Los Angeles
County
Biographies
MRS.
YSABEL (DEN) MONROE
Representative
of the pioneer life of early California and a descendant from two illustrious
families whose members helped to make history, Ysabel (Den) Monroe traces her
lineage to the Spanish Dons on her maternal side and to the English speaking
trailblazers of her paternal. She has
been deeply interested in and closely identified with the social, cultural and
business life of her native state for many years and is carrying on the
traditions of her ancestors to the best of her ability. A daughter of Nicholas C. Den and Ysabel
(Arguello) Den, she first saw the light of day in San Francisco. Her parents were both born in California, the
father in the year 1849, a son of Nicholas A. Den, M. D., of Santa Barbara
County. He was graduated from Santa
Clara College and then came back to the home place and assumed the management
of the estate left him by his father.
Here he raised fruit and stock, giving particular attention to race
horses and was a devotee of the race tracks for years. At the time of the World Columbian Exposition
at Chicago in 1893 Mr. Den sent a display of fruits and received a medal for
its excellency; also a diploma for his display of date
palm trees, both of which trophies are in the possession of Mrs. Monroe. Nicholas C. Den married Ysabel Arguello, and
this union connected him with one of the oldest Spanish families in the
state. They settled down in Santa
Barbara. Mrs. Den is a daughter of Don
Jose Ramon and Ysabel (Alviso)
Arguello and is the eldest of fourteen children born
to her parents, of whom six grew to maturity and she is the only survivor. Of the union of these two people thirteen
children were born, of whom nine grew to maturity and six are still living, viz: Ysabel Monroe, of Los Angeles; Maria Warbington,
of Santa Clara; Anita Parker, of San Francisco; Josephine MacKenzie,
of Yermo, California; and Irene Funk and Consuelo
Chambers, both of San Francisco. The
home life of the Dens was ideal and they dispensed with a true hospitality the
tradition of their respective families.
Mr. Den lived the life of a country gentleman and died in 1902.
Nicholas
A. Den, M. D., father of Nicholas C. Den, was born in Waterford, Ireland, and
was a member of a family whose ancestors were of Franco-Norman and Anglo-Norman
descent and arrived in England in the retinue of King Henry the Second in
1171. The family was known as the Dens
of Grenman. In
the Den family of which Nicholas A. was a member, were five sons who were
physicians, two of whom came to America, Nicholas A. and Richard S. Den. Nicholas A. was born in 1812, pursued his
education in Ireland and received his medical degree there. On account of the loss of the family fortunes
through confiscation he decided he would strike out for himself and accordingly
left home and went to Nova Scotia, where he had a relative. He remained but a short time as he did not
like the environment and shipped as a common sailor on a vessel bound for the
northwest. En route the commander of the
ship found that young Den was a man of education and he transferred him to a
clerical position to look after the ship’s papers. The vessel arrived at Santa Barbara on July
8, 1836. Here Mr. Den was entertained by
Capt. Daniel Hill, who had come to the Pacific coast en route to the Hawaiian
Islands in 1822 and had married Refaela Ortega in
1826. Dr. N. A. Den married Rosa Hill, a
daughter of Daniel Hill, and at once purchased two leagues of land adjoining
the one league owned by his father-in-law.
He began raising stock with success.
The old adobe house on the property was erected in 1854 and was the home
of the family. In 1856 an experimental
orchard of fruits was planted and this also was a successful venture and proved
that almost every kind of fruit could be raised on the soil of the Dos Pueblos
Rancho, as his grant was known. There
were eight children born of the marriage of Dr. Den and Rosa Hill Den, only two
of them now living (1935) Alfonso L. Den, of Santa Barbara, now eighty-two
years of age, and Susie Tyler of San Francisco.
At the time of the death of Nicholas A. Den, March 3, 1862, he owned ten
thousand head of cattle, and the Dos Pueblos, the San Marcos, the Canada del
Corral, and the Tequepis ranches, and was rated as
one of the wealthiest men of the state.
Soon
after Nicholas A. Den arrived in California his brother, Dr. Richard S. Den
landed here and he became one of the most prominent physicians and surgeons of
his day. He was also a good financier
and helped to look after the estate and interests of his brother. He was a resident of Santa Barbara, but in
the early forties was called to the Pueblo of Los Angeles to perform an
operation and practiced here for several years.
During the Mexican War he was surgeon for the Mexican forces. He returned to Santa Barbara but again came
to Los Angeles in the early fifties and in 1866 took up his permanent abode
here. He was fond of racing, the sport
of gentlemen at that time, and at the time of the racing season in Los Angeles,
sent to Santa Barbara for his favorite animals.
He died respected and honored by all who knew him.
On
the maternal side, Mrs. Monroe is descended from Don Jose Dario Arguello,
governor under Spanish rule, and his son, Don Luis Antonio Arguello, a native
son of California and the first governor under Mexican rule, and the first
native son to become governor. Don Jose
was a native of Mexico and among his children was a son, Jose Ignacio, who
became a priest; he was born at the San Gabriel Mission June 8, 1782, and after
his ordination he became curate of Torm, on the Yaqui
River and was killed by Indians. A
daughter in Don Jose Arguello’s family was Maria de
la Concepcion Arguello, born at the Presidio on February 19, 1791, and baptized
as Mission Dolores on February 26th of that year. She became engaged to Nicolai von Rezenor, grand chamberlain of the Czar of Russia and
governor of the Russian Pacific Territories stationed at Fort Ross. He visited San Francisco in May, 1807, to
negotiate for supplies for the Russians at Fort Ross, and met and fell in love
with the lovely daughter of the governor.
He returned to Russia to get the Czar’s permission to his marriage and
while there was killed by a fall from his horse. After waiting for more than forty years Maria
de la Concepcion entered the Dominican order of nuns April 11, 1851, at the
first convent established in California at Monterey. It was an old adobe house that had been
purchased by the bishop for five thousand dollars and fitted for a convent and
school for the Dominican Sisters. This
building later became known as the Hartnell
house. The convent had been removed to
Benicia in 1854 and there Sister Maria Dominica died December 23, 1857.
Don
Luis Antonio Arguello married Dona Maria Soledad Ortega in 1822. She was the granddaughter of Jose Francisco
Ortega, discoverer of San Francisco Bay, 1769.
Her father was Jose Maria Ortega, owner of the Del Refugio Rancho. The wedding ceremony was performed at the
Santa Barbara Mission with all the pomp of the Catholic Church, which was regal
in all its appointments. This ceremony
was followed by one at the Del Refugio Rancho, the home of the bride’s parents,
and was attended by many of the prominent Spanish families of the state. Among them were the Carrillos,
Estudilos, Ortegas, Vallejos, Alvarados, Castros, Estradas and
others. Some of them came from Monterey
and San Francisco by boat, and many came from the ranchos, the younger ones
riding horseback, often the young man with his Dona before him on his horse,
while the older ones rode in carretas, a vehicle
common in those days, low and springless, with wheels
made from solid pieces of wood fitted to the frame and drawn by bullocks. The fiesta lasted several days after which
the bride and groom left on a ship that had been waiting in the roadstead, for
San Francisco. A
wedding worthy of any governor.
Don Luis and his wife settled in the old adobe in San Frnacisco and there raised their family of three children.
In
continuous line of descent the generations, through intermarriages have become
prominent in the professional, business, financial and agricultural life of
California and have left the imprint of the progressive citizen upon the state,
at the same time preserving some of that old-time hospitality which their
Spanish ancestors laid down as necessary to the upbuilding of the commonwealth.
Mrs.
Ysabel (Den) Monroe was educated in private schools and in 1898 married Percy
Bonebrake in Los Angeles. He was the son
of Major George Bonebrake who was president of the First National Bank of Los
Angeles for many years and well known in financial circles in California. Of this marriage there were born three
daughters: Constance, who married Harvey
Beggs and died leaving a daughter, Ysabel Beggs; Ysabel, who married Frank Creswell
and had two sons, Frank and Raymond; she married second Edward Tarber and they have a daughter, Dolores; and Emma, who
became the wife of Clarence Punter and the mother of a son, Norman Punter. The second marriage of Ysabel Den Bonebrake
united her with Raymond Dexter Monroe, a native son of San Francisco, where
their wedding was celebrated in 1913.
Mrs. Monroe is prominent in social and civic life in California. She is a member of the California State
Historical Society and on its membership committee (1935); the Southern
California Historical Society; California Parlor No. 247, Native Daughters of
the Golden West and its chairman of the history and landmarks committee; the Euterpe Opera Reading Club; a member of the executive board
of the National Inventors congress and secretary of the American Institute of
Inventors of California; and a member of the finance committee of the Los Fiesteros de Los Angeles.
Among her prized possessions are many articles of great historic value
which have been handed down from her Spanish ancestors, such as letters, a
prayer book (1747), hand drawn linens, etc.
Her hobby is the preservation of California history and landmarks and
traditions. The family home is at 920
West 55th Street in Los Angeles.
Transcribed
by V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: California of the South
Vol. V, by John Steven McGroarty, Pages 452-456,
Clarke Publ., Chicago, Los Angeles, Indianapolis. 1933.
© 2012 V.
Gerald Iaquinta.
GOLDEN NUGGET'S LOS ANGELES
BIOGRAPHIES