Don Antonio Suñol, longtime owner of Rancho Los Coches and the Roberto Adobe and Suñol House.

Rancho Los Coches was a 2,219-acre (8.98 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day Santa Clara County, California given in 1844 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to Roberto Balemino, an Indian.[1] The name means Ranch of the Pigs. The grant was located on the west bank of Los Gatos Creek, south of San Jose, near the present-day Burbank.[2][3][4] The historic Roberto Adobe & Suñol House is located within the former rancho.

History

Roberto Balemino held a responsible position at Mission Santa Clara. In 1844 he was granted the half square league Rancho Los Coches and was issued a "Certificate of Emancipation", giving him full citizenship. Antonio Suñol obtained the Rancho Los Coches in 1847 from Roberto as payment on a debt.[5]

Antonio Suñol (1796-1865), born in Spain, was a seaman on a French merchant ship and arrived in the Pueblo of San José in 1818. He married María Dolores Bernal and held several public offices including Postmaster (1826-1829), and Alcalde (mayor) in 1841. He was a grantee of Rancho Valle de San Jose with his three brothers-in-law. Sunol, California is named for him. In 1849, Suñol divided Los Coches into thirds; one-third went to his eldest daughter, Paula and her husband Pierre Sainsevain, grantee of Rancho Cañada del Rincon en el Rio San Lorenzo, and one-third was sold to Henry Morris Naglee.

With the cession of California to the United States following the Mexican-American War, the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo provided that the land grants would be honored. As required by the Land Act of 1851, a claim for Rancho Los Coches was filed with the Public Land Commission in 1852,[6][7] and the grant was patented to Antonio Suñol, Paula Sainsevain, and Henry Morris Naglee in 1857.[8]

Historic sites of the Rancho

References

  1. ^ Ogden Hoffman, 1862, Reports of Land Cases Determined in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Numa Hubert, San Francisco
  2. ^ Diseño del Rancho Los Coches
  3. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Rancho Los Coches
  4. ^ Early Santa Clara Ranchos, Grants, Patents and Maps
  5. ^ Hoover, Mildred B.; Rensch, Hero; Rensch, Ethel; Abeloe, William N. (1966). Historic Spots in California. Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-4482-9.
  6. ^ United States. District Court (California : Northern District) Land Case 289 ND
  7. ^ Finding Aid to the Documents Pertaining to the Adjudication of Private Land Claims in California, circa 1852-1892
  8. ^ Report of the Surveyor General 1844 - 1886 Archived 2013-03-20 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ History of the Roberto-Sunol Adobe

External links

37°19′12″N 121°54′36″W / 37.320°N 121.910°W / 37.320; -121.910