Abel Stearns (February 9, 1798 – August 23, 1871) was an American trader who came to the

Pueblo de Los Angeles Pueblo refers to the settlements of the Pueblo peoples, Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, currently in New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas. The permanent communities, including some of the oldest continually occupied settlemen ...

Alta California Alta California (, ), also known as Nueva California () among other names, was a province of New Spain formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but was made a separat ...

in 1829 and became a major landowner and cattle rancher and one of the area's wealthiest citizens.

Early life

Stearns was born in Lunenburg, Massachusetts, the son of Elizabeth (née Goodrich) and Levi Stearns, a farmer. His parents were both from families that came from England in the 1600s. In about 1826 he went to

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, where he became a naturalized citizen.

Los Angeles

In 1829, Stearns emigrated to

Monterey, California Monterey ( ; ) is a city situated on the southern edge of Monterey Bay, on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California. Located in Monterey County, California, Monterey County, the city occupies a land area of and recorded a popu ...

, and then settled in the Pueblo de los Ángeles in present-day

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. He obtained a government concession to build a warehouse at San Pedro, the nearest seaport. Later, he established a

stagecoach A stagecoach (also: stage coach, stage, road coach, ) is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by ...

route connecting San Pedro Bay with the Los Angeles pueblo. In 1831, he built a three-story flour mill on North Spring Street, Los Angeles. Soon, Stearns became one of the most prominent and influential citizens of the pueblo. In 1842 Stearns bought his first rancho, the

Rancho Los Alamitos Rancho Los Alamitos takes its name from an 1834 Mexico, Mexican partition of the 1784 Rancho Los Nietos, a Ranchos of California, Spanish concession, covering an area in present-day California's southwestern Los Angeles County, California, Los ...

between Los Angeles and the harbor. A drought occurred between 1862 and 1864 which was said to have resulted in the death of 50,000 cattle on Stearns land alone. Stearns mortgaged the rancho to Michael Reese, who then purchased it at a sheriff's sale. Reese's estate was then sold to John W. Bixby and Isaias W. Hellman, a founder of the Farmers and Merchants Bank. In 1842 Stearns made the first recorded shipment of California gold to the

U.S. Mint The United States Mint is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury responsible for producing coinage for the United States to conduct its trade and commerce, as well as controlling the movement of bullion. The U.S. Mint is one of two U.S. age ...

. On July 8, 1843, his package of 1,843 ounces of

placer gold Placer mining () is the mining of stream bed deposits for minerals. This may be done by open-pit mining or by various surface excavating equipment or tunneling equipment. Placer mining is frequently used for precious metal deposits (particularly ...

, valued at $19 an ounce, was deposited in the

Philadelphia Mint The Philadelphia Mint is a branch of the United States Mint in Philadelphia. It was built in 1792 following the Coinage Act of 1792, in order to establish a national identity and the needs of commerce in the United States, and is the first and ...

by Alfred Robinson. Following the

Mexican-American War Mexican Americans are Americans of full or partial Mexican descent. In 2022, Mexican Americans comprised 11.2% of the US population and 58.9% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexican Americans were born in the United State ...

, Stearns represented Los Angeles to the US military government of California, 1848–1850. He was a delegate to the

1849 California Constitutional Convention The California Constitutional Conventions were two separate constitutional conventions that took place in California during the nineteenth century which led to the creation of the modern Constitution of California. The first, known as the 1849 ...

, representing the district of Los Angeles. Later he was

California State Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature (the upper house being the California State Senate). The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento, Califor ...

man, and a Los Angeles County Supervisor and a member of the Los Angeles Common Council, the legislative branch of the city government.

Ranchos

By 1860, Stearns was the most important land owner in Southern California, and owned Rancho La Habra, Rancho Los Coyotes, Rancho San Juan Cajón de Santa Ana, Rancho Las Bolsas, Rancho La Bolsa Chica, Rancho Jurupa and

Rancho La Sierra (Sepulveda) Rancho La Sierra (also called "La Sierra de Santa Ana") was a Mexican land grant in present-day Riverside County, California, United States. In 1846 Governor Pio Pico issued the grant to Vicenta Sepulveda. The rancho includes the present-day ...

. He was hit hard by the drought of 1863–64, which caused the loss of thousands of cattle. By 1868 he had suffered such financial reverses that he mortgaged all his ranch assets in what were then Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties.

Robinson Trust

To obtain the necessary operating capital, he formed a real estate sales partnership with Alfred Robinson and four San Francisco investors; Samuel Brannan, E. F. Northam, Charles B. Polhemus, and Edward Martin. It became known as the Robinson Trust in 1868. He turned over to the Trust, including all but one of his ranchos. The era of the large cattle ranchos was waning. In its place came agriculture, as ranchos were broken up and generally sold in farms and ranches. The Robinson Trust acted as sales agents for the subdivisions. To gain maximum coverage for their campaign, they linked themselves to the California Immigrant Union and helped guide that organization's sales pitches. Despite considerable friction between Stearns and the other members of the trust, the Robinson Trust succeeded. By 1870 Stearns had escaped the debts incurred by the drought of the 1860s and was on his way to accumulating another fortune.

Family life

Stearns was nicknamed "Cara de Caballo" (Horse Face), because of his long-jawed countenance. In 1841, he married Arcadia Bandini of the wealthy Bandini family. They lived and entertained at their Los Angeles home, the historic Don Abel Stearns House. Stearns died on August 23, 1871, at age 72 in the Grand Hotel,

San Francisco, California 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 ...

. He was interred at Calvary Cemetery, Los Angeles.

References