Title supplied by cataloger. Ricardo Vejar was born into a respectable Spanish family in 1811. In 1833, at the age of 22 Vejar served as Juez de Campo (Country Judge) in Los Angeles. On March 27, 1837 Ricardo Vejar and his friend, Ygnacio Palomares filed a petition with Governor Juan Bautista Alvarado for the 22,000-acre tract of land known as Rancho San Jose´. Alvarado approved the petition, and the land was divided equally between them - Palomares taking possession of the northern portion, which became known as Rancho San Jose´ Arriba (Upper), and Vejar settling in the southern portion, which became known as Rancho San Jose´ Abajo (Lower). Vejar built his adobe along the Arroyo Pedregosos, but just seven years later, in 1844, he and his family had to abandon their home due to the vulnerability of the open range and being prone to Indian raids. In 1847, Vejar made a request for his own land grant, separate from Rancho San Jose´, and he was granted Rancho Los Nogales, a triangular-shaped property with a little over 1,000 acres, which adjoined San Jose´ to the south - this area would eventually become the city of Walnut. In 1850 Vejar had a second adobe built, a two-story Monterey style house that was considered one of the finest adobe mansions in Southern California, built atop one of the southern slopes of the San Jose´ Hills. By 1851, Ricardo Vejar had been assessed for $34,000 in personal property, and by 1858 he was worth $42,000, making him the fourth richest man in the county. Tough times followed in the coming years, and Vejar was forced to take out a private loan of $30,000 in order to save his rancho. Unable to repay this loan, he was forced to give up the deed of his portion of Rancho San Jose´ to his creditors. Ironically enough, once one of the wealthiest men in Southern California, Ricardo Vejar died in poverty in 1882 at the age of 71. Sadly, none of the adobe haciendas belonging to the Vejar family stand today. Exterior view of Ricardo Vejar's two-story adobe built on the San Jose property. Photograph shows a rear portion of the adobe, half-covered by large trees, with a second floor balcony supported by slender wooden posts. An exterior staircase can be seen on the right, behind the fence, next to an adjacent structure.
Type
Image
Format
1 photographic print :b&w ;21 x 26 cm. Photographic prints
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