Juan Nepomuceno Padilla Explained

Juan Nepomuceno Padilla
Birth Date:c. 1824
Order:10th
Office:Alcalde of San Francisco
Term Start:1845
Term End:1845
Predecessor:William Sturgis Hinckley
Successor:José de la Cruz Sánchez
Spouse:María Marta Ávila
Residence:Rancho Roblar de la Miseria
Rancho Bolsa de Tomales

Juan Nepomuceno Padilla was a Californio politician and soldier, who served as the 10th Alcalde of San Francisco.[1]

Life

Padilla was involved in a dispute with José de la Cruz Sánchez and his brother Francisco Sanchez, over the position. In 1845, Pio Pico awarded Padilla the four square league Rancho Roblar de la Miseria, in Sonoma County and later, the five square league Rancho Bolsa de Tomales.[2] [3]

During the Bear Flag Revolt in June 1846, a band of Californios led by Nepomuceno, killed two members of the Bear Flag Party, Thomas Cowie and George Fowler. Padilla and his band to retreated to Rancho Olompali, and a group of Americans set fire to Padilla's Sonoma ranch.

He married María Marta Ávila in 1851.[3]

In 1848, after he returned from Los Angeles, Padilla, who long had been blamed for the murders in Santa Rosa, was attacked by a group of former Bear Flaggers in a Sonoma hotel.[4] In 1849, Padilla sold Rancho Bolsa de Tomales to Felix Berreyesa and Jesus Molina. In 1850 Padilla sold Rancho Roblar de la Miseria, and returned to Los Angeles. Juan Nepomuceno Padilla married Maria Marta Avila (1825–) in 1851.[3]

Notes and References

  1. Leonard Pitt, Ramon A. Gutierrez, 1999,Decline of the Californios: A Social History of the Spanish-Speaking Californias, 1846-1890, University of California Press,
  2. Ogden Hoffman, 1862, Reports of Land Cases Determined in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Numa Hubert, San Francisco
  3. Roger Rehm, 1996, Juan N. Padilla and Ranchos Roblar de la Miseria and Bolsa de Tomales
  4. Leonard Pitt, Ramon A. Gutierrez, 1999,Decline of the Californios: A Social History of the Spanish-Speaking Californias, 1846–1890, University of California Press,