Francisco de Haro (1792 – November 28, 1849) was a

Californio Californio (plural Californios) is a term used to designate a Hispanic Californian, especially those descended from Spanish and Mexican settlers of the 17th through 19th centuries. California's Spanish-speaking community has resided there sin ...

politician, soldier, and ranchero, who served as the 1st and 5th Alcalde of San Francisco (initially known as Yerba Buena). He notably commissioned the first land survey of San Francisco to

Jean Jacques Vioget Jean Jacques Vioget (1794–1855), originally from Switzerland, was a surveyor and sea captain, who came to California in 1837. He made the first survey and map of Yerba Buena (which later was re-named San Francisco) in 1839. He worked for John S ...

in 1839.

Biography

De Haro was born in

Compostela, Nayarit Compostela is the name of both a municipality and of a town in it that serves as the seat; both are in the Mexican state of Nayarit. The municipality had 62,925 (2005 census) in a total area of 1,848 km² (713.5 sq mi). The town and its mun ...

, in

colonial Mexico Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 ...

. He came to the

Presidio of San Francisco The Presidio of San Francisco (originally, El Presidio Real de San Francisco or The Royal Fortress of Saint Francis) is a park and former U.S. Army post on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula in San Francisco, California, and is part ...

as a soldier in 1819. De Haro became the first ''

Alcalde Alcalde (; ) is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and administrative functions. An ''alcalde'' was, in the absence of a corregidor, the presiding officer of the Castilian '' cabildo'' (the municipal council) ...

'' (mayor) of the pueblo of Yerba Buena in 1834. Francisco de Haro-tombstone

He was instrumental in planning the street grid of the town along with Englishman

William A. Richardson William Anthony Richardson (August 27, 1795 – April 20, 1856) was an early California entrepreneur, influential in the development of Yerba Buena, the forerunner of the city of San Francisco. Richardson was the first to receive a land gran ...

in 1835. In 1837, de Haro bought the

Rancho Laguna de la Merced Rancho Laguna de la Merced (also known as the Galindo ranch) was a Mexican land grant, in present-day southwestern San Francisco and northwestern San Mateo County, California. It was given in 1835 by Governor José Castro to José Antonio Galindo ...

, which included Lake Merced and portions of northern San Mateo County, from the grantee José Antonio Galindo. And in strange turn of events, in 1838, Alcalde de Haro issued an arrest warrant for Jose Antonio Galindo for the murder of José Doroteo Peralta (1810–1838). De Haro served again as the fifth Alcalde from 1838-1839. He commissioned the first survey of the settlement by

in 1839.

Personal life

De Haro married Emiliana (Miliana) Sánchez, who was the granddaughter of José Antonio Sanchez, one of the soldiers of the 1775 de Anza expedition. She was the sister of Alcalde Francisco Sanchez and Alcalde

José de la Cruz Sánchez José de la Cruz Sánchez (November 8, 1799 – 1878) was a Californio statesman and ranchero who served as the eleventh Alcalde of San Francisco. Life José de la Cruz Sánchez was born November 8, 1799, in Santa Clara, California. He was t ...

. The marriage produced twelve children, including a pair of twin sons and a pair of twin daughters. Miliana Sánchez died in 1842. The couple's twin sons, Francisco and Ramon de Haro, the 1844 grantees of Rancho Potrero de San Francisco on Potrero Hill, were murdered by

Kit Carson Christopher Houston Carson (December 24, 1809 – May 23, 1868) was an American frontiersman. He was a fur trapper, wilderness guide, Indian agent, and U.S. Army officer. He became a frontier legend in his own lifetime by biographies and ...

at the age of 19 on June 28, 1846 near

San Rafael, California San Rafael ( ; Spanish for " St. Raphael", ) is a city and the county seat of Marin County, California, United States. The city is located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's popula ...

, along with their distant cousin

José de los Reyes Berreyesa José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacu ...

. Kit Carson (and potentially other men) shot the 3 men at the direction of General

John C. Frémont John Charles Frémont or Fremont (January 21, 1813July 13, 1890) was an American explorer, military officer, and politician. He was a U.S. Senator from California and was the first Republican nominee for president of the United States in 1856 ...

. De Haro died on 28 November 1849 and is buried at the

Mission Dolores Dolores, Spanish for "pain; grief", most commonly refers to: * Our Lady of Sorrows or La Virgen María de los Dolores * Dolores (given name) Dolores may also refer to: Film * ''Dolores'' (2017 film), an American documentary by Peter Bratt * ...

cemetery in San Francisco.

Legacy

De Haro Street, in the Potrero Hill neighborhood of San Francisco, is named after him.The Making and Naming of the Streets of San Francisco

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haro, Francisco de de Haro de Haro 1792 births 1849 deaths Burials at Spanish missions in California

Francisco Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name '' Franciscus''. Nicknames In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed " Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Comunitatis'' (father o ...

Politicians from Nayarit de Haro 19th-century Mexican politicians 19th century in San Francisco Burials at Mission San Francisco de Asís