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Guide to the Warner's Ranch Collection
MS 156
MS 156
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Title: Warner's Ranch Collection
Identifier/Call Number: MS 156
Contributing Institution:
San Diego History Center Document Collection
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
0.5 Linear feet
(1 box)
Date (inclusive): 1851-1960
Abstract: The collection consists of records relating to the area of land in Valle de San Jose in San Diego County known commonly as
“Warner’s Ranch.”
creator:
Union Title and Trust Company.
This collection is open for research.
The San Diego History Center (SDHC) holds the copyright to any unpublished materials. SDHC Library regulations do apply.
Warner's Ranch Collection, MS 156, San Diego History Center Document Collection, San Diego, CA.
Collection processed by Amanda Hughes on February 7, 2013.
Collection processed as part of grant project supported by the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) with generous
funding from The Andrew Mellon Foundation.
Biographical / Historical Notes
Warner’s Ranch refers to a tract of land totaling 45,000 acres in the Valle de San Jose in San Diego County, also sometimes
called Valle de Val. It was settled by Jonathon Trumbull Warner originally of Connecticut. Warner traveled west in 1830 and
became a Mexican citizen in 1836 when he married Anita Gale and changed his name to Juan Jose Warner. He was granted to rights
to Warner’s Ranch by the Mexican Governor in 1844. In 1851, the United States Government issued a patent confirming Warner’s
ownership of the ranch. That same year Warner and his family left the Ranch and moved to Los Angeles due to his wife’s illness.
At that time, he sold all but a few tracts of land to John Raines. Raines died in 1862 and the land entered probate. The ranch
was sold off piecemeal until John G, Downey began buying all of the land, a process that took over 10 years. John Downey subsequently
died in 1894 and all but two tracts of land were left in the hands of his heirs; John Downey Harvey, Eleanor Martin, Walter
Vail, Peter Martin, Walter Martin and Genevieve Riley. The remaining two tracts were owned by Henry Gage.
The collection consists of records relating to Warner’s Ranch. There are two volumes of the abstract of title of Warner’s
Ranch from 1851 through 1904. The volumes cover deed sales, mortgages, lawsuits with local Indian tribes and several probate
proceedings. Also included are documents relating to the exact location of the Butterfield Stage stop in Warner’s Ranch and
a petition for a school district to be established in Warner’s Ranch and the surrounding areas.
Collection is arranged by subject.
Material added to collection from Document Files Collection; Warner's Ranch file.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Butterfield Stage Line.
Downey, John G.
Gage, Fannie
Harvey, John Downey
Phillips, Louie
Raines, John
Vail, Walter
Warner, J. J. (Juan Jose), 1807-1895
Abstracts of title
Administration of estates
Cupeno Indians
Deeds
Estates (Law)
Land titles
Mortgages
San Diego (Calif.)
San Diego County (Calif.)
Stagecoach lines
Warner's Ranch (Calif.)