Rodriguez family

The Rodriguez family was one of the earliest and most important of the Californio families in what is now Santa Cruz County.

• Jose Antonio was a native of Compostela, Jalisco. From Rowland:
  • 1782 - married while a soldado de cuera ("leather-jacket" soldier) at Mission San Gabriel. They had nine children who lived to adulthood.
  • 1786 - was at Monterey when first son Sebastian was born
  • 1787 - was a member of the escolta (military detachment) at Mission Soledad
  • 1798 - was one of six invalidos (retired soldier) who came, with his family, to live in the newly-established Villa de Branciforte
  • 1811 - was comisionado (military representative) of the Monterey Presidio at Branciforte
  • 1820 - died; buried at Mission San Carlos
    • 1834 - Francisco Rancho Arroyo del Rodeo grantee
    • 1837 - Sebastian: Rancho Bolsa del Pajaro (Watsonville) grantee
      • son Jacinto (1815-1880) has a bio in Barrows. Born on the rancho, he moved to Monterey as an adult, marrying a daughter of the Pinto family.
    • 1838 - Roman: acquired all or half of the building now often referred to as the "Armas and Rodriguez adobe". The adobe structure is the main feature of Santa Cruz Mission State Historic Park.
      • John L. Chase, The Sidewalk Companion to Santa Cruz Architecture (4th ed. 2023), Chapter Four, item (36), page 102
    • 1843 - Roman: Rancho Agua Puerca y Las Trancas co-grantee
    • 1844 - Manuel: noted in Rowland (p.16) as alcalde. This may be the same Manuel shown as a property owner on the 1866 Santa Cruz map (Block No. 3, Rincon Street); and on the

Hatch map".

• • • 1866 - Roman: listed as owner of the residence noted above, and another lot on Mission Hill, on the 1866 Santa Cruz map.
    • 1890 - Cornelia Lunes Hopcroft was adopted by the Roman Rodriguez family. She inherited the adobe residence, where she lived until her death in 1983, at the age of 104.
      • John L. Chase, The Sidewalk Companion to Santa Cruz Architecture (4th ed. 2023), Chapter Four, item (36), page 103

• Santa Cruz: The Early Years (1980 book), by Leon Rowland
• Sentinel article ("The Official Survey of Santa Cruz", Santa Cruz Sentinel, Jun 23, 1866, 2:4)
• History of Santa Cruz County (Harrison-1892) notes that "Marie Adelaide Rodriguez 1837-1916, a daughter of one of the earliest Spanish families in California", married Henry Jackson in 1855 (p.230). Her father's name was Antonio Rodriguez (no Find-a-Grave page found in SC County), possibly a grandson of Jose Antonio.