Francisco de Haro
Encyclopedia
Francisco de Haro was the first Alcalde
(Mayor
) of Yerba Buena
(later named San Francisco) in 1834.
, Mexico
and came to San Francisco in 1819. He was the first Alcalde of Yerba Buena in 1834. He was instrumental in planning the street grid of the town along with Englishman William A. Richardson in 1835. In 1837, de Haro bought the Galindo ranch
, which included Lake Merced
and portions of northern San Mateo County, from the grantee José Antonio Galindo. And in strange turn of events, in 1838, Alcalde de Haro issued an arrest warrant for Jose Antonio Galindo for the murder of José Doroteo Peralta (1810–1838). De Haro served again as the fifth Alcalde from 1838-1839. He commissioned the first survey of the settlement by Jean Jacques Vioget
in 1839.
De Haro married Emiliana (Miliana) Sánchez who was the sister of Alcaldes Francisco Sanchez and José de la Cruz Sánchez
. The marriage produced twelve children, including a pair of twin sons and a pair of twin daughters. Miliana Sánchez died in 1842. The couple's twin sons, Francisco and Ramon, were murdered at the age of 19 on June 28, 1846 near San Rafael, California
, along with their distant cousin José de los Reyes Berreyesa
. Kit Carson
(and potentially other men) shot the men at the direction of John C. Frémont
.
De Haro died in 1849 and is buried at Mission Dolores in San Francisco.
Alcalde
Alcalde , or Alcalde ordinario, is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and administrative functions. An alcalde was, in the absence of a corregidor, the presiding officer of the Castilian cabildo and judge of first instance of a town...
(Mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
) of Yerba Buena
Yerba Buena (town)
Yerba Buena was the original name of San Francisco when in the Spanish Las Californias Province of New Spain, and then after 1822 in the Mexican territory of Alta California, until the Mexican American War ended with the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, when California became a territory of the...
(later named San Francisco) in 1834.
Life
De Haro was born in Compostela, NayaritCompostela, Nayarit
Compostela is the name of both a municipality and the town within that municipality that serves as the seat. They are in the Mexican state of Nayarit. The population of the municipality was 62,925 in a total area of 1,848 km²...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
and came to San Francisco in 1819. He was the first Alcalde of Yerba Buena in 1834. He was instrumental in planning the street grid of the town along with Englishman William A. Richardson in 1835. In 1837, de Haro bought the Galindo ranch
Rancho Laguna de la Merced
Rancho Laguna de la Merced was a Mexican land grant, in present day San Francisco County and San Mateo County, California, given in 1835 by Governor José Castro to José Antonio Galindo...
, which included Lake Merced
Lake Merced
Lake Merced is a freshwater lake in the southwest corner of San Francisco. It is surrounded by three golf courses , as well as residential areas, Lowell High School, San Francisco State University, Fort Funston and the Pacific Ocean...
and portions of northern San Mateo County, from the grantee José Antonio Galindo. And in strange turn of events, in 1838, Alcalde de Haro issued an arrest warrant for Jose Antonio Galindo for the murder of José Doroteo Peralta (1810–1838). De Haro served again as the fifth Alcalde from 1838-1839. He commissioned the first survey of the settlement by Jean Jacques Vioget
Jean Jacques Vioget
Jean Jacques Vioget , originally from Switzerland, was a surveyor and sea captain, who came to California in 1837. He made the first survey and map of Yerba Buena in 1839. He worked for John Sutter and later moved to San Jose...
in 1839.
De Haro married Emiliana (Miliana) Sánchez who was the sister of Alcaldes Francisco Sanchez and José de la Cruz Sánchez
José de la Cruz Sánchez
José de la Cruz Sánchez was the eleventh Alcalde of San Francisco in 1845.-Life:José de la Cruz Sánchez was the eldest son of José Antonio Sánchez grantee of Rancho Buri Buri in present day San Mateo. José de la Cruz married Josefa Ramona Eduarda Mercado y Sal and they had eight children...
. The marriage produced twelve children, including a pair of twin sons and a pair of twin daughters. Miliana Sánchez died in 1842. The couple's twin sons, Francisco and Ramon, were murdered at the age of 19 on June 28, 1846 near San Rafael, California
San Rafael, California
San Rafael is a city and the county seat of Marin County, California, United States. The city is located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area...
, along with their distant cousin José de los Reyes Berreyesa
José de los Reyes Berreyesa
José de los Reyes Berrelleza was born at Mission Santa Clara de Asís in Las Californias on January 6, 1785, the third child and first son in the family of María Gertrudis Peralta and Nicholas Antonio Berrelleza. He served as an army sergeant at El Presidio Real de San Francisco. In 1805, he...
. Kit Carson
Kit Carson
Christopher Houston "Kit" Carson was an American frontiersman and Indian fighter. Carson left home in rural present-day Missouri at age 16 and became a Mountain man and trapper in the West. Carson explored the west to California, and north through the Rocky Mountains. He lived among and married...
(and potentially other men) shot the men at the direction of John C. Frémont
John C. Frémont
John Charles Frémont , was an American military officer, explorer, and the first candidate of the anti-slavery Republican Party for the office of President of the United States. During the 1840s, that era's penny press accorded Frémont the sobriquet The Pathfinder...
.
De Haro died in 1849 and is buried at Mission Dolores in San Francisco.