The Lugo family of California were prominent during the periods of Spanish and Mexican rule. They were among the early colonists who became known as ''

Californios Californios (singular Californio) are Californians of Spaniards, Spanish descent, especially those descended from settlers of the 17th through 19th centuries before California was annexed by the United States. California's Spanish language in C ...

''.

Francisco Salvador Lugo

Francisco Salvador Lugo (1740–1805), born in

Sinaloa, Mexico Sinaloa (), officially the (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, compose the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 18 municipalities, and its capital city is Culiacán Rosales. It is located in northwest Mexic ...

, came to

Las Californias The Californias (), occasionally known as the Three Californias or the Two Californias, are a region of North America spanning the United States and Mexico, consisting of the U.S. state of California and the Mexican states of Baja California an ...

in 1774. He was a soldier in the province and was stationed in northern California until 1781. Next he was assigned as part of the founding of the

Pueblo de Los Angeles Pueblo refers to the settlements of the Pueblo peoples, Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, currently in New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas. The permanent communities, including some of the oldest continually occupied settlemen ...

. Francisco Lugo was one of the soldiers who escorted the

Los Angeles Pobladores Los pobladores del pueblo de los Ángeles ( English: ''The townspeople of Los Angeles'') refers to the 44 original settlers and 4 soldiers from New Spain (Spanish Mexico) who founded the Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles in 1781 ...

(farming families and colonists) in 1781 from northern Mexico into California. His name is listed on the plaque of those present at the founding of Los Angeles on September 4, 1781. Lugo married Juana María Martínez y Vianazul. Together they had nine children: Rosa María de Lugo (1761–1797), María Tomasa Ygnacia Lugo Martínez (1763–1816), Salvador Lugo (1766–1784), Gerónimo Teodoro Lugo (1773–?), José Ignacio de Lugo (1775–1800), María Antonia Isabel Lugo (1776–1855), Antonio María Lugo (1778–1860), Juan María Alejandro de Lugo (1780–1830), and María Ygnacia de Lugo (1783–1798).

Antonio Maria Lugo

Antonio Maria Lugo (1778–1860) was born at

Mission San Antonio de Padua Mission San Antonio de Padua is a Spanish missions in California, Spanish mission established by the Franciscan order in present-day Monterey County, California, Monterey County, California, near the present-day town of Jolon, California, Jolon. ...

in present-day

Jolon, California Jolon (; Spanish: ''Jolón''; Salinan: ''Xolon'') is a small unincorporated village in southern Monterey County, California. Jolon is located on the San Antonio River Valley, west of Salinas Valley and is entirely surrounded by Fort Hunter L ...

, the seventh son of Francisco Salvador Lugo. After 17 years of service at the

Presidio of Santa Barbara El Presidio Real de Santa Bárbara, also known as the Royal Presidio of Santa Barbara, is a former military installation in Santa Barbara, California, United States. The presidio was built by Spain in 1782, with the mission of defending the Span ...

, in 1810 Corporal Lugo received his discharge and settled with his family in the

. Antonio Lugo was granted the Spanish concession Rancho San Antonio in 1810, which was confirmed in 1838 by Mexican governor Juan Alvarado. In 1816, he served as the ''alcalde'' (mayor) of Los Angeles. In 1841, Lugo was granted Rancho Santa Ana del Chino by governor Alvarado. On Rancho San Antonio he built Casa de Rancho San Antonio the oldest home in

Los Angeles County, California Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the List of United States counties and county equivalents, most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 202 ...

. Antonio and his wife Maria de Los Dolores Dominguez Lugo had five sons: José del Carmen, José Maria, Felipe, José Antonio, and Vicente Lugo (namesake of the Lugo Adobe); and 3 daughters: Vicenta Perez, Maria Antonia Yorba, and María Merced Lugo. Maria married Stephen Clark Foster, the first American mayor of Los Angeles after the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...

José del Carmen Lugo

José del Carmen Lugo (1813 – ) was a major 19th-century

Californio Californios (singular Californio) are Californians of Spaniards, Spanish descent, especially those descended from settlers of the 17th through 19th centuries before California was annexed by the United States. California's Spanish language in C ...

landowner in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

. He was born in 1813 at the

, in Spanish colonial

Alta California Alta California (, ), also known as Nueva California () among other names, was a province of New Spain formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but was made a separat ...

, then a province of the

Viceroyalty of New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( ; Nahuatl: ''Yankwik Kaxtillan Birreiyotl''), originally the Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain. It was one of several ...

. José del Carmen Lugo was the eldest son of Antonio Maria Lugo.

Mexican period

José del Carmen Lugo, in a joint venture with his brothers José María and Vicente Lugo and cousin Diego Sepúlveda, began colonizing the

San Bernardino Valley The San Bernardino Valley () is a valley in Southern California located at the south base of the Transverse Ranges. It is bordered on the north by the eastern San Gabriel Mountains and the San Bernardino Mountains; on the east by the San Jacin ...

and adjacent Yucaipa Valley. The land covered more than in the present-day

Inland Empire The Inland Empire (commonly abbreviated as the IE) is a metropolitan area and region inland of and adjacent to coastal Southern California, centering around the cities of San Bernardino and Riverside, and bordering Los Angeles County and Or ...

. Their colony charter was approved by the Mexican government in 1839. The valley was plagued by robberies and frequent raids by California Indians resisting loss of their homeland. Many would-be colonizers would stay only for short periods of time. The Lugo families became strong allies with the Mountain Band of

Cahuilla The Cahuilla, also known as ʔívil̃uqaletem or Ivilyuqaletem, are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people of the various tribes of the Cahuilla Nation, living in the inland areas of southern California. ...

Indians led by Chief Juan Antonio. In 1842, the Lugo family bought the

San Bernardino Asistencia The San Bernardino de Sena Estancia (also known as the San Bernardino Rancho or Asistencia) was a ranch outpost of Mission San Gabriel Arcángel in what is now Redlands, California, Redlands, California, United States. It was built to graze catt ...

, a former "sub-mission" of

Mission San Gabriel Mission (from Latin 'the act of sending out'), Missions or The Mission may refer to: Geography Australia *Mission River (Queensland) Canada *Mission, British Columbia, a district municipality *Mission, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * O ...

. The adobe buildings were in disrepair. Lugo made repairs and soon he and his wife and two daughters moved into the asistencia. By 1842, the Mexican governorship of California was about to change. To protect their land, the Lugo family applied for and received the

Rancho San Bernardino Rancho San Bernardino was a Mexican land grant in present-day San Bernardino County, California given in 1842 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to José del Carmen Lugo, José María Lugo, Vicente Lugo, and Diego Sepulveda. The grant included a l ...

Mexican land grant In Alta California (now known as California) and Baja California, ranchos were concessions and land grants made by the Spanish and Mexican governments from 1775 to 1846. The Spanish concessions of land were made to retired soldiers as an indu ...

of . ;Mexican–American War During the

, Lugo led a

militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

. In December 1846, he was ordered to punish a band of

Luiseño The Luiseño or Payómkawichum are an Indigenous people of California who, at the time of the first contacts with the Spanish in the 16th century, inhabited the coastal area of southern California, ranging from the present-day southern part of ...

Indians in retaliation for the Pauma Massacre. His militia forces, together with allied

, killed 33–40 Luiseño in the Temecula Massacre to avenge the deaths of 11 Californio lancers. The latter were killed for stealing horses from the Luiseño. He was the leader of Californio forces during the

Battle of Chino The Battle of Chino, a skirmish of the Mexican–American War occurred on September 26–27, 1846, during which 24 Americans led by Benjamin D. Wilson, who were hiding in the adobe house of Rancho Santa Ana del Chino, were captured by a group ...

and the Temecula Massacre. By January 1847, he was placed in charge of the Chino prisoners by General

José María Flores General José María Flores (1818–1866) was a captain in the Mexican Army and was a member of ''la otra banda''. He was appointed Governor and ''Comandante General'' ''pro tem'' of Alta California from November 1846 to January 1847, and defen ...

. Lugo escorted the prisoners to the Rancho Santa Ana del Chino and released them. In March 1847, he met with the American

John Charles Fremont John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second Ep ...

in Los Angeles. Fremont requested that Lugo round up as many of Flores's abandoned horses as possible. Lugo rounded up about 60 horses between Los Angeles and San Bernardino.

U.S. period

The United States won the

and annexed California in 1848. In May 1849, U.S. military Governor

Richard Barnes Mason Richard Barnes Mason (January 16, 1797July 25, 1850) was an American military officer who was a career officer in the United States Army and the fifth military governor of California before it became a state. He came from a politically promine ...

appointed Lugo as the first Mexican-''Californio''

mayor of Los Angeles The mayor of Los Angeles is the head of the executive branch of the government of Los Angeles and the chief executive of Los Angeles. The office is officially Non-partisan democracy, nonpartisan, a change made in the 1909 charter; previously, ...

after U.S. control began. He served after American Stephen Clark Foster (1848 – mid-1849), and before Alpheus P. Hodges (mid-1850 – 1851). In August 1849 he was elected Justice of the Peace of Los Angeles and served until January 1850. In 1852, Lugo sold

Amasa M. Lyman Amasa Mason Lyman (March 30, 1813 – February 4, 1877) was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and was an apostle. He was also a counselor in the First Presidency to Joseph Smith. Early life and conversion Lyman was born in Lyman, ...

and Charles C. Rich,

apostles An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary. The word is derived from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", itself derived from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to se ...

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

. Lugo's fortunes changed for the worse in later years. In 1854, he signed a note at five percent interest per month, compounded monthly, and mortgaged all of his property, including his home in Los Angeles. He lost his house and his land in Los Angeles to cover the note. José del Carmen Lugo died in poverty in 1870.

Felipe Lugo

Felipe Lugo was baptized on August 6, 1807, at

. He married Maria "Pancha" Perez and they were parents to as many as 16 children. He died on May 9, 1885, at Rancho San Antonio and is buried at Old Calvary Cemetery in Los Angeles.Felipe Lugo, Burial Record, "Libro Tercero de Difunciones", Los Angeles Plaza Church, Extract of Church Records, Thomas Workman Temple II. Rancho Potrero de Felipe Lugo is named for him.

Vicente Lugo

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lugo, Jose del Carmen Families from California Landowners from California People of Alta California Mayors of Los Angeles Mexican military personnel of the Mexican–American War People from San Bernardino County, California People from Yucaipa, California History of San Bernardino County, California 18th century in Los Angeles 19th century in Los Angeles 19th-century California politicians 19th-century American businesspeople