Antonio Seferino del Valle

Del Valle descendant pursues her roots

By Marci Wormser

Signal Staff Writer

Wednesday, September 1, 1999

When Newhall resident Marisa Hanson drives through the Santa Clarita Valley, she drives down the same roadways and canyons that her ancestors once owned and helped to cultivate more than 100 years ago.

   Hanson is a direct descendent of Antonio del Valle, a Mexican-born missionary who owned 48,000 acres of land in the SCV from 1839 until his death two years later in 1841.

In her family tree, Hanson can trace back about 200 years of her heritage, from the life of Antonio to his descendants, who farmed and ranched on much of the land in the SCV.
Hanson is Antonio's great-great-great-great-granddaughter, a heritage that she inherited through her mother, Colleen Clark Markey, who is a direct descendent of the del Valle clan.
Much of the heritage of both the SCV and of the many famous missions that were built throughout California is also embedded in the family history of Antonio and his family.
"A lot of people think the Santa Clarita Valley started with the Newhalls, the Lyons and the Mentrys, but it started way before that," Hanson said.
"I think it's important for all of us to understand what the original purpose of the land was," she said. "I think it's important for all of us to know the history of where you live. I wish I knew more about it."
The del Valle family history in California began with Antonio, born in Mexico in 1788. He served as a lieutenant in the Mexican war of independence against Spain in the 1820s and 1830s.
He was the great-grandson of Juan del Valle, who came from Valencia, Spain, and settled in Columbia in 1642. Juan eventually moved to Mexico, where he became quite wealthy and influential, according to the late SCV historian Jerry Reynolds.
While serving as a lieutenant, Antonio was sent to Monterey, Calif., which had just been raided by Argentine pirates, Reynolds writes. Antonio and his men were sent to defend the coast of Monterey.
In February 1824, the American Indians at Santa Ynez revolted, and Antonio and his troops were sent to the San Joaquin Valley to round up the protesters.
In June, Antonio arrived at the Santa Clara del Sur with the protesters, who were incarcerated. Although he was hailed as a hero, he was later involved in political controversies and convicted of insubordination. He spent about half of 1825 in jail, according to Reynolds.
He wrote to his 17-year-old son, Ygnacio, whom he had not seen in six years, to join him in Monterey.
Ygnacio del Valle was born in Mexico in 1808. He served as a second lieutenant and rose to the rank of captain in command of a presidio in San Diego.
In 1832, Antonio and Ygnacio faced each other on the battlefield and Ygnacio won. They never spoke to each other again.
During this period, Antonio, a widower, remarried and had several more children. To provide a home for his new family, he petitioned Gov. Juan B. Alvarado for a grant of land encompassing about 48,000 acres in the Santa Clara River Valley. Named the "Rancho San Francisco," it extended from modern-day Piru to Saugus and from Newhall north to Castaic Junction.
Despite protests from a citizen who claimed the land should go to the American Indians, Alvarado put Antonio in charge of the upper Santa Clara River Valley, according to Reynolds.
Antonio and his family moved into the Asistencia de San Francisco Xavier, located on a bluff overlooking the junction of the Castaic Creek and the Santa Clara River. It had been built by Spanish missionaries in 1804 as an outpost of the Mission San Fernando Rey de España.
Building Missions

   Hanson said her great-great-great-great-grandfather raised avocados, oranges and cattle on the land.

Antonio also did missionary work, Hanson said, converting American Indians to Catholicism, and he helped to build the missions in San Fernando and Santa Barbara as well as the chapel and adobe home once occupied by his descendants at Rancho Camulos, a hacienda along today's State Route 126. Camulos— believed by many to have been the impetus for Helen Hunt Jackson's "Ramona," a best-selling novel of the era— is being restored and may open to the public next year.
When Antonio fell ill and lay on his deathbed, he decided finally to reconcile with his son, Ygnacio.
According to Reynolds, Antonio sent his son a message saying that if he would settle down and marry, Antonio would leave him a half-interest in a house he owned in Santa Barbara, 300 cattle and the land between Piru Creek and Blue Point on the Ventura County line. However, by the time the physician sent the message of Antonio's impending death to Ygnacio, who was residing in Santa Barbara, Antonio had died.
Following his father's death on June 21, 1841, Ygnacio came to the Santa Clarita Valley and helped maintain the Rancho San Francisco.
When drought struck in the 1860s, the del Valles lost much of their cattle herd, which once numbered some 4,000 head. Over-leveraged with bank loans, the family had to sell off much of the 48,000-acre ranch to pay debts.
Ultimately they were left only with the Camulos portion of the Rancho San Francisco, where the family resided until Hanson's great-grandfather, Juventino del Valle II, moved to Los Angeles. Camulos was in the family's possession until 1925, Hanson said.
The del ValIe Family

Three generations of del Valles served their country through either military service or in responsible governmental positions under the Mexican government and the new government of California. Their lives were closely associated with the most prominent and influential citizens of Mexico and California during the tumultuous years of California's entrance into the

United States and its rise from a rural state to one of power and influence.

Antonio del Valle, a native of Compostela, Mexico, played a prominent role in both the Spanish and Mexican colonization of California. He arrived in California in 1819 as a lieutenant in the San Bias Infantry, responsible for delivering forty men to the presidio of San Francisco. New troops were called to reinforce the garrisons that had been attacked the previous year by the privateer Bouchard. The Company moved to Monterey and Antonio became commander in 1822. In 1824 he was placed in charge of secularizing the San Fernando Mission and served as majordomo until 1837. In recognition of his years of military service, he received the 48,612 acre Rancho San Francisco grant in 1839.