Rancho Encinal y Buena Esperanza was a 13,392-acre (54.20 km2) Mexican land grant in the Salinas Valley, in present-day Monterey County, California.
Two square leagues (Encinal) was given in 1834 by Governor José Figueroa to David Spence, and a one square league addition (Buena Esperanza) given in 1839 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to Spence. [1]
The three square league grant extended along the north bank of the Salinas River, and encompassed present-day Spence. [2]
History
Scotsman David Spence (1798-1875) came to Monterey in 1824 from Lima, Peru to work for William Hartnell. In 1829, Spence married Maria Adelaida Altagracia Estrada (-1875), a daughter of José Mariano Estrada, grantee of Rancho Buena Vista. Spence was alcalde of Monterey in 1839 in Alta California, and later a member of the California state legislature. [3]
With the cession of California to the United States following the Mexican-American War, the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo provided that the land grants would be honored. As required by the Land Act of 1851, a claim for Rancho Encinal y Buena Esperanza was filed with the Public Land Commission in 1852, [4] [5] and the grant was patented to David Spence in 1862. [6]
His only son, David Steward Spence (1830-1868), who married Refugio Malarin, daughter of Juan Malarin, grantee of Rancho Chualar, died in 1868, leaving three sons and a daughter, who inherited their grandfather’s estate. [7]
See also
References
- ^ Ogden Hoffman, 1862, Reports of Land Cases Determined in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Numa Hubert, San Francisco
- ^ Diseño del Rancho Encinal y Buena Esperanza
- ^ Hoover, Mildred B.; Rensch, Hero; Rensch, Ethel; Abeloe, William N. (1966). Historic Spots in California. Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-4482-9.
- ^ United States. District Court (California : Southern District) Land Case 4 SD
- ^ Finding Aid to the Documents Pertaining to the Adjudication of Private Land Claims in California, circa 1852-1892
- ^ Report of the Surveyor General 1844 - 1886 Archived 2013-03-20 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ H. S. Foote, 1888, Pen Pictures From The Garden of the World or Santa Clara County, California, Illustrated, pp. 373-374, The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago