Language of Material: English

Contributing Institution: Society of California Pioneers

Title: Dulce Bolado Ashe Davis Memoir

creator: Davis, Dulce Balado Ashe, ca. 1870 - ?

Identifier/Call Number: C057895

Physical Description: 1 folder 1 Folder (2 copies of typed memoirs, 22 pages)

Date (inclusive): 1923

Abstract: This file contains two copies of a typed reminiscence of Dulce Bolado Ashe Davis, who was of Spanish decent. The 22 page manuscript is dated 1923 and states that it was "copied from a typed ms in possession of Mr. Newman". The vast majority of the reminiscence covers the very earliest years in California, particularly in Monterrey and San Francisco. Most of the tales are what the author can recount from stories passed on to her by her Grandmother.

The vast majority of the reminiscence covers the very earliest years in California, particularly in Monterrey and San Francisco. Most of the tales are what the author can recount from stories passed on to her by her Grandmother. A large portion of the work covers the family lineage and she highlights the many notable relatives in her family. Some of the more notable names include General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, who was at one point to be her grandmothers god parent. She recounts with vivid detail her mother's protracted illness that would take four long years to run its course and would ultimately end in her death. Throughout the text she refers frequently to the "Old Casa in Monterrey" which was "always the social center, as they had a ballroom, and the first piano to arrive in California". In 1864 her father sold his ranch and "built two charming houses on Sutter Street, where I was born and married--and where my mother died." He also purchesed in 1864 , with Joaquin and Jose Arques of San Jose the Santa Ana y Quien Saba Rancho which consists of some 48,000 acres. The last page of the collection is a short family history detailing births, deaths, and marriages of family members as far back as 1748.

Source and date of acquisition not known, other than the note typed at the head of the second copy that says: "Copied from a typed mss. in the possession of Mr. Newman." Mr. Newman is most likely either Thomas E. or David Alan Newman, both descendants of Joaquin Bolado.

The Society of California Pioneers, 101 Montgomery St. Suite 150, Presidio of San Francisco, San Francisco CA, 94129

The Dulce Bolado Ashe Davis Memoir. The Society of California Pioneers.

The vast majority of the reminiscence covers the very earliest years in California, particularly in Monterrey and San Francisco. Most of the tales are what the author can recount from stories passed on to her by her Grandmother. A large portion of the work covers the family lineage and she highlights the many notable relatives in her family. Some of the more notable names include General Mariano Guadelupe Vallejo, who was at one point to be her grandmothers god parent. The writer notes that she was six years old in 1876 - 78, so her circa date of birth is 1870. She recounts with vivid detail her mother's protracted illness that would take four long years to run its course and would ultimately end in her death. Throughout the text she refers frequently to the "Old Casa in Monterrey" which was "always the social center, as they had a ballroom, and the first piano to arrive in California". In 1864 her father sold his ranch and "built two charming houses on Sutter Street, where I was born and married--and where my mother died." He also purchesed in 1864, with Joaquin and Jose Arques of San Jose the Santa Ana y Quien Saba Rancho which consists of some 48,000 acres. Part III of the memoir gives more biographical information about Dulce. She spent her early childhood on Sutter Street in San Francisco, and had no siblings since they died when they were babies. She had a nurse named Bridget Fitzpatrick. When she was five her father lost large sums of money, having sold the Santa Anita Ranch, but having to take back the mortgage. Her mother decided to rent the San Francisco home and move to the ranch. The family recouped their losses. Dulce enjoyed living on the ranch, its animals, and the companionship of her mother. After two years, they returned to San Francisco, and she attended Madam Zitkas school for girls, which she disliked, and then after two years, went to learn with a French lady, whom she loved. Her mother died in 1892. Dulce describes visiting "a marvelously enchanting place called Woodwards Gardens". She notes her mother's dieath was when her childhood was over. The last page of the collection is a short family history detailing births, deaths, and marriages of family members as far back as 1748.