San Diego County Biographies

TOMAS ALVARADO

Submitted by Carolyn Feroben

This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives
http://calarchives4u.com/

These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit 
or presentation by other organizations. Persons or organizations 
desiring to use this material for non-commercial purposes, MUST obtain 
the written consent of the contributor, OR the legal representative of 
the submitter. All persons donating to this site retain the rights to 
their own work.
 
one of the best known residents of southern California, was born in Los Angeles, 
on Main street, December 21, 1841. His father, Ysidro Alvarado, a native also of 
California, married Miss Michaela Avila, who also was born in California. He 
grandfather, Javier Alvarado, came to Los Angeles in 1810 from Santa Barbara, 
was appointed a Sergeant by the Governor-General in Los Angeles, erected a 
handsome residence and made his permanent home there. His grandmother was a 
woman of superior education. In her great benevolence she organized the first 
school in Los Angeles, taught there herself without remuneration, assisting in 
many ways to make it popular. She also had a thorough knowledge of medicine, and 
acted as physician in many cases and had a great store or remedies at hand. She 
was a woman of many noble qualities, which were recognized and appreciate by 
many friends. Ysidro Alvarado inherited many of his characters from his noble 
mother. He was a peaceful man, very unlike his cousin, Governor Juan Bautista 
Alvarado, which name recalls the revolution of November, 1836, that finally 
culminated in a precipitation of California into the United States. For an 
account of this most important history of California, see the preceding pages of 
this volume. Mr. Alvarado has devoted his years to stock-raising on his ranch, 
the Montserralte, where large herds of sleek, well-fed cattle roam at will.
   Montserralte has had a long, romantic history. In early days the hacienda was 
the resort of the senoras, senoritas and grandees. An occasion of festivity in 
those days meant not less than a week of continuous revelry. The night is 
dedicated to music and the dance, banquets, and portions of the day to siestas, 
the demure and fascinating ladies occupying the magnificently furnished 
apartments, while the gay cabaleros found repose in the grateful shade of the 
broad palm trees.
   Don Alvarado is a well-known man throughout California, on account of his 
excellent qualities. He is interested in several important enterprises, 
including stock-raising on a large scale. 
   June 4, 1864, he married Mrs. Maria Ygnacia Morena de Soto, a native of 
California; has had six daughters and one son, of whom five are at present 
living. His home is at Old San Diego.
 
An Illustrated History of Southern California: Embracing the Counties of San 
Diego, San Bernardino, Los Angeles and Orange, and the Peninsula of Lower 
California, from the Earliest Period of Occupancy to the Present Time.... - 
Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1890. pp 243