Surnames: Sanchez, Berryessa, Agraz, Patron,
One of the best loved men of Santa Clara
County, Ygnacio Bernal, was born on February 25, 1841, in the same
adobe house on
the Teresa Rancho where his father, Don Bruno Bernal
first saw the light, and he died on April 22, 1906. Between these dates
he helped materially to develop his native county and to uphold the
traditions of the Spanish Dons of the earlier period.
His grandfather, Joaquin Bernal, was sent to Mexico and California in
1769 by Carlos III of Spain to investigate the mineral wealth of the
country as a mining engineer and assayer and for the valuable services
he gave his sovereign he was granted favors and had his pick of land
grants in California. He selected Santa Teresa, which consisted
of 10,000 acres, and part of this
is still in the possession of the Bernal heirs. When Joaquin Bernal
petitioned the Mexican government in 1834 to have the title
confirmed he stated that he was ninety-four years old, had a "posterity
of seventy-eight children," had "2,100 head of cattle, 1,200 sheep,
three mares and fifty tame horses." This is one
of the very few grants in the state that had not passed entirely out of
the family to which it was first granted, there still being 374 acres
of the most valuable land in the county owned by the Ygnacio Bernal
family. Joaquin Bernal had been educated at Barcelona, Spain, and was a
very brilliant man of parts. He married Josefa Sanchez, who lived to be
110 years old and at that age she was able to thread needles for her
grand-
children.
Among the children of Joaquin Bernal and his wife, we mention Bruno
Bernal, grandfather of the present generation of Bernals now living
on
the ranch. He was born there in an adobe house in 1800 and in his time
was one of the prominent men of the locality and entertained with the
true Spanish hospitality. He succeeded to part of the Santa Teresa
acres and devoted much of his time to raising horses. At the time when
General Fremont made his expedition through California he and Captain
Weber took 300 broken horses, some of the best in the state, for their
soldiers and forgot to pay for them. Bruno Bernal married Antonio Maria
Ortega, one of the heirs of eleven leagues of land known as the San
Ysidro Grant, part upon which the city of Gilroy was built, but
through
neglect she never got any part of her inheritance.
Over the Santa Teresa hills is situated the San Vincente Rancho,
granted to Jose Berryessa, who married one of Joaquin Bernal's
daughters. This is one of the richest grants in the state, for upon it
is located the Almaden mines that have been producing quick-silver for
ninety years and the total in dollars runs into the millions. It was
once abandoned by Antonio Sunol after he had spent $400 in trying to
develop it. Mrs. Berryessa sold it for $60,000 to the Almaden Mining
Company, which now owns a great part of the land. Upon the Bernal ranch
is situated the Santa Teresa Spring, noted for its medicinal qualities
and for the fact that it never ceased to flow its usual amount, no
matter what period of the year. These springs are visited by many each
year.
Ygnacio Bernal attended the Santa Clara College in 1854-5-6, and was
among the first students there after it was established. He was one of
the gold medal students for his standing in classes and high grade upon
completing his courses there. Returning to the ranch acted as secretary
to his father and virtually managed the affairs of the ranch, as he was
quick at figures and an expert linguist, speaking fluently four
languages. at the age of nineteen he was united in marriage with Miss
Jesusita Patron, born in Lower California and who came here with her
brother. During their trip they were lost for about three months, but
arrived in safety at Monterey. At the time of her marriage she was
sixteen years old. They were parents of nine children, five of whom are
still living: Pedro A., the discoverer of
the marl deposits on the home
ranch; Ynez, widow of S. F. Agraz and the mother of a son, Urbano;
Salvador F., is married and has a daughter Jane, he is a resident of
this county; Miss Jacoba P., is at home with her mother; Antonio
A., is married and resides at Madrone and has a son, Antonio A., Jr.
The following children have passed away: Ygnacio, Dionicio and
Anita C.
Mrs. Bernal resides at the home place and to her is given great
credit for rearing her family and keeping the ranch ownership in
the Bernal family. Mr. Bernal was devoted to his wife and family, and
in their forty-five years of married life he was only separated from
her about a month, when he went to Mexico as an interpreter. He was a
man of imposing appearance, kindly disposition, lovable nature and was
a friend to every one who knew him. He planted the first orchard
in this section , had the foresight to see that the fruit industry must
become the largest branch of industry in this county and had implicit
confidence in it.
The Bernal family are prominently associated with the present day
development of the county, they believe in progress and are public
spirited and supporters of all worthy projects for the general
advancement of the county, where they hold an honored position. They
are devout Catholics. The family have many relics of the days of
Spanish occupation which have been plowed up on the ranch and which are
valued very highly by them, among them a sweet-toned bell that the herd
mare wore, also old Spanish spurs used in breaking wild horses, house
keys, etc.
As a matter of interest and romance there is supposed to be buried on
the Santa Teresa ranch a treasure of $10,000. This money belonged to an
old French saddle maker, Changarra by name, who come to the ranch in
the '30s and Don Bruno Bernal gave the man a place in an adobe where he
could carry on his work. Not only did he make saddles for Mr. Bernal
but many which he
sold. As he would get some forty or fifty made up he would start out
and dispose of them, going as far south as Santa Barbara. He made
serviceable saddles, not the ornate gold and silver mounted kind that
the Spanish Dons used for their trips and visits. The Frenchman made
considerable money and as there were no banks Changarra buried his
cash, changing its hiding place every time he added to the hoard. He
was known to have accumulated $10,000 when he made his last
journey to dispose of his wares. On his way back from Santa Barbara,
between Paso Robles and Bakersfield, he camped for the night, sleeping
under an oak tree. In the morning he was found dead and the buried
treasure on the Bernal ranch at once became an
object of search, but to this day it has not been recovered and people
have been searching for it ever since the death of "Old Changarra."
Seers, mediums, occult persons have been sought in hopes of disclosing
the hiding place but it still remains "buried treasure."
Transcribed by Marie Clayton, from Eugene T. Sawyers' History of Santa Clara County,California, published by Historic Record Co. , 1922. page 408
SANTA CLARA FAMILY CHRONICLES
SANTA CLARA COUNTY- The Valley of Heart's Delight
July 21, 2005