Latest Update: 18 March 2005

PREGUNTAS Y RESPUESTAS

This page is for the exchange of genealogical information relevant to
early (pre 1848) Hispanic Californians 
(also called Californianos or Californios) and their descendants.
We will include both question and answers, for the benefit of all the cousins of the questioner.

This sub page has been added to ensure 
(1) that the Queries page continues to load in a reasonable amount of time and 
(2) that the older Preguntas and Respuestas are available to new visitors to our Web site.

Los Californianos does not guarantee the accuracy of any of the information appearing on this page. It was collected and submitted by a family history enthusiast just like you, and has not been verified.

Pregunta 70 - 21 May 2002

I'm hoping someone can help me. My great great grandfather was Gregorio Ortega, who married Regina Esquivel (an Olivas descendant). I haven't been able to find Gregorio's parents, siblings, and children's names. I have him born in Santa Barbara about 1846. I am trying to tie him in to the other Ortegas of the Santa Barbara/Ventura area. Any information?? Also, I am looking for information on Juan Blas Feliz--is he related to the Felix (i.e., María Felix) family of Alamos, Sonora, Mexico.  [Marta Melendez (not yet member), Ventura, Calif.]

Pregunta 69 - 20 May 2002

I am interested in any information on a Nicholas Davis.  He was born in Austria and became an American citizen in San Luis Obispo, California in 1876.  He married Arabia Soberanes on the 10 February 1880 in Monterey, California.  They lived in Monterey according to the census in 1870, 1880, 1890, and 1900.  I have not been able to find any record of his death.  Arabia [whose ancestors I have traced back to the 1700s] died in Monterey, California in 1938 and was a widow.  I would like to fill in the blanks about her husband. Thank you for your help. [Karen (nonmember), Fremont, Calif.]

Pregunta 68 - 23 April 2002

Good afternoon! I am looking for the missing links of my great grandfather (Remijio Lugo) and his father. My grandmother had said the Lugo were all one clan. She mentioned that great grandfather Remijio used to go to see his relatives. Leaving from Pala they would go the back road to L.A.  She recalled the house had a lot of eucalyptus trees around the land. The tribe he would be listed under would be the cahuilla, the luiseno, or the cupeno tribe; whichever was the tribe from Warner Springs that was forced eventually to Pala. 

I know there was a lady by the name of Doña  Merced who lived in Warner Springs and played a role there. I believe her dad was Don María Antonio Lugo. It was his parents and grandparents that were my link to a Spanish/Mexican heritage. I have reason to believe it was Francisco Salvador Lugo he was related to somewhere  It seems that it would be one of Francisco's kids . They were all in the Riverside County at one time. I know my gram mentioned he had, I believe, 3 brothers (Ramón, Cedro, and ?) and a sister (sisters?). During this time period there was a lot of hostility within the Lugo family.  They were split up and went their different way. She mentioned at one time the Lugos were considered bandits. During this timeframe some of the Lugos had changed their name from Lugo to Lubo. Many live in San Juan Capistrano and San Jacinto today. This is all I know and I hope you can help. Thank you. [Married wife: Angelita Barker] [Roderick Morones (nonmember), Pala, Calif.]

Respuesta a Pregunta 68 - 18 March 2005

Rod/Roderick Morones of Pala, Calif., I would like to contact you regarding your search of the Lugos. We may have some of the same family members. My email is: stormyowl@yahoo.com.

Most of the Lugos I have been tracing are from Francisco Salvador Lugo and two of his sons, Francisco Lugo and Manuel Ignacio Lugo.  I have also been tracing Efigenio Ruiz and Maria Rosa Lopez.
Ironically, I used to work at an elementary school named after Doña Merced. I still live close to the school and would be willing to research information that might be needed. If fact, just a few years ago I was helping with a living history day at the Rains home in Rancho Cucamonga, where I met an descendent of the John Rains who married Maria Merced Williams, the daughter of Chino Rancho owner, Isaac Williams, and granddaughter of Don Antonio Maria Lugo, owner of the San Bernardino Rancho. [Lesa Bielman (nonmember), Fontana, Calif.]

Respuesta a Pregunta 68 - 1 October 2004

The Adobe House, built in 1850, had Lugo family members in the casa as late as 1970, Mrs. Dora Lugo Carter and her husband John Carter. It is said to be the longest continuous ownership by one family in the state of California. The Hacienda was the main house in 1860 of the San Antonio Rancho, also known as the San Antonia District. Then in 1961, it became what is now Bell Gardens, California. The adobe was a Monterey type home, made of wood and adobe. After about 120 years the adobe was vandalized and torn down. It stood at 6350 East Gage, Bell Gardens, Calif. A replica was built in the mid 1970s at 2570 Slauson, Huntington Park, Calif. on the corner of Pacific and Slauson Blvd. Some of the original adobe from the Lugo Casa was used in the building of the replica. The replica of the adobe has been incorporated into a shopping complex called, "The Lugo Plaza". [Marjorie Leone (nonmember), Bell Gardens, Calif.]

Respuesta a Pregunta 68 - 22 September 2004

 Taken from the Historical Society of Bell Gardens, Calif.
1. Casa de Rancho San Antonio, (Native Sons and Daughters of Golden West Plaque affixed in 1946.) reads; "Built by Don Antonio Maria Lugo in 1810 as an adobe house on 29,514 acres from a Spanish Land Grant." Located at 7000 E. Gage Ave. Bell Gardens, California.

2. Lugo Adobe House at 6360 E. Gage, Bell Gardens, Calif.
Built by Vicente Lugo, son of of Antonia Maria Lugo, built in 1850. Was occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Henry Carter, the former Dora Lugo. As of 2003, the Lugo Adobe at 6360 is no longer standing. 

Respuesta a Pregunta 68 - 29 January 2003

I am a direct descendent of Serafina Lugo and maintain her grave at the Carmel Mission.  Francisco Salvador Lugo was a Soldier of Spain.  He was rewarded a large tract of land for "valorous service to his king." Don Antonio Lugo was Francisco's son.  Alhambra, Los Angeles, Pasadena, San Bernardino and San Pedro comprised parts of the huge land grant.  A Mrs. Dora Lugo Carter and her husband (great granddaughter of Don Vicente Lugo) lived in the two-story adobe original house, built in 1850.  The first piano brought into California was a gift for a daughter of Don Vicente Lugo at their home on 6350 Gage Avenue in Bell Gardens, California.  There is a bronze marker there. Antonio María built several dwellings, the most famous known as the Gage Mansion.  Antonio died in the Plaza casa. His body was moved from the Pueblo Cemetery to the Calvary Cemetery. 

Francisco Lugo came from Sinaloa, Mexico with his wife, Juana María Rita Martinez [daughter of José María Martinez and María Josefa Vianazul] and four children, Rosa María, Tomasa Ygnacia, Salvador, and José Antonio. Born after their arrival (after 1769) were three sons, José Ygnacio, Antonio María, and Juan María Alejandro, and two daughters, María Antonia Isabela and María Ygnacia.  All of his sons were soldiers. 

Their daughter, Tomasa married Captain José Raymundo Carrillo on 23 April 1781 at Mission San Carlos de Monterey. Father Serra conducted the ceremony. María Antonia married Ygnacio Vicente Ferrer Vallejo 18 February 1791 at Mission Santa Barbara and was the mother of General M. G. Vallejo

Francisco Lugo was a soldier and served at the Presidios from San Diego to Monterey.  In 1789 he joined the Pobladores and received some Pueblo lands and a home near the Plaza in Los Angeles, (later donated by Don Vicente to the Catholic Church to use for a college named after him as Saint Vincent).  Saint Vincent is now called Loyola University. This neighborhood was established 4 September 1781. The population was 141.  People lived in 29 adobes enclosed by walls.  Francisco Lugo died in Santa Barbara in 1805.

In 1809 Don Antonio María Lugo received Pueblo land and in 1810 a grant of 29,513 acres, the San Antonio Rancho. In 1837 he was a member of El Ayuntamiento (council).  In 1841 he was granted El Chino Rancho.  Very wealthy, he transferred it to his son-in-law named Isaac Williams. In 1841 he received San Bernardino Rancho for three sons and a nephew. He had a huge stock of cattle and horses. They interacted with native Indians there. He gave an adobe house as a wedding gift to his daughter named China [María Vicenta?], when she married José [Ireneo?]  Perez. Another house was given to his daughter, María de la Merced, who married Stephen C. [Clark] Foster

Don Antonio's son, Don Vicente, was born in 1822 in Los Angeles.  He married Andrea Ballesteros. They had seven sons and two daughters.  He was granted one-quarter of San Bernardino Rancho in 1841. He was justice of the peace in San Gabriel in 1850 and Supervisor of L.A. County in 1862.  He died in 1889. Sincerely, [Teresa Russell y Espinosa de Boronda (nonmember), Long Beach, Calif.] Note: items in purple were added from Marie Northrop's Spanish-Mexican Families of Early California: 1769-1850, Vol. I. [La Tejedora]

Respuesta a Pregunta 68 - 22 June 2002

Your grandmother was right the Lugos and Lubos were from the same clan, Mountain Cahuilla. You are looking for your Hispanic roots, but in effect the Lubos and Lugos were from the Iswitim (Wolf) Clan.  The name for wolf in Spanish is "Lobo," hence Lubo/Lugo. Many of the clans took their so-called Spanish names from their Indian clan names. Check out a book called,  Aboriginal Society in Southern California, by William Duncan Strong, pages 152 and 153. On page 204 he lists your [wife's?] great great grandmother and father as Alessandro Barker and Valeriana Tcutnikut. Study this book and your will find your great great grandfather's parents and the whole story of where they originally came from and how they ended up at Pala.  Good luck. " [Cathy Castro (nonmember), Long Beach Calif.]

Respuesta a Pregunta 68 - 23 April 2002

I believe we have your Lugo family located.  Don Lugo is actually named Antonio maría, baptized 13 June 1778 at Mission San Antonio. His parents were:  Francisco Salvador de Lugo and Juana María Rita Martínez. Antonio María Lugo was married twice.  His first marriage was 17 January 1796 at Mission Santa Barbara to María Dolores Ruiz, born 20 May 1783; baptized 28 May 1783 at Mission Santa Barbara. Her parents were Efigenio Ruiz and María Rosa López.  They came in the Rivera Moncada expedition of 1781 to Alta California. María Dolores Ruiz and Antonio María Lugo had 13 children before her death in 1829.  She is buried at Mission San Gabriel. Children's names are: JOse Antonio, 1797 (died 1797);  José Antonio, 1799 (died 1799); María Juana Biviana, 1800 (died 1815);  José María, 1802;  María Vicente, 1805;  Felipe, 1807; María Antonio, 1810;  José del Carmen, 1813; María de la Merced, 1818;  Mariano, 1818 (died 1819);  Vicente, 1822;  María de Jesús, 1823;  José Antonio, 1825. 

Antonio María Lugo was a widower for 13 years before he married on 8 March 1842 his second wife: María Florentina de Jesús Germán, baptized 14 January 1828 at Mission San Gabriel Her parents were Manuel Germán and Felipa Ruiz. Antonia María Lugo and María Florentina de Jesús Germán had 8 children.  Their names are: Bersabe Francisca del Refugio, 1844;  José Napoleon, 1845 (?) - died 1845;  Bersabe, 1846; María Sara, 1848;  Guadalupe Francisca, 1852;  María Virginia, 1855;  Erasma Emelda, 1858; Juan Francisco, 1860.

Antonio María Lugo was a grantee of Rancho San Antonio in 1810; alcalde at Los Angeles in 1816 - 1818; juez de Campo in 1833 - 34;  member of ayuntamiento in 1837 - 38; grantee of Chino in 1841; most prominent of the Lugos in the Southland.  He was age 82 at his death just before his youngest child was born.  He died 3 Feb 1860 and was buried in the Los Angeles Plaza Church.

Antonio María Lugo did not have a brother named Ramón.  However, he had a brother, Juan María Alejandro, born 1780, married to María Paula Rubio, who named his son Juan Francisco Ramón, born 1819 at Santa Barbara.  The only other Ramón I could find was José Ramón Lorenzo Lugo, (born 1797 at San Gabriel and died 1806); his parents were Luis Gonzaga de Lugo and María Perseverancia CortésLuis Gonzaga and Francisco Salvador de Lugo may have been cousins, but I could not find their direct link.  I could not find a "Cedro" among the Lugo families that I have.  The Lugos are such a large family - there may be other groups and if I run across any of these names I will write again. Hope this helps you. Con gusto [Ramona Reitz (member), Pacific Grove, Calif.]

Pregunta 67 - 23 April 2002

My great, great, great grandparents are Marcella Bojórques López and John Slert, any information about John Slert would be greatly appreciated. [Dean Pegorari (not yet member), Covina, Calif. 

Respuesta a Pregunta 67 - 29 April 2002

This isn't really an answer. My great, great  grandmother was Marcella Bojórques López in her previous marriage, to López who died or was killed. We, too, are seeking information about John Slert. I do know he married Marcella before coming to Los Angeles. When her ranch burned down, there were rumors that he was "keeper of the papers" of her ranch. These stories were told to me recently by a newly found cousin. You may also e-mail me if you like, beads@lilaproductions.com [Linda Mead Smith (member), Prescott Valley, Ariz.]

Pregunta 66 - 8 April 2002

Thanks for the input on Pregunta 63. Now.
Does anyone have a lead for funeral services or practices in early 1800s. Prefer pre-1820, but any leads would be helpful. Thank you again. [Mike Brown (not yet member), Chico, Calif.]

Respuesta a Pregunta 66 - 2 July 2002

Upon an Indian's death, he was carried to the adoratory.  He was fitted and covered with a specially tailored skin. People kept watch overnight and at daybreak gathered around a fire.  Four tribal members performed the burial ceremony, circling the body, one smoking tobacco in a pipe made of stone. They removed the head covering and blew smoke on his head.  Prayers were sung at his feet. Relatives and mourners with beads were present. The body was taken to the cemetery and buried with some special stones and shells and other items on top of the grave.  Indians were buried with their arms crossed and knees towards the chest.

Depending on where an Indian died (because of problems of distance),  some were buried inside the mission cemetery, and some in their native ranchería. Sometimes a cross was erected over the grave of a Christian.  Burial registers at Santa Barbara Mission between 1789 and 1854 numbered Christian Indians to be about 4,000. There are stone walls in the ground six feet apart and the Indians are rolled in mats and stacked in layers.  The custom of digging up bones later and moving them to the charnel house made room for others. Sometimes details on the cause of death are recorded. Teresa Russell y Espinosa de Boronda (nonmember), Long Beach, Calif.]

Pregunta 65 - 2 April 2002

I am trying find genealogical information on Ignacio Martinez, he was Comandante at San Francisco about 1829. More specifically, I would like to know about his siblings and/or children and anything on his marital status. Also, I am interested in José María Martinez and his wife María Josefa Vianazul of about the 1720s. I do know that the latter couple were the parents of Juana María Rita Martinez, who married Francisco Salvador de Lugo in about 1740. Thanks. [Jimmie Hardy (member), Winston, Ore.] Note: discussion on this family continues with #185. La Tejedora

Pregunta 65 (pregunta a Teresa) - 6 September 2002

Teresa, I was wondering, you mentioned that you had mucho information on children. Which children are you referring to? Do you have information on the children of Pablo A. de Cota and his wife Rosa M. Lugo? Or do you have information on the children of Francisco S. Lugo and his wife Juana M. Martinez (Villanazul)? If you have information on Francisco and Juana's children, I am very interested, as this is a part of my lineage. From them, their daughter, Maria A. Lugo, married Ygnacio Vicente Vallejo, and their daughter, Josefa Maria, married my great great grandfather, Jose Raymundo Estrada. Any information you might have will be greatly appreciated. [Jimmie Hardy (member) Winston, Oregon] See Respuesta a Pregunta 68, 29 January 2003.

Respuesta a Pregunta 65 - 12 June 2002

Ignacio Martinez was born in México City in 1774.  He was a cadet in Santa Barbara 1799. He earned a promotion to alférez of the San Diego Company in 1806. He was recommended for another promotion in 1817 in Santa Barbara.  To his dismay, a blunder was made in his paperwork and he was sent to San Francisco by mistake. He was Comandante at San Francisco during the last four of his forty-one years of military service. This allowed him to receive full pay and continue to wear his uniform upon retirement. 

He was alderman in San Jose 1834-1835 and settled on his land around 1836 in Contra Costa County. In 1841 he and his wife, Martina Arellanes, and six of his daughters were living on his Rancho
El Pinole, (granted in 1829 and regranted in 1842, patented to his heirs in 1868).  Pinole means "cereal meal." Note: or "maize drink." La Tejedora

We are looking at different generations here with the other names.  Also, my records show the spelling of your #3 as Villanazul. I dug pieces out of 39 pages of the Bowers records for you,  a VERY reliable source.  Please let me know if you need further clarification on the following about a child of Francisco and Juana and her husband.

Husband: Pablo Antonio de Cota 
b. circa 1744, El Fuerte, Sonora, Mexico
d. 30-12-1800, Santa Barbara
bur. 31-12-1800, Presidio of Santa Barbara Cemetery
Father: Andres de Cota
Mother's Maiden Name: Angela de Leon
m. 30-11-1776, Old San Luis Obispo Mission

Wife:  Rosa María Lugo
b. circa 1763, La Villa de Sinaloa, Mexico
d. 9-1-1797, Santa Barbara
bur. 10-1-1797, Presidio of Santa Barbara
Father: Francisco Salvador Lugo
Mother's Maiden Name:  Juana María Martinez (Villanazul)

Children: (I have lots of details). [Teresa Russell y Espinosa de Boronda (nonmember), Long Beach, Calif.]

Pregunta 64 - 2 April 2002

I am looking for information about the family of my great-grandmother, Mary Ellen Burns. The earliest information I have on her is her marriage to James M. Hatfield, 13 January 1865 in Sonoma County, California. She married William Howard 7 March 1870. Mary Ellen Burns Hatfield Howard died when her daughter Ellen Howard (my grandmother) was 8 years old (May 1881-2). My grandmother said that people said that her mother was Spanish. Three of Mary Ellen's children separately stated on the U.S. Census that she was born in California, which means that she was either born in California before 1848 or she was a child when her first child, Joseph A. Hatfield was born in 1862. I would like very much to find out about Mary Ellen's family and would appreciate any help you might be able to give me. [Sandra Knopf (nonmember), Calif.?]

Pregunta 63 - 20 March 2002

I am looking for a source on marriage and sex customs, occupations workday activities, government, fiestas and other entertainment, cooking and food habits, death procedures and ceremonies, clothing, and other societal and power relationships in the years 1776-1810 for the settlers in San Francisco. I have the names, more or less, and would also like to trace them back one or two generations to determine familial origins in Spain. I am piecing it together slowly from several hundred sources, including the 1877-78 interviews for Bancroft. Any leads would be greatly appreciated. [Mike Brown (nonmember), Chico, California]

Respuesta a Pregunta 63 - 8 April 2002

A good book to read is Vallejo, Son of California by Myrtle McKittrick. It deals with all sorts of customs, and government. Also The Salinas: The Upsidedown River by Annie B. Fisher; also Spanish Arcadia by Nellie Van de Grift Sanchez: they all deal with marriage and many other activities in early California. [Jim Hardy (member), Winston, Ore.]    

Respuesta a Pregunta 63 - 27 March 2002

As my Grandmother once told me, there is nothing more disarming than the truth.  Like it or not here it is.

Anza left Tubac, AZ on his famous second expedition on October 23, 1775, and explored the site of the magnificent port, San Francisco, very suitable for colonization at the end of March 1776.  Bucareli concentrated on supplying the missions and presidios and encouraging them to increase their farming operations.

Diario Histórico de los Viages de Mar y Tierra, AGI, Estado (Guadalajara), 5M259

Not just anybody would make a suitable immigrant.  People were wanted who were "useful, capable of farming [California's] lands and making use of its wealth of minerals, grain and other fruits and also able to bear arms to protect their homes should the occasion arise."  The missionaries wanted settlers to be good Christians who would make acceptable models for their Indian neophytes, and liked the idea of having plenty of artisans, blacksmiths, carpenters, masons, bakers and men of other  trades who knew how to get the job done. 

C. Alan Hutchinson, Frontier Settlement in Mexican California, p. 60.
Tibesar, Writings of Serra, pp. 2, 67, 203.

"In practice, most of the men who came out were soldiers for the presidios.  At first there were no women-a circumstance which made some of the Indians think that the Spaniards were the offspring of mules.  This had come about because, as Father Junípero Serra explained, "mules were the only members of the female gender they saw among us."  It also led to ill feeling with the Indians when some of the soldiers went on so-called "hunting" expeditions and took to lassoing Native American women to take their pleasure of them.

Caughey, California, p. 128. 
Ruth Staff,   "Settlement in Alta California Before 1800" (M.A. thesis, University of California, 1931), pp. 34-35. 
Chapman, Founding, pp. 347-48

Peopling California was slow and unsteady; half of those who came on the original expeditions of 1769 died, leaving only 126 men.  Fernando de Rivera y Moncada brought some 51 persons-married soldiers with their families, including some unmarried women and bachelors-to Monterey in 1774, Juan Bautista de Anza, on his second expedition in 1775 brought with him 30 married soldiers, 29 of whom brought their wives with them. Included with 136 members of the soldiers' families were some 17 settlers. The total number of persons on the expedition was 240. [Teresa Russell y Espinosa de Boronda (nonmember), Long Beach, Calif.]

Pregunta 62 - 10 March 2002

I am searching on information for Bernabe Sanchez who married my great, great grandmother, María 'Mary' Lucero. They married 18 October 1868 in Santa Clara County, Calif. in the Catholic church. At the time of their marriage both were residents of Santa Clara County.   Mary is the daughter of María Ygnacia Angela Castro and Jacinto Lucero. Mary Lucero and Bernabe Sanchez were the parents of my great grandmother 'Antonia' Antoinette Sanchez, born about 1874, Almaden, Santa Clara County. This was Mary's first marriage and later, October 1879, she married Rudolfo Chacon in Santa Clara County.  I would appreciate any information on Bernabe Sanchez and Jacinto Lucero and their ancestors.   I do have some information on the Chacon/Losano families.  Sincerely, Pat [Patricia Garretson (nonmember), Smyrna, Georgia]

Respuesta a Pregunta 62 - 10 March 2002

I do not usually  follow up on lines that are not my own, but in checking to be sure this Pregunta fell under the pre-1848 rule, I found the following in Marie E. Northrop's Spanish-Mexican Families of Early California: 1768-1850, Vol. II, pages 48-50. María Ygnacia Angela de Fulgencia Castro (baptized 26 April 1832 at Mission Santa Cruz) was married to Jacinto Lucero 8 May 1851 at Mission San Juan Bautista. This book traces the Castro line back to José Joaquin Castro, who was born about 1769 at Sinaloa, México of Joaquin Isidro Castro and María Botiller. I did not find any other mention of Lucero or of a Bernabe Sanchez.

Pregunta 61 - 10 March 2002

I am seeking information on José Manuel or Manuel Bustamante who appears on a San Diego Presidio list of 1782.  Where was he before arriving at San Diego?  Did he come from the Loreto Company or another presidio in the southwest?  He was born in Cuba about 1753/54.  He married Clara Sinusin, the widow of Antonio Leyva, and had several children with her. [Peter E. Carr (nonmember), Redlands, Calif.]

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