Partition of the Rancho San Pablo

This is an excerpt from “The Adobe at Cerrito Creek,” a 12-page history of the Castro Adobe, from its beginnings in 1837 to its destruction by arsonists in 1956, written for the El Cerrito Historical Society in 1975 by El Cerrito Fire Department Chief Inspector Earl Scarbough. This section describes the legal battles over ownership of the rancho following the death of Don Francisco Castro.

Little did Don Victor’s father, Don Francisco Castro, know when he made his final will that the document would result in the ultimate destruction of his beloved rancho. In his will he left one-half of his property to his widow and the other half to be divided equally among his 11 children. Unfortunately, a series of events took place that circumvented Don Francisco’s good intentions.

To begin, three of the children had died and their share of the rancho also went to the widow, Dona Gabriela. On August 2, 1851, Dona Gabriela, in consideration of natural love and affection for her daughter, Martina, willed all portions of the rancho which she controlled to Martina. Hence, Martina and her husband, Governor Juan Bautista Alvarado, came to control 15/22 of the entire rancho while the other seven Castro heirs, including Don Victor, could claim only 1/22 each.

Naturally, ructions ensued. The heirs filed court action in 1852 in an attempt to break the will that Don Francisco had made 20 years previous. In the years that followed, court action followed court action; and the title to the property became so involved that no son or daughter could know what was really his. To complicate the situation, from time to time the various heirs sold portions of their holdings to American settlers.

Finally, after 42 years of title litigation, the California Supreme Court handed down a final decree of partition on March 3, 1894. The decree, of 750 pages, resolved the questions of ownership and divided the Castro lands into many tracts of property held by private owners. All that was left in the hands of the Castro family were a few acres surrounding the adobes in San Pablo and El Cerrito.

Martina Castro Alvarado and her husband inherited nearly three-quarters of the Rancho San Pablo under her mother’s will. Photo circa 1860

Excerpted from “The Adobe at Cerrito Creek,” a 12-page history of the Castro Adobe. Read the entirety here (PDF file).