Antonio María Pico

Antonio María Pico
Alcalde of San José
In office
1835
Preceded byPedro Chaboya
Succeeded byJosé María Alviso
In office
1844–1845
Preceded byJuan Salvio Pacheco II
Succeeded byJohn Burton
Personal details
Born1808
Monterey, California
Died23 May 1869
San José, California
ProfessionPolitician, ranchero

Don Antonio María Pico was a Californio politician, ranchero, and a signer of the California Constitution in 1849.[1] He also served twice as Alcalde of San José.[2]

Biography

Antonio María Pico, a member of the prominent Pico family of California, was born in 1808 in Monterey, California.[1] He was a son of José Dolores Pico and his wife, the former Maria Ysabel de la Asención Cota.

In 1824, Pico left Monterey to serve as a bookkeeper at Mission San Juan Capistrano.

He served as Alcalde of San José (mayor of San Jose) in 1835 and 1844–1845.[3][4][2]

Governor Manuel Micheltorena granted Rancho Pescadero (present day city of Tracy, California) in 1843.

He was elected as a delegate for Santa Clara County to the Monterey Constitutional Convention of 1849 and was a signer of the California Constitution.[1]

In 1859, he led a petition of Californio rancheros to the U.S. Congress describing their taxation as unduly high.[5]

He was elected to the Electoral College in 1860 as an elector for Abraham Lincoln.[1]

Pico died in San José on 23 May 1869.

References

  1. ^ a b c d Online Archive of California – Antonio Maria Pico correspondence : San Jose, California, 1853–1854
  2. ^ a b History of California: 1825–1840
  3. ^ Hoover, Mildred B.; Rensch, Hero; Rensch, Ethel; Abeloe, William N. (1966). Historic Spots in California. Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-4482-9.
  4. ^ Oscar T. Shuck,1870, "Representative & Leading Men of the Pacific", Bacon & Co., Printers & Publishers, San Francisco, pages 631-634
  5. ^ University of Houston: Digital History – The Public Land Commission