Dana

 

 

At the age of 18 William Dana became a proficient navigator spending time in China, India and eventually established himself as a mercantile Captain in the trade between the Sandwich Islands and California. William was born in Boston in 1798.

Dana met and married Maria Josefa Petra del Carmen Carrillo in Santa Barbara in 1828. This marriage would produce 21 children, 13 of whom would survive to adulthood.

On April 6th, 1837 Mexican Governor Alvarado granted William G. Dana, a Boston sea-captain turned Californio received 38,000-acres.

Here an 1840 of the ranch.

William G. Dana combined stock-raising with farming, soap-making, furniture-manufacturing, and trade, built a 13-room adobe home on his Nipomo Rancho.

Here is an image of that adobe home.

And here is a copy of the Nipomo plat map.

Land grants were officially granted until 1868 after all the legal battles had been resolved. Dana participated in the otter-fur trade and allowed other local prominent citizens to utilize his hunting license for which he received a percent of the profit. As the animal's population dwindled, he turned to cattle for the leather trade at his Nipomo ranch. Dana and his family were self-sufficient and generated enough hide surplus to maintain a warehouse in Port San Luis, from which he shipped his hides and tallows to destinations around the Pacific and along the East Coast.  

In the meantime, Mr. Dana was busy with property located in downtown San Luis Obispo which would eventually be the location of the County Courthouse. Casa Grande, located at the corner of Monterey and Court Street, was a large two-story adobe. A second courthouse was established in 1851.

Sadly, due to rheumatism caused from his early years at sea William became paralyzed and was confined to his home before his death a the age of 60 in 1858.

He was buried in the Old Mission Cemetery in San Luis Obispo. Here is a newspaper article that describes the erection of the monument by two of William's son's in 1884.

There is a Dana Street in San Luis Obispo. Here is an early map that lists a C. Dana as owning property on that street. I believe this is Charles William Dana who was the son of William G. Dana of Nipomo. 

And here is an image of the adobe that is/was located on Dana Street.