Notes for Jose Antonio Yorba

From the ancestry pages of Daniel M. Bickford and Deborah Ann Armstrong.

Notes for Jose Antonio Yorba

José Antonio Yorba (July 20, 1743 - January 16, 1825), also known as Don José Antonio Yorba I, was one of the important early settlers of Spanish California, then known as the Territory of California. Born in Sant Sadurní d'Anoia (San Santurnino) in Catalonia, Spain, Yorba first came to the New World as an officer in the Portolà Expedition of 1769. For his service, Yorba was awarded with an enormous land grant from the Spanish Empire in 1784 that comprised a significant portion of today's Orange County in Southern California. Covering some 15 Spanish leagues, Yorba's great rancho included the lands where the cities of Olive, Orange, Villa Park, Santa Ana, Tustin, Costa Mesa and Newport Beach stand today. Upon his death in 1825 he was buried at his request in an unmarked grave in the cemetery at Mission San Juan Capistrano (a cenotaph was later placed in Yorba's honor).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Antonio_Yorba

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