Warner's Ranch Collection, 1851-1960

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Summary

Title:
Warner's Ranch Collection
Dates:
1851-1960
Creators:
Union Title and Trust Company.
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.”
Extent:
0.5 Linear feet (1 box)
Language:
and Collection materials are in English and Spanish.
Preferred citation:

Warner's Ranch Collection, MS 156, San Diego History Center Document Collection, San Diego, CA.

Background

Scope and content:

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.

Biographical / historical:

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.

Processing information:

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.

Arrangement:

Collection is arranged by subject.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Finding aid prepared by Amanda Hughes
Sponsor:
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.
Date Prepared:
February 7, 2013
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 2013-03-07T10:42-0800

Access and use

Restrictions:

This collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

The San Diego History Center (SDHC) holds the copyright to any unpublished materials. SDHC Library regulations do apply.

Preferred citation:

Warner's Ranch Collection, MS 156, San Diego History Center Document Collection, San Diego, CA.

Location of this collection:
1649 El Prado, Suite 3
San Diego, CA 92101, US
Contact:
(619) 232-6203
Website