Rancho Encinal y Buena Esperanza

Rancho Encinal y Buena Esperanza was a 13,392-acre (54.20 km2) Mexican land grant in the Salinas Valley, in present-day Monterey County, California.

Two square leagues (Encinal) was given in 1834 by Governor José Figueroa to David Spence, and a one square league addition (Buena Esperanza) given in 1839 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to Spence.[1]

The three square league grant extended along the north bank of the Salinas River, and encompassed present-day Spence.[2]

History

Scotsman David Spence (1798–1875) came to Monterey in 1824 from Lima, Peru to work for William Hartnell. In 1829, Spence married Maria Adelaida Altagracia Estrada (−1875), a daughter of José Mariano Estrada, grantee of Rancho Buena Vista. Spence was alcalde of Monterey in 1839 in Alta California, and later a member of the California state legislature.[3]

With the cession of California to the United States following the Mexican-American War, the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo provided that the land grants would be honored. As required by the Land Act of 1851, a claim for Rancho Encinal y Buena Esperanza was filed with the Public Land Commission in 1852,[4][5] and the grant was patented to David Spence in 1862.[6]

His only son, David Steward Spence (1830–1868), who married Refugio Malarin, daughter of Juan Malarin, grantee of Rancho Chualar, died in 1868, leaving three sons and a daughter, who inherited their grandfather’s estate. [7]

See also

References

  1. ^ Ogden Hoffman, 1862, Reports of Land Cases Determined in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Numa Hubert, San Francisco
  2. ^ Diseño del Rancho Encinal y Buena Esperanza
  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. ^ United States. District Court (California : Southern District) Land Case 4 SD
  5. ^ Finding Aid to the Documents Pertaining to the Adjudication of Private Land Claims in California, circa 1852–1892
  6. ^ Report of the Surveyor General 1844 – 1886 Archived 2013-03-20 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ H. S. Foote, 1888, Pen Pictures From The Garden of the World or Santa Clara County, California, Illustrated, pp. 373–374, The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago

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