Don José Noriega (March 19, 1796 – May 30, 1869) was a Spanish-born

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 ...

ranchero and politician. He served as Alcalde of San José (mayor) and was a prominent landowner in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

Biography

Noriega was born on 19 March 1796 in

Asturias Asturias (; ; ) officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensive with the provinces of Spain, province of Asturias and contains some of the territory t ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. He emigrated to

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 ...

as part of the Híjar-Padrés colony in 1834. Noriega served as Alcalde of San José (mayor) for a one term in 1839.Bancroft, Hubert Howe. ''History of California: 1825-1840'' Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1840. ; See pages 729-731Bancroft, Hubert Howe. ''History of California: 1808-1824'' Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1840. ; See pages 604-606 Noriega was the grantee of numerous rancho grants, including

Rancho Los Méganos Rancho Los Méganos was a Mexican land grant in the southwestern Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta region of present-day Contra Costa County, California. It was given in 1835 by Governor José Castro to José Noriega. "Méganos" means "sand dunes" ...

in 1835,

Rancho Las Positas Rancho Las Positas was a Mexican land grant in present-day Alameda County, California given in 1839 by governor Juan Alvarado to Robert Livermore and José Noriega. Las Positas means "little watering holes" in Spanish. The rancho included ...

in 1839, and Rancho Quito in 1841. He purchased Rancho Cañada de los Vaqueros in 1847. He died on 30 May 1869 and is buried at Oak Hill Memorial Park.

Personal life

He was married to Manuela Fernández de Noriega, daughter of José Zenon Fernandez, who also came with Híjar-Padrés colony in 1834.Manuela Fernandez Noriega (ca. 1850)
/ref> They had one daughter Enedina Noriega, who was married to José Villar.

References

1796 births 1869 deaths Mayors of San Jose, California Spanish emigrants to Mexico People of Alta California {{California-mayor-stub