Tomas Avila Sanchez Californio

Californio

Californio is a term used to identify a Spanish-speaking Catholic people, regardless of race, born in California before 1848...

 soldier and public official. He served on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors

Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is the five-member nonpartisan governing board of Los Angeles County, California. Members of the board of supervisors are elected by district. They were as of December 2, 2008:*District 1: Gloria Molina...

 and served as Los Angeles County Sheriff.

Biography

Tomas Sanchez, baptized as Jose Tomas Tadeo Sanchez, but known through the years as Tomas Avila Sanchez. Jose Tomas Sanchez was the son of Pedro Antonio Jose Sanchez (1806 - ) and Maria Ascension Avila ( - 1847). His grandfather, Vicente Anastacio Sanchez (1785 - 1846), was Mayor of Los Angeles in 1831-1832 and 1845, and was the grantee of Rancho La Cienega o Paso de la Tijera

Rancho La Cienega o Paso de la Tijera

Rancho La Cienega o Paso de la Tijera was a Mexican land grant in present day Los Angeles County, California given in 1843 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to Vicente Sánchez...

.

Tomas Sanchez was the tax collector for Los Angeles in 1843, during the period of Mexican government of California. Tomas Sanchez inherited Rancho La Cienega o Paso de la Tijera from his grandfather in 1846. He served as a soldier in the Mexican forces during the Mexican-American War, and was one of the lancer

Lancer

A lancer was a type of cavalryman who fought with a lance. Lances were used in mounted warfare by the Assyrians as early as and subsequently by Greek, Persian, Gallic, Han-Chinese, nomadic and Roman horsemen...

s in the Battle of San Pasqual

Battle of San Pasqual

The Battle of San Pasqual, also spelled San Pascual, was a military encounter that occurred during the Mexican-American War in what is now the San Pasqual Valley community of the city of San Diego, California. On December 6 and December 7, 1846, General Stephen W...

. Sanchez remained in the area after the war and remained active in politics under the new California government, as a Democrat.

During the insurrection of Juan Flores

Juan Flores

Juan Flores was a 19th century Californio bandit who, with Pancho Daniel, led an outlaw gang known as "las Manillas" and later as the Flores Daniel Gang, throughout Southern California during 1856-1857...

, after the murder of Sheriff Barton in January 1857, Sanchez took the lead in the pursuit and capture of the Flores.His stand against Flores soon gained him political support from local American settlers that resulted in his election to three terms on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors in 1857, 1858, and 1859.

In the late 1850s and early 1860s Sanchez strongly favored the Southern cause and secessionist movement which was very popular with many of the American settlers in Southern California

Southern California

Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...

. In 1860, Tomas Sanchez was elected Sheriff of Los Angeles County. He became a founding member and Lieutenant

Lieutenant

A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...

 in the secessionist militia company called the Los Angeles Mounted Rifles

Los Angeles Mounted Rifles

The Los Angeles Mounted Rifles was a company of the California State Militia formed in 1861. It was the only California state unit to serve the Confederacy.- Formation :...

 in 1861. He used his position as Sheriff to equip the company, however when the Rifles suddenly left for the Confederacy

Confederate States of America

The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...

, he remained behind in office. Despite the suspicion of Federal officials during the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

, he remained in office until 1867.

In 1867, Tomas Avila Sanchez married Maria Sepulveda (daughter of Fernando Sepulveda and Maria Josefa Dominguez), and lived in the adobe home on Rancho San Rafael

Rancho San Rafael

Rancho San Rafael was a Spanish land grant bordering the Los Angeles River and the Arroyo Seco in present day Los Angeles County, California, given in 1784 to Jose Maria Verdugo. The rancho includes the present day cities of Glendale, Eagle Rock, La Cañada, Montrose, and Verdugo City...

. In 1875, Tomas Sanchez sold Rancho La Cienega o Paso de la Tijera. Sanchez died in 1882, leaving his wife, nineteen sons and two daughters.