José Antonio Estudillo (November 5, 1803 – July 20, 1852) was a

Californio Californios (singular Californio) are Californians of Spaniards, Spanish descent, especially those descended from settlers of the 17th through 19th centuries before California was annexed by the United States. California's Spanish language in C ...

ranchero, politician, and soldier, who served as Alcalde of San Diego and as San Diego County Assessor. He was a member of the Estudillo family of California, a prominent

family of San Diego.

Life

José Antonio Estudillo was born in 1803 in

Monterey Monterey ( ; ) is a city situated on the southern edge of Monterey Bay, on the Central Coast of California. Located in Monterey County, the city occupies a land area of and recorded a population of 30,218 in the 2020 census. The city was fou ...

, then part of

New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( ; Nahuatl: ''Yankwik Kaxtillan Birreiyotl''), originally the Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain. It was one of several ...

, to Captain

José María Estudillo José María Estudillo (died April 8, 1830) was a Spanish-born Californio military officer and early settler of San Diego. He is the founder of the Estudillo family of California and served as Commandant of the Presidio of San Diego. Life List o ...

. José Antonio Estudillo probably came to

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

as a boy in 1820, when his father became commandant of the Presidio of San Diego. His brother José Joaquín was the second ''

alcalde ''Alcalde'' (; ) is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and Administration (government), administrative functions. An ''alcalde'' was, in the absence of a corregidor (position), corregidor, the presiding officer o ...

'' of Yerba Buena, the ''pueblo'' that later became

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. Estudillo joined the Spanish Army at the Presidio and eventually made lieutenant around 1824. He received the Rancho Janal Mexican land grant in 1829 and Rancho San Jacinto Viejo in 1842. He was a member of the assembly from 1833 to 1835. By the time he reached adulthood, settlement around the fort (presidio) that his father had commanded had grown to become the early Pueblo San Diego; Estudillo "followed" in his father's footsteps when, during 1837–38, he was Alcade and Juez de Paz of San Diego. At various times he was also the treasurer and tax collector. In 1827 Estudillo built a large L-shaped

adobe Adobe (from arabic: الطوب Attub ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for mudbrick. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is use ...

house for his father on land granted by Governor José María de Echeandía . The adobe was later enlarged and became U-shaped. It was considered one of the finest homes in Alta California. The house is still standing, known as

Casa de Estudillo The Casa de Estudillo, also known as the Estudillo House, is a historic adobe house in San Diego, California, United States. It was constructed in 1827 by José María Estudillo and his son José Antonio Estudillo, early settlers of San Diego a ...

, and is one of the oldest surviving buildings in California. It is located in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park, on the southeast side of the Old Town San Diego plaza, and is designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

in its own right. The Estudillo family lived there until 1887, after which the home became a tourist attraction popularly known as "Ramona's Marriage Place," based on the fictional character in

Helen Hunt Jackson Helen Hunt Jackson (pen name, H.H.; born Helen Maria Fiske; October 15, 1830 – August 12, 1885) was an American poet and writer who became an activist on behalf of improved treatment of Native Americans by the United States government. She de ...

's novel Ramona. The house was obtained by the State of California in 1968, was restored to its original condition, and is now a museum open to the public. During the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...

Estudillo remained neutral. After California became part of the United States in 1850, he was the first San Diego County assessor. Estudillo married María Victoria Dominguez (July 28, 1800 – October 19, 1875) in the Presidio of San Diego on March 1, 1824. She was the daughter of María de los Reyes and Sergeant Cristobal Dominguez, grantee of Rancho San Pedro. They had 7 sons and 5 daughters. Their daughter, María Antonia Estudillo, married

Miguel Pedrorena Don Miguel de Pedrorena (c. 1808–March 21, 1850) was a Spanish-born Californio ranchero, merchant, and a signer of the California Constitution in 1849. He also served briefly as acting List of pre-statehood mayors of San Diego, Alcalde of San Di ...

. Their daughters María Francisca Estudillo and later María del Rosario Estudillo married José Antonio Aguirre. Their son José Guadalupe Estudillo was California State Treasurer. Estudillo died in 1852 and is buried at El Campo Santo Catholic Cemetery in Old Town San Diego. In his biography in Smythe's ''History of San Diego'', he is described as "a man of excellent character and large influence.Biography from San Diego Historical Society
from Smythe's ''History of San Diego'' (1907), p. 169.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Estudillo, Jose Antonio 1803 births 1852 deaths Mayors of San Diego American politicians of Mexican descent 19th-century Mexican politicians People of Alta California 19th-century mayors of places in California