John A. Rowland
Encyclopedia
John A. Rowland was an early settler and rancher of the eastern San Gabriel Valley
area of Los Angeles County
, California
. He and his family were very prominent in the region's early development and the unincorporated community
of Rowland Heights, California
is named for him.
. There is some dispute as to whether he had a middle name and, if so, whether "Albert" is factually known. His birthdate is also uncertain, as his tombstone indicated his age as 82 years, but no date and month were given. Most census listings indicate a later 1790s birth year. Finally, there is some speculation that he was born in southeastern Pennsylvania, across from that portion of Maryland where he is said to have been born. For example, the 1850 census listed Rowland as a native of the former state and the following two censuses indicate the latter.
At an early date in the 19th century, the Rowland family migrated to Morgan County, Ohio, roughly between Wheeling, West Virginia and Columbus, Ohio along a heavily-traveled westward route for many in the Eastern states in the first decade or two of the century. As a young man, Rowland, presumably, followed the Ohio River to the Mississippi and then to St. Louis. From there, he would have traveled along the Missouri River to the town of Franklin at the western edge of the United States. In 1823, using the new Santa Fe Trail, he migrated to New Mexico.
Rowland, said to have been trained as a surveyor, moved to San Fernando de Taos
, Nuevo Mexico
, a territory of Mexico
, and become a fur trapper for a time, though he later operated a flour mill. In 1825, Rowland became a Mexican citizen and married María Encarnación Martínez .
which developed into a business partnership with the manufacture of "Taos lightning," a whisky popular with fur trappers returning to winter in the town after long spring, summer and fall months of trapping. Workman and Rowland occasionally were embroiled in problems during their long residency in Taos. For example, a Taos-based revolt seized the government of New Mexico and the two were forced to swear loyalty to the rebels, who were, however, soon overthrown. The new governor, Manuel Armijo, was in office when Rowland and Workman were arrested for smuggling. This was a common pastime, but the arrest may have been retribution for their alleged loyalty to the Taoseño revolt.
In 1840, Texas president Mirabeau Lamar announced plans to peaceably annex all territory to the Rio Grande, including all the principal towns of New Mexico. His representative, William G. Dryden, named Rowland and Workman agents of the Texas government in New Mexico, although they were soon replaced and may have had little, if any, active role in promoting the scheme. Still, the two men decided to leave New Mexico, as the annexation scheme became an outright invasion, albeit a poorly planned and executed one that failed miserably.
Before the Texans straggled into New Mexico and were routed, Rowland and Workman, along with about two dozen other Americans and Europeans, had left New Mexico for California via the Old Spanish Trail in early September 1841. On September 6, 1841, some 25 New Mexican immigrants joined the group and left Abiquiú, New Mexico
, north of Santa Fe
. Due to desert conditions the trip was made in the Fall when there was feed for the animals to graze on, as well as water-holes along the trail. Because of the size of the caravan, they did not receive attack from Native Americans when crossing the native homelands. Although the expedition has often been referred to as an "American wagon train," the Old Spanish Trail never could accommodate wagons and, moreover, there were Europeans and, more importantly, New Mexicans, many of significant Indian ancestry, in the group. According to Workman and others, the so-called Workman-Rowland Party arrived in southern Alta California
, on November 5, 1841.
. While Workman remained at La Puente, Rowland returned, in April 1842, to New Mexico to retrieve his wife and children. They and other immigrants traveled to California and arrived at Los Angeles in December. By the next summer, Rowland constructed an adobe home about a mile east of the one built the previous year by Workman. The two stocked their ranch with cattle and engaged in the hide and tallow trade.
In 1845, the Mexican land grant
was extended to 48790 acres (197 km²) and made permanent in both Rowland and Workman's name. Strangely, Rowland claimed that Workman was inadvertently left off the 1842 grant, although Workman received, at that time, a document giving him all the rights and privileges to use La Puente as if an owner. It is more likely that Workman's reputation in New Mexico preceded him in California and it was decided for him to lie low. Notably, just before Pico's new grant, Workman, as captain, and Rowland, as lieutenant, had assisted in February 1845, by leading a contingent of Americans and Europeans, Pico in assuming the governorship by force at a battle against Governor Manuel Micheltorena.
Rowland was a successful cattle rancher and farmer for over thirty years at La Puente and moved into the lucrative Gold Rush beef trade after 1848. In 1847, he built the first private grist mill in the Los Angeles region, not far east of his home. He also had vineyards and many crops, which were expanded after the decline of the Gold Rush, a poor economy, competition from better imported cattle breeds, and flood and drought decimated the cattle industry by 1865. Undaunted, Rowland quickly expanded his agricultural focus and developed a thriving and fertile array of field crops, orchards, and vineyards.
About 1851, he and Workman informally decided to split their property, with Rowland taking about 29000 acres (117 km²) on the east and Workman receiving the 20000 acres (81 km²) on the west. Their land division was made official in 1867, when the two men received a federal patent for their land, resulting from a 15-year protracted struggle to legitimize their land claim as required by the 1851 California land claims act. Indeed, Rowland contacted Henry W. Halleck, Abraham Lincoln's Chief of Staff, who had served as California Secretary of State and who had submitted one of the two reports to Congress about the viability of California land claims, for advice on obtaining his patent. Halleck's 1865 response was brief, but to the point: "hire a lawyer and give him plenty of money." This Rowland did, hiring attorney Henry Beard, who prepared a published synopsis of the land claim in 1866 and who was successful in securing the patent.
Luis Arenas and Rowland were granted Rancho Los Huecos
by Pío Pico
in 1846. Rowland also claimed eleven square leagues, situated on the banks of the Stanislaus River
and San Joaquin River
, by Pío Pico in 1846, but the claim was rejected.
Rowland retained most of his La Puente holdings until his death, after which the tract was divided amongst his second wife and his children. In the 1880s, the railroad boom towns of Puente and Covina were created from the Rowland portion of the rancho and oil was discovered in the Puente Hills on a section left to youngest son, William R. Rowland, who formed the highly-successful Puente Oil Company. Today, heirs of Rowland through his namesake great-grandson, John Rowland IV, still own over a hundred acres in the City of Industry and Rowland Heights which are leased out for commercial purposes, though a ca. 1900 ranch home, an older barn, and a later dwelling were recently razed for commercial development that has not yet taken place.
of the Rancho Cañón de Santa Ana
. A third son, William R. Rowland, married, Manuelita, a daughter of Isaac Williams, owner of Rancho Santa Ana del Chino
, and would also go on to be a two-term Sheriff of Los Angeles as well as an oil company president with the Puente Oil Company, drilling wells on his land in the Puente Hills after 1885. Encarnación Rowland died in 1851.
In 1852, Rowland married Charlotte M. Gray, a widow with three children. In addition to Charlotte's three children from her first husband, John B. Gray, they had a daughter, Mary Agnes Gray, married General Charles Forman, who would go on to establish Toluca Lake
..
John Rowland died in October 1873 and is interred at El Campo Santo Cemetery
located on the grounds of the Workman and Temple Family Homestead Museum.
, built in 1855 for Rowland's second wife Charlotte, is the oldest surviving brick structure in southern California, is located on Gale Avenue in the Hacienda Heights, California
, and is owned by the Historical Society of La Puente Valley, which has recently begun initial restoration efforts and intends to start some public programs there late in 2010. Just east of Hacienda Heights is the unincorporated community of Rowland Heights
, which contains John A. Rowland High School
.
San Gabriel Valley
The San Gabriel Valley is one of the principal valleys of Southern California, United States. It lies to the east of Los Angeles, to the north of the Puente Hills, to the south of the San Gabriel Mountains, and west of the Inland Empire. It derives its name from the San Gabriel River that flows...
area of Los Angeles County
Los Angeles County, California
Los Angeles County is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of 2010 U.S. Census, the county had a population of 9,818,605, making it the most populous county in the United States. Los Angeles County alone is more populous than 42 individual U.S. states...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. He and his family were very prominent in the region's early development and the unincorporated community
Unincorporated area
In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...
of Rowland Heights, California
Rowland Heights, California
Rowland Heights is an unincorporated community of , located in and below the Puente Hills in the San Gabriel Valley, in Los Angeles County, California. The population of the census-designated place was 48,993 at the 2010 census, up from 48,553 at the 2000 census...
is named for him.
Early life
John Albert Rowland (April 15, 1791–October 13, 1873) was born in Cecil County, MarylandMaryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
. There is some dispute as to whether he had a middle name and, if so, whether "Albert" is factually known. His birthdate is also uncertain, as his tombstone indicated his age as 82 years, but no date and month were given. Most census listings indicate a later 1790s birth year. Finally, there is some speculation that he was born in southeastern Pennsylvania, across from that portion of Maryland where he is said to have been born. For example, the 1850 census listed Rowland as a native of the former state and the following two censuses indicate the latter.
At an early date in the 19th century, the Rowland family migrated to Morgan County, Ohio, roughly between Wheeling, West Virginia and Columbus, Ohio along a heavily-traveled westward route for many in the Eastern states in the first decade or two of the century. As a young man, Rowland, presumably, followed the Ohio River to the Mississippi and then to St. Louis. From there, he would have traveled along the Missouri River to the town of Franklin at the western edge of the United States. In 1823, using the new Santa Fe Trail, he migrated to New Mexico.
Rowland, said to have been trained as a surveyor, moved to San Fernando de Taos
Taos, New Mexico
Taos is a town in Taos County in the north-central region of New Mexico, incorporated in 1934. As of the 2000 census, its population was 4,700. Other nearby communities include Ranchos de Taos, Cañon, Taos Canyon, Ranchitos, and El Prado. The town is close to Taos Pueblo, the Native American...
, Nuevo Mexico
Nuevo México
-In Mexico:*Nuevo México, Chiapas*Nuevo México, Jalisco*Santa Fe de Nuevo México ; the province or kingdom of which Santa Fe was the capital....
, a territory of 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 become a fur trapper for a time, though he later operated a flour mill. In 1825, Rowland became a Mexican citizen and married María Encarnación Martínez .
Workman-Rowland Party
In Taos, Rowland established a friendship with William WorkmanWorkman-Temple family
The Workman-Temple family relates to the pioneer interconnected Workman and Temple families that were prominent in: the history of colonial Pueblo de Los Angeles and American Los Angeles; the Los Angeles Basin and San Gabriel Valley regions; and Southern California — from 1830 to 1930 in Mexican...
which developed into a business partnership with the manufacture of "Taos lightning," a whisky popular with fur trappers returning to winter in the town after long spring, summer and fall months of trapping. Workman and Rowland occasionally were embroiled in problems during their long residency in Taos. For example, a Taos-based revolt seized the government of New Mexico and the two were forced to swear loyalty to the rebels, who were, however, soon overthrown. The new governor, Manuel Armijo, was in office when Rowland and Workman were arrested for smuggling. This was a common pastime, but the arrest may have been retribution for their alleged loyalty to the Taoseño revolt.
In 1840, Texas president Mirabeau Lamar announced plans to peaceably annex all territory to the Rio Grande, including all the principal towns of New Mexico. His representative, William G. Dryden, named Rowland and Workman agents of the Texas government in New Mexico, although they were soon replaced and may have had little, if any, active role in promoting the scheme. Still, the two men decided to leave New Mexico, as the annexation scheme became an outright invasion, albeit a poorly planned and executed one that failed miserably.
Before the Texans straggled into New Mexico and were routed, Rowland and Workman, along with about two dozen other Americans and Europeans, had left New Mexico for California via the Old Spanish Trail in early September 1841. On September 6, 1841, some 25 New Mexican immigrants joined the group and left Abiquiú, New Mexico
Abiquiú, New Mexico
Abiquiú, or Abiquiu is a small unincorporated town located in Rio Arriba County, in northern New Mexico in the southwestern United States, about 53 miles north of Santa Fe. In the 1730s, it was the third largest settlement in the New Mexico Territory...
, north of Santa Fe
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the fourth-largest city in the state and is the seat of . Santa Fe had a population of 67,947 in the 2010 census...
. Due to desert conditions the trip was made in the Fall when there was feed for the animals to graze on, as well as water-holes along the trail. Because of the size of the caravan, they did not receive attack from Native Americans when crossing the native homelands. Although the expedition has often been referred to as an "American wagon train," the Old Spanish Trail never could accommodate wagons and, moreover, there were Europeans and, more importantly, New Mexicans, many of significant Indian ancestry, in the group. According to Workman and others, the so-called Workman-Rowland Party arrived in southern Alta California
Alta California
Alta California was a province and territory in the Viceroyalty of New Spain and later a territory and department in independent Mexico. The territory was created in 1769 out of the northern part of the former province of Las Californias, and consisted of the modern American states of California,...
, on November 5, 1841.
Land grants and ranching
In 1842, Rowland (usually referred to as "John Roland" or "Juan Roland" in the land grant records) received a grant, in his name only, of 11740 acres (48 km²) to Rancho La PuenteRancho La Puente
Rancho La Puente was a ranch in the eastern San Gabriel Valley that, in its fullest extent, measured just under , and remained intact until about 1870. By modern landmarks, the ranch extended from San Gabriel River on the west to just west of the 57 Freeway on the east and from Ramona...
. While Workman remained at La Puente, Rowland returned, in April 1842, to New Mexico to retrieve his wife and children. They and other immigrants traveled to California and arrived at Los Angeles in December. By the next summer, Rowland constructed an adobe home about a mile east of the one built the previous year by Workman. The two stocked their ranch with cattle and engaged in the hide and tallow trade.
In 1845, the Mexican land grant
Ranchos of California
The Spanish, and later the Méxican government encouraged settlement of territory now known as California by the establishment of large land grants called ranchos, from which the English ranch is derived. Devoted to raising cattle and sheep, the owners of the ranchos attempted to pattern themselves...
was extended to 48790 acres (197 km²) and made permanent in both Rowland and Workman's name. Strangely, Rowland claimed that Workman was inadvertently left off the 1842 grant, although Workman received, at that time, a document giving him all the rights and privileges to use La Puente as if an owner. It is more likely that Workman's reputation in New Mexico preceded him in California and it was decided for him to lie low. Notably, just before Pico's new grant, Workman, as captain, and Rowland, as lieutenant, had assisted in February 1845, by leading a contingent of Americans and Europeans, Pico in assuming the governorship by force at a battle against Governor Manuel Micheltorena.
Rowland was a successful cattle rancher and farmer for over thirty years at La Puente and moved into the lucrative Gold Rush beef trade after 1848. In 1847, he built the first private grist mill in the Los Angeles region, not far east of his home. He also had vineyards and many crops, which were expanded after the decline of the Gold Rush, a poor economy, competition from better imported cattle breeds, and flood and drought decimated the cattle industry by 1865. Undaunted, Rowland quickly expanded his agricultural focus and developed a thriving and fertile array of field crops, orchards, and vineyards.
About 1851, he and Workman informally decided to split their property, with Rowland taking about 29000 acres (117 km²) on the east and Workman receiving the 20000 acres (81 km²) on the west. Their land division was made official in 1867, when the two men received a federal patent for their land, resulting from a 15-year protracted struggle to legitimize their land claim as required by the 1851 California land claims act. Indeed, Rowland contacted Henry W. Halleck, Abraham Lincoln's Chief of Staff, who had served as California Secretary of State and who had submitted one of the two reports to Congress about the viability of California land claims, for advice on obtaining his patent. Halleck's 1865 response was brief, but to the point: "hire a lawyer and give him plenty of money." This Rowland did, hiring attorney Henry Beard, who prepared a published synopsis of the land claim in 1866 and who was successful in securing the patent.
Luis Arenas and Rowland were granted Rancho Los Huecos
Rancho Los Huecos
Rancho Los Huecos was a Mexican land grant in present day Santa Clara County, California given in 1846 by Governor Pio Pico to Luis Arenas and John A. Rowland. The grant extended along the San Felipe Valley between present day Gilroy and Hollister at the foot of the Diablo Range. -History:Luis...
by Pío Pico
Pío Pico
Pío de Jesús Pico was the last Governor of Alta California under Mexican rule.-Origins:...
in 1846. Rowland also claimed eleven square leagues, situated on the banks of the Stanislaus River
Stanislaus River
The Stanislaus River in California is one of the largest tributaries of the San Joaquin River. The river is long and has north, middle and south forks...
and San Joaquin River
San Joaquin River
The San Joaquin River is the largest river of Central California in the United States. At over long, the river starts in the high Sierra Nevada, and flows through a rich agricultural region known as the San Joaquin Valley before reaching Suisun Bay, San Francisco Bay, and the Pacific Ocean...
, by Pío Pico in 1846, but the claim was rejected.
Rowland retained most of his La Puente holdings until his death, after which the tract was divided amongst his second wife and his children. In the 1880s, the railroad boom towns of Puente and Covina were created from the Rowland portion of the rancho and oil was discovered in the Puente Hills on a section left to youngest son, William R. Rowland, who formed the highly-successful Puente Oil Company. Today, heirs of Rowland through his namesake great-grandson, John Rowland IV, still own over a hundred acres in the City of Industry and Rowland Heights which are leased out for commercial purposes, though a ca. 1900 ranch home, an older barn, and a later dwelling were recently razed for commercial development that has not yet taken place.
Family life
John and Encarnación Rowland had ten children, of which 2 sons, John and Thomas, married daughters of Bernardo YorbaBernardo Yorba
Bernardo Yorba , was a native of Nueva California and the son of Spanish soldier, José Antonio Yorba. Bernardo became one of the most successful ranchers in Alta California with thousands of cattle and horses grazing on land grants totaling more than 35,000 acres...
of the Rancho Cañón de Santa Ana
Rancho Cañón de Santa Ana
Rancho Cañón de Santa Ana was a land grant in present day Orange County, California given by Mexican governor José Figueroa in 1834 to Bernardo Yorba. The name means "Canyon of Santa Ana". The grant included present day Yorba Linda.-History:...
. A third son, William R. Rowland, married, Manuelita, a daughter of Isaac Williams, owner of Rancho Santa Ana del Chino
Rancho Santa Ana del Chino
Rancho Santa Ana del Chino was a Mexican land grant in the Chino Hills of present day San Bernardino County, California given to Antonio Maria Lugo in 1841 by Governor Juan Bautista Alvarado...
, and would also go on to be a two-term Sheriff of Los Angeles as well as an oil company president with the Puente Oil Company, drilling wells on his land in the Puente Hills after 1885. Encarnación Rowland died in 1851.
In 1852, Rowland married Charlotte M. Gray, a widow with three children. In addition to Charlotte's three children from her first husband, John B. Gray, they had a daughter, Mary Agnes Gray, married General Charles Forman, who would go on to establish Toluca Lake
Toluca Lake, Los Angeles, California
Toluca Lake is a district, north of downtown Los Angeles, in the San Fernando Valley region of the city of Los Angeles, California, and a "community within two communities, North Hollywood and Burbank"....
..
John Rowland died in October 1873 and is interred at El Campo Santo Cemetery
El Campo Santo Cemetery
El Campo Santo is a cemetery located at the Workman and Temple Family Homestead Museum, 15415 East Don Julian Road, in City of Industry, California....
located on the grounds of the Workman and Temple Family Homestead Museum.
Legacy
The John A. Rowland HouseJohn A. Rowland House
John A. Rowland House in Hacienda Heights, California was built in 1855. The home of pioneer John A. Rowland, of the Workman-Rowland party, co-leader of the first American band of settlers to reach Southern California in 1841. John A. Rowland built this home for his second wife, Charlotte M...
, built in 1855 for Rowland's second wife Charlotte, is the oldest surviving brick structure in southern California, is located on Gale Avenue in the Hacienda Heights, California
Hacienda Heights, California
Hacienda Heights is an unincorporated census-designated place in and below the Puente Hills of the San Gabriel Valley, in Los Angeles County, California, United States...
, and is owned by the Historical Society of La Puente Valley, which has recently begun initial restoration efforts and intends to start some public programs there late in 2010. Just east of Hacienda Heights is the unincorporated community of Rowland Heights
Rowland Heights, California
Rowland Heights is an unincorporated community of , located in and below the Puente Hills in the San Gabriel Valley, in Los Angeles County, California. The population of the census-designated place was 48,993 at the 2010 census, up from 48,553 at the 2000 census...
, which contains John A. Rowland High School
John A. Rowland High School
John A. Rowland High School is a public high school located in Rowland Heights, California. It is part of the Rowland Unified School District....
.