Doheny Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0189 Public Domain. Release under the CC BY Attribution license--http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/--Credit both “University of Southern California. Libraries” and “California Historical Society” as the source. Digitally reproduced by the USC Digital Library; From the California Historical Society Collection at the University of Southern California Send requests to address or e-mail given USC Libraries Special Collections specol@usc.edu
Description
Photograph of a drawing of Abel Stearns, ca.1840-1860. From the waist up. He has hair which covers his ears. His hairline is receding. He is clean shaven. He is wearing a 3-piece suit with bow tie. He is facing slightly to his left. Born in Massachusettes in 1799 died at San Francisco in 1871. Came to California in 1829 from Mexico where he had been living for 3 years and where he was naturalized in 1828. Don Abel was a trader, became a great land and cattle owner and at his death, left a very large estate to his wife, Arcadia, daughter of Jauan Bandini, having had no children. Stearns was Sindico, a suplente of the assembly, sub-prefect under Mexican rule, and a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1849. Stearns shipped the first gold from teh Placinta Canyon to a mint in Philadelphia in 1843. "Abel Stearns was the greatest land owner that California ever knew. He came to California in 1829 and to Los Angeles in 1833. He soon began to acquire the old Spanish Ranchos and by 1860 had become the largest land owner in California. His possessions included the following (Acres Ranch name): 23,027 Los Alamitos 33,819 Jurupa -- part of 13,339 La Laguna 1,000 Government land added to Laguna 48,806 Los Coyotes 6,699 La Habra 8,107 La Bolsa Chica 33,460 Las Bolsas 35,971 San Cajon de Santa Ana 19,000 San Juan Caxon de Santa Ana 44,440 Las Bolsas Grandes y Chicas 17,787 Sierra 43,682 Guadalupe 36,403 San Rafael 2,364 La Merced 2,219 Guajome -- Stearns gave this to a young lady for her wedding gift Total 364,534 acres. -- History states that Stearns also owned several thousand acres in Lower California. The amount is not given. He also managed the 29,514 acre San Antonio Ranch which was owned by his father-in-law. Stearns was several times City Treasurer and also mayor of Los Angeles. He died in San Francisco, Aug. 23, 1871."
Type
image
Format
1 photoprint : b&w 1 photograph : glass photonegative, b&w 22 x 17 cm. glass plate negatives photographs art
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