Surnames: BONEVANTUR, BORONDA, PORTOLA, PICO, ECHEANDIA, MICHELTORENA,
CASTRO, FLORES, BANDINI, STEARNS, FREMONT, STOCKTON, HARRIS, DE LA
GUERRAS, RILEY, ROE, CARR, HAWKINS, DANA, SUFFERT
The interest which attaches to the
biography of California pioneers is an expression of gratitude which
their fellow-citizens feel towards those forerunners of civilization who
have done so much to make both habitable and attractive this glorious
section of the Far West. Not only as a pioneer of the state, but also as
one of the early residents of San Jose and vicinity, Maria Antonia
Careaga enjoys the respect and esteem of the citizens of Santa Clara County.
Mrs. Careaga's maiden name was Maria A. Bonevantur, a daughter of
Monsieur Bernardo Bonevantur, who had come from France and married
Albina Boronda, a charming member of one of the very early pure
Castilian families of Monterey. Her father was a carpenter at San Juan
Bautista, and passed away when our subject was only ten years old. Her
mother reared the family as best she could, the only one now surviving
being the subject of this sketch. Her maternal grandfather Boronda was a
native Californian, but great-grandfather Boronda came from Spain.
Maria A. Bonevantur received her education in the San Juan convent, and
her marriage to Ramon F. Careaga was solemnized amid all the festivities
characteristic of the social life in a family of such ancient
traditions. After their marriage at the old historical mission, she
accompanied her husband to his ranch and was his able helpmate and
counsellor, encouraging him in his ambitions, and success came to them
above their greatest expectations.
For many generations the Careaga family has been distinguished in
California not only for its participation in the gradual development of
the state, but because it is one of the important historical links
between Castilian Spain and the flourishing colonies which her prophetic
vision and unbounded energy planted in the New World. The earliest
Careaga of whom we have record as a direct forebear of this esteemed
family, was Spanish nobleman born in medieval Castile and sent to Mexico
as a military man by the King of Spain. A descendant was Colonel
Satornino Careaga, also a soldier, who came from Mexico to Monterey,
California, when he was but seventeen years old. He was a member of
Captain Muñoz's command, and with all the chivalry ever characteristic
of the Careagas, he risked his life and sacrificed his comfort to
protect the dependent and exposed San Jose Mission. His son, Ramon F.
Careaga, the husband of our subject, who died on February 7, 1914, was a
handsome, splendidly preserved gentleman, who could look back to many
stirring events in which he had participated, or of which his father, in
the good old days when the Spanish Dons gathered their children about
them, had told him as a part of the cherished family tradition. There
were personal anecdotes about Governor Portola, and the expedition to
Monterey; there were recollections of Pio Pico, Echeandia, Micheltorena,
Castro, Flores, Juan Bandini, Abel Stearns, and finally of Fremont and
Stockton, with all of whom and their contemporaries the Careagas had had
much to do, first in fighting for Spain and then for Mexico, and
ultimately in helping to build up your America on the Coast.
With a brother, Juan B. Careaga, also born in Monterey County, and
Daniel Harris, Ramon bought about 18,000 acres of the old ranch
belonging to the De la Guerras (early Spaniards who, with their wide
territory, figured prominently in the state history); and later, in the
division, Harris took some 7,500 acres, while the Careaga brothers held
more than 10,000. In the final subdivision, Ramon received 6,970, and
this property has become the center of the Santa Maria oil fields. More
than that, it was on Ramon Careaga's historic land that oil was first
discovered in the Santa Maria Valley. One day, while the Careagas were
walking across their finely situated acres, one of the parties
discovered, here and there, some outcroppings of asphalt--an intruder on
the surface of the rich soil which would have been most unwelcome had
not the experience of the intelligent observer recognized in the dark
substance the coveted indications of rich oil deposits. It was not long
before that which was assumed and hoped for to be true was proven a
certainty. On March 14, 1900, the erection of the great rig for the
first well was begun and they soon struck oil, but the well had to be
abandoned on account of some obstacle. A similar experience was met in
the attempt to sink well number 2; but nothing daunted, the riggers and
drillers moved farther up the canyon and soon had, in well number 3,
such a flow of oil that at last the precious liquid was obtained in
paying quantities. The long waited-for event was duly celebrated by a
big barbecue, for which the hospitable Careagas furnished four of their
choicest beeves, the meat being partaken of by hundreds of visitors.
After her husband's death, Mrs. Careaga moved to San Jose, where she
enjoys a quiet and comfortable life. They were the parents of eleven
children: Luis S. is married and resides at Santa Barbara; Ramon A.
married Miss Cora Riley and they have two children, Ramon F. and Alberto
J. and reside in San Jose; he passed away in 1919; John T. married Miss
Alberta Roe and they have one child, Adelbert; Eleanor M. became the
wife of John Carr and the mother of two sons, John F. and Leland and
they reside on the Careaga ranch; Bernardo F. married Miss Gussie
Hawkins and they have two children, William B. and Eugene F.; he passed
away in 1919; Antonio F. resides on the Careaga ranch and so does James
F., who is a farmer and stockman; and Charles M. resides on the
northwest oil lease of the Careaga ranch near Bicknell, and looks after
the oil and gas interests of the estate. He married Miss J. Hawkins and
they have one child, Durwind; Rita J. is the wife of Mr. Hawkins and
they reside in San Jose. Evangeline is now Mrs. Dana, also on Careaga
ranch, Santa Barbara County. Angela is Mrs. Suffert and makes her home
in San Jose.
Mrs. Careaga had the comfort and pleasure of having her mother with her
during her last days and enjoyed ministering to her comforts until she
passed away at the age of seventy-seven. Mrs. Careaga has always been
interested in educational affairs and during her husband's lifetime gave
land for two school sites on their property. Mrs. Careaga resides in a
comfortable residence on Sierra Avenue, San Jose, and enjoys dispensing
the same old-time California hospitality that her husband and their
forebears were so noted for.
transcribed byJoseph Kral, from Eugene T. Sawyers' History of Santa Clara County,California, published by Historic Record Co. , 1922 -page 484
SANTA CLARA COUNTY PIONEER BIOGRAPHIES
SANTA CLARA COUNTY HISTORY