Santa
Clara County
Biographies
CRISANTO CASTRO
It was in the old Spanish Mission of San Jose,
Cal., that Crisanto Castro was born April 15, 1828,
and during his entire life, which has covered a period of seventy-six years, he
has been an eye-witness of all the changes from the old civilization to the
new, having lived under the flags of Spain, of Mexico, and of the United
States. Few men live in one community for so long a period as Mr. Castro has
lived in San Jose, pursuing but one occupation. His fine, productive farm
originally containing five hundred acres, one mile from Mountainview,
(sic) contains at the present writing three hundred and eighty acres, and came
to him by inheritance.
Mr. Castro is the youngest of eight
children born to Mariano and Maria Trinidad (Peralta) Castro both parents
having been native of San Francisco. His father was born there in 1784, when
California was under Spanish rule, and he was a soldier in the Spanish army.
Early in the nineteenth century he removed to San Jose and in this vicinity he
followed ranching pursuits up to his death in 1856 or ’57. He was a large land
owner owning at one time two leagues of land, upon
which he raised large numbers of cattle. His wife survived him several years
and died in Santa Clara county. Eight children were
born to them, three sons and five daughters. All are now deceased except Mr.
Castro and one sister, who resides in San Francisco.
Their grandfather, Ignatio Castro was born in the
vicinity of San Jose and San Francisco.
Mr. Castro’s education was received
from private subscription schools, which he attended in San Jose during his
youth, and when of suitable age he engaged in farm pursuits. In former years he
shipped at least four hundred tons of hay a year to San Francisco, but for a
number of years past he has rented the greater part of his land, which has been
his home since 1841. All the improvements upon this place were made by him.
Prior to 1841 his parents lived in a substantial residence on the corner of San
Pedro and Santa Clara streets, in San Jose, the site of the building now
occupied by the Farmers’ Union. In 1857 Mr. Castro wedded Miss Francisca
Armijo, also a native of San Jose, and nine children have been born to them,
namely: Mariano, Merced, Susan, Andrew, Joseph, William, Frank, Roque and Crisanto. The family are regular communicants of the Catholic Church.
Politically Mr. Castro is a Republican, and as a citizen he is highly esteemed
in his community.
Transcribed By: Cecelia M. Setty.
Source: History of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast
Counties, California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages 1344-1345. The
Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2016 Cecelia M. Setty.