[2]  The property he wanted was located in the steep foothills about 3 miles east of the town of Yountville in Napa Valley – not far from what is today known as Stags Leap.

In his application, Loretto testified in writing that he was the head of a family, over the age of 21 years and a citizen of the United States[3].  Further he said that the application was made for his own exclusive use and benefit and that the application was for the purposes of actual settlement and cultivation.  He was required to live on the land, build a home, make improvements and farm it for at least five years.

But he ran into trouble suddenly about two years later.  The land that he identified in his initial application was owned and occupied by someone else.  And this was after he had hired a surveyor to be sure that he was applying for the right piece of land.  It turns out that the shape of the land that he wanted was the same shape as what he applied for – but in the wrong location.  (Sounds like the surveyor’s error.)

On May 2, 1877 Loretto went to the land office to explain the problem and modify the application.[4]  He and his family had been living on a portion of the land that he wanted for two years and he had a house there, some fencing and a vineyard.  He explained the error of his initial application and that he didn’t know how it occurred.  He said that he was on good terms with his neighbor, Mr. Edington, and that he was a very poor man and did not want to go to litigation.

Loretto hired a new surveyor and identified a new more compact parcel of land that included the area where he and his family had been living.  He asked the land office to allow him to modify the application, abandon his claim to the land in error and to make a new homestead entry on the newly identified parcel.  Loretto said that if this application cannot be modified and he is refused, he will lose his homestead privilege and the property he has lived on and worked will be lost.

See Part Two for how the staff in the land office handled this plea from Loretto.

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[1] Homestead Application No. 1956, Land Office at San Francisco, California, May 5, 1875.

[2] The Homestead Act of 1862 sought to secure homesteads to those settlers who wanted to live and farm on land in the public domain.  See: http://www.nps.gov/home/historyculture/upload/MW,pdf,Homestead%20Act,txt.pdf

[3] Loretto may have filed an application for citizenship, but he was not granted citizenship until June 25, 1878.  Loretto may have been living in the area when California became a state of the US, but he would have been a citizen of Mexico.

[4] Homestead Application No. 1956, Land Office at San Francisco, California, modified application, May 2, 1877.

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.