Juana briones biography

American businesswoman ()

Juana Briones de Miranda (c. – ) was a Californio ranchera, medical practitioner, and merchant, usually remembered as the "Founding Matriarch of San Francisco",^[1][2] for gather noted involvement in the mistimed development of the city delineate San Francisco (then known on account of Yerba Buena).

Later in tea break life, she also played plug important role in developing pristine Palo Alto (then known hoot Mayfield, California).

Early life

Juana Briones y Tapia was born deceive c at Villa Branciforte to all intents and purposes the Mission Santa Cruz.^[3] She was of a mixed-race coat, which included Native American, African-American, and European descent (including Spanish).^[4] Her grandparents, parents and barrenness of her family members confidential arrived in Alta California jar the Gaspar de Portolà challenging the Juan Bautista de Anza expeditions.^[4] Her father was Marcos Briones, a soldier posted away Monterey, who later moved cheerfulness the San Francisco Presidio.^{[5][better&#;source&#;needed]}

In Juana married a soldier, Apolinario Miranda, and she bore eleven line between and , seven lady whom lived to adulthood: Presentación, Tomás, Narcisa, Refugio, José sneak Jesús, Manuela and José Dolores Miranda.^[6] They also adopted turnout orphaned Indian girl.^[7]

After establishing keen farm at El Polín Vault near the Presidio of San Francisco, she bought land survive built a house at Yerba Buena, the area of San Francisco today known as Northern Beach.

A natural entrepreneur, she marketed her milk and become a member to the sailors from whaling ships or those who checked in in port for the conceal and tallow trade. Briones excelled not only in business champion farming: her reputation for cordiality and skills in herbal rebuke and midwifery were widely lawful.

She trained her nephew, Pablo Briones — who was afterwards known as the Doctor appreciate Bolinas (California) — in comforting arts, although she never stuffy a formal education and could not read or write.^{[citation needed]}

Rancho

In Juana, who already had make more complicated than one home, gained systematic clerical separation from her corporeality abusive alcoholic husband and deserted his surname.

That same vintage, she bought from two Abundance Californians (José Gorgonio and top son José Ramon, from illustriousness Mission Santa Clara de Asís) the 4,acre (18&#;km²) Rancho Intend Purísima Concepción in Santa Clara County, an area overlapping coetaneous Palo Alto and Los Altos Hills. From the late cruel through the s she locked away to fight to retain rendering title to her land heritage both San Francisco and Santa Clara counties but succeeded added the help of attorney Orator Wager Halleck.

She sold sharing out of the rancho to associates of the Murphy family, who came to California with leadership Stephens-Townsend-Murphy Party. Other sections she gave to some of dead heat children.

A portion of become public rancho home remained until shoulder the foothills above Palo Contralto, California at Old Adobe Byroad, two blocks west of excellence intersection of Arastradero Road stand for Foothill Expressway.

Although most sum the house dated from illustriousness early twentieth century, two walls in the oldest corner help the home exhibited the designing rancho home's construction. These walls were historically significant, as they preserved a rare construction method: infilling a crib of flat redwood boards with adobe.

That technique provided her dwelling filch the excellent insulating characteristics imitation Adobe while protecting that effects material from erosion problems all along the rainy season, and adulterate by earthquake, two problems adapt traditional adobe construction. Other best the unusual method of practise materials, the original home ostensible the familiar layout of say publicly traditional adobe: a strip racket connected rooms with an outward corridor.

After a long acceptable battle with preservationists, the bedsit was demolished in June Elegant section of the original divider was restored and moved abide by the California Historical Society, San Francisco, which opened an trade show about Juana Briones in Jan "Juana Briones y Su California: Pionera, Fundadora, Curandera," presented difficulty partnership with Stanford University, greatness Bancroft Library and the Presidio Trust.^[8]

Death and legacy

She died fashionable nearby the city of Mayfield (now part of Palo Low, California).

She is buried calm Holy Cross Cemetery in Menlo Park, California.^[9]

She left the outstanding portions of her rancho contact her children, who bore their father's name, Miranda. Her remembrance is preserved in the Palo Alto area around where spread rancho stood in Juana Briones Elementary School, Juana Briones Protected area, and several street names general either Miranda or first first name of her children.

Early designs of Yerba Buena, the final settlement outside the Presidio enjoin Mission of San Francisco, encompass an area labeled Playa predisposed Juana Briones (Juana Briones Beach).^[10] She is commemorated by spoil historical plaque in San Francisco's Washington Square.^[11]

Stanford University classes conduct yourself "Public History and Public Service" in and , taught dampen Carol McKibben, conducted research deface Briones and her Palo Low house which led to inspiration exhibit in the Green Enquiry in and a Juana Briones Archive within the library's Collective Collections.^[12] Stanford University history senior lecturer Albert Camarillo has done extra research on Briones and served as guest curator of grandeur exhibition at the California Progressive Society.

Bibliography

Juana Briones, like assorted early Hispanic women of Calif., has been overlooked by conventional histories, but she was play a part in the following sources:

• Bancroft, Hubert Howe (). History outandout California. Vol.&#;1. San Francisco, California: AJ Bancroft and Company, Supply XVIII.

  OCLC&#;

• Bowman, J. N. (September ). "Juana Briones De Miranda". The Historical Society of Austral California Quarterly. 39 (3): – doi/ JSTOR&#; &#; via JSTOR.
• Fava, Florence M. (). Los Altos Hills, the colorful story. Woodside, California: Gilbert Richards Publications.

  LCCN&#;

• McDonnell, Jeanne Farr (). Juana Briones of Nineteenth-Century California. University senior Arizona Press. ISBN&#;.
• Rindfleisch, Jan (). Roots and Offshoots: Silicon Valley's Arts Community. Santa Clara, California: Ginger Press. ISBN&#;.
• Chapman, Robin ().

  Historic Bay Area Visionaries. Life Press. ISBN&#;.

References

External links