Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
Oreña Family Papers
mssHM
70914-70978
View entire collection guide
Search this collection
Table of contents
Title: Oreña Family Papers
Dates: 1838-1955
Collection Call Number: mssHM
70914-70978
Creator:
Oreña family
Extent:
65 items in 3 boxes
Repository: The Huntington Library,
Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. Manuscripts
Department
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2191
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
Abstract: This collection contains the papers, dating from 1838 to 1955, of the Oreña
family, who held properties in present-day Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Ventura and Los Angeles, California.
Language of Material: The records are in English and
Spanish..
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader
Services.
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material,
nor does it charge fees for such activities.
The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with
the researcher.
[Identification of item]. Oreña Family Papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Purchased by the Huntington Library from Mr. and Mrs. C. Bishop in September 1987.
Material removed to Rare Books Department
One item in the collection,
Finezas de Jesus sacramentado para con
los hombres: e ingratitudes de los hombres para con Jesus sacramentado by Joao Jose
de Santa Teresa
(1658-ca. 1733) (Call number: 622529), was transferred into the Huntington Library's Rare
Books Collection in February 2009. The monograph was published by Antonio Oliva in
Gerona, Spain sometime during the late eighteenth century. The item also contains
Gaspar Oreña's signature on the first page.
A native of Spain, Gaspar Oreña (1824-1904) came to the United States in the late
nineteenth century. He married the widow of a prominent Californio family from Santa
Barbara, Maria Antonia de la Guerra, after the death of her first husband, Cesareo
E. Lataillade. Several of Oreña's children – namely, Leopoldo, Dario, Orestes,
Arturo, and Serena – assumed the responsibilities of the maintaining or selling the
family's properties in present-day Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Ventura and Los
Angeles Counties. At some point, one of the Oreña children married into the Koch
family. The Koch family also figures significantly in the collection, particularly
those materials that relate to William de Koch, an agent of the Wells Fargo Co., and
his son, Edward Oreña de Koch.
The collection is divided into the following series:
The chronologically arranged documents demonstrate the range of legal, financial, and
real estate-related transactions initiated by or concerning the Oreña Family and
their associates. Included in this series are title deeds, land claims, and land
grants pertaining to the family’s properties in Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo,
Ventura and Los Angeles Counties. Also included are receipts and invoices.
The chronologically arranged manuscripts include four works pertaining to the Oreña
Family as well as other early California families, namely the de la Guerra family.
The series also contains two typewritten manuscripts: the first is Occurrences in
California, as reported by Angustias de la Guerra Ord and the second is Carlota
Koch's "La Guipuzcoana," which chronicles the lives of Gaspar Oreña, Cesareo
Lataillade, Maria Antonia de la Guerra, and those of their acquaintances.
The chronologically arranged correspondence includes personal and business letters to
and by the Oreña Family members and their associates. Among the authors is Alfred
Robinson (b. 1806-d.1895), author of Life in California (1891).
Four photographs of the Columbus Library in Seville, Spain comprise the fourth
series. These black-and-white photos were taken in September 1955. The photographer,
who included only his/her initials of "AK," indicated that the images are not
available for publication.
Finally, three items comprise ephemera. These include two 1891 arguments issued by
the Supreme Court of the State of California relating to the case of C.E.
Lataillade, Plaintiff and Appellant, vs. Gaspar Oreña, Defendant and Respondent. The
final item in this series is an autographed note written on a fragment of an
ANP-ANETA News Bulletin, dated Apr. 23, 1951.
Encoder's Note: Diacritics have been omitted for encoding.
Arrangement
Arranged chronologically in 3 boxes in the following series: Documents, Manuscripts, Correspondence, Photographs, and Ephemera.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
Huntington Library's Online Catalog.
Oreña family
California. Supreme
Court
Algemeen
Nederlandsch-Indisch Persbureau
Biblioteca
Colombina
Midland Pacific Railway
Company
Real Fabrica de Tapices
de Santa Barbara
Guerra
family
Land tenure--California--Ventura
County
Missions--California--History--Sources
Real property--California--Los
Angeles
San Francisco Earthquake and Fire,
Calif., 1906--Sources
Shipping--Spain--Seville
California--History--19th
century--Sources
Los Alamos (Calif.)
Deeds--California
Land claims--California
Land grants--California
Land titles--California
Leases--California
Letter books--California
Letters
(correspondence)--California
Receipts--California