Rancho San Pedro, Santa Margarita y Las Gallinas was a

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 ...

in present-day

Marin County, California Marin County ( ) is a County (United States), county located in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 262,231. Its county seat a ...

given in 1844 by Governor

Manuel Micheltorena Joseph Manuel María Joaquin Micheltorena y Llano (8 June 1804 – 7 September 1853) was a brigadier general and adjutant-general of the Mexican Army, List_of_governors_of_California_before_1850#Mexican_governors_of_California_(1837–47), gover ...

to Timothy Murphy (Timoteo Murphy). Las Gallinas means "the hens" in Spanish. The grant extended from east of Nicasio, California, south-east along the Lucas Valley, California, then along Miller Creek to Las Gallinas and the

San Pablo Bay San Pablo Bay is a tidal estuary that forms the northern extension of the San Francisco Bay in the East Bay and North Bay regions of the San Francisco Bay Area in northern California. Most of the Bay is shallow; however, there is a deep wate ...

History

Timothy Murphy (1800–1853 ) born in

County Wexford County Wexford () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. Named after the town of Wexford, it was ba ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

worked at the

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

branch of the Hartnell and Company meatpacking house in 1828. He moved to

Monterey Monterey ( ; ) is a city situated on the southern edge of Monterey Bay, on the Central Coast of California. Located in Monterey County, the city occupies a land area of and recorded a population of 30,218 in the 2020 census. The city was fou ...

, but the local branch of Hartnell and Company closed shortly after he arrived. In 1837, Murphy was administrator of

Mission San Rafael 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 ...

, and later, served as

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

and juez de paz at San Rafael. In 1844, Murphy was granted five square leagues in three adjoining ranchos: Rancho San Pedro, Rancho Santa Margarita and Rancho Las Gallinas. Timothy Murphy suffered a reversal of fortune in 1849 when he was swindled out of the proceeds from the sale of meat from his ranch, by John B. Steinberger. Thereafter, things continued to decline for him, until his death in 1853, of a burst appendix.Thomas F. Prendergast, 2001 , ''Forgotten Pioneers: Irish Leaders in Early California'', University Press of the Pacific, With the

cession The act of cession is the assignment of property to another entity. In international law it commonly refers to land transferred by treaty. Ballentine's Law Dictionary defines cession as "a surrender; a giving up; a relinquishment of jurisdicti ...

of California to the United States following the

Mexican-American War Mexican Americans are Americans of full or partial Mexican descent. In 2022, Mexican Americans comprised 11.2% of the US population and 58.9% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexican Americans were born in the United State ...

, the 1848

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo officially ended the Mexican–American War (1846–1848). It was signed on 2 February 1848 in the town of Villa de Guadalupe, Mexico City, Guadalupe Hidalgo. After the defeat of its army and the fall of the cap ...

provided that the land grants would be honored. As required by the Land Act of 1851, a claim for Rancho San Pedro, Santa Margarita y Las Gallinas was filed with the

Public Land Commission The California Land Act of 1851 (), enacted following the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and the admission of California as a state in 1850, established the California State Lands Commission to determine the validity of prior Spanish and Mexican l ...

in 1852, and the grant was patented to Timothy Murphy in 1866. Irishman, James Miller (-1890) and his wife, Mary Murphy, came overland to California in 1844 with the Stephens-Townsend-Murphy Party and in 1846 he purchased of the Rancho Las Gallinas purchased from Timoteo Murphy and operated it as a beef ranch and then as a dairy farm.Michael C. O'Laughlin, 2004,''Irish Families on the California Trail'', Irish Genealogical Foundation, Miller and Miller Creek are named for James Miller. Timothy Murphy never married, and when he died in 1853, his brother Matthew Murphy (who was shot while riding near San Quentin by a prison guard in 1852, and died in 1854) inherited present day McNear, Peacock Gap, and China Camp. His nephew, John Lucas, inherited the Santa Margarita ranch (present-day Lucas Valley-Marinwood, California and Terra Linda). John Lucas (1826–) was born in County Wexford, Ireland, and came to California in 1852. He returned to Ireland in 1853, but came back to California in 1855. He married Maria Sweetman in 1855, and in 1856 moved to the ranch opposite the James Miller, where he built a home, and continued grazing cattle.J. P. Munro-Fraser,1880, ''History of Marin County, California'',Alley, Bowen and Company He sold about of Rancho Santa Margarita to Manuel T. Freitas (1853–1923) in 1898.

Historic sites of the Rancho

* Dixie Schoolhouse. One-story, wood-frame Italianate schoolhouse built in 1864.

References

External links

Rancho San Pedro
at

The Bancroft Library The Bancroft Library is the primary special-collections library of the University of California, Berkeley. It was acquired from its founder, Hubert Howe Bancroft, in 1905, with the proviso that it retain the name Bancroft Library in perpetuity. ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:San Pedro, Santa Margarita Y Las Gallinas Ranchos of Marin County, California

Rancho San Pedro Rancho San Pedro was one of the first California land grants and the first to win a patent from the United States. The Spanish Crown granted the of land to soldier Juan José Domínguez in 1784, with his descendants validating their legal clai ...

1844 establishments in Alta California

History

Historic sites of the Rancho

See also

References

External links