The herald., 1897-07-12


tate does 1t appear there was any sys-
tematic attempt made to find out. The
widow and one son were appointed exec
utrix and executor under the will, but as
they both died while the family quarrel
over the estate was still at an acute
stage, they are probably continuing to
make the welkin ring with their cries
Of disappointment and rage on the other
side of the river Styx. Certain 1t is that
neither one nor the other got any other
discharge from their legal duties, and as
no one was ever appointed to fill the va
cancies, and in that condition the Avila
estate remains today
A WOMAN IN 1T ALWAYS
1t is said that there is woman at the
bottom of every difficulty, and this is
particularly true in the matter of the
Avila ducats, for two and not one, wo-
men are largely responsible for the legal
ENHANCEMENT in which the estate is in
volved OF the ten children born to Don
Antonio there were two daughters whose
identity in most curious fashion got
mixed up.
A daughter named Ascencion married
one Pedro Sanchez, father Of the one
time sheriff, Tomas A. Sanchez and the
other one, named Conception, was we'd
ded to one Varela. Pedro Sanchez died
about 1867 leaving six children. At
this point Pho Pico came upon the scene.
and being monarch of all he surveyed"
and not standing in particular fear of
the church's displeasure, he took to his
gubernatorial bosom the relict of Pedro
Sanchez. Two daughters resulted from
this union, known in the annals Of the
Avila litigation as Joaquina Pico de
Moreno and Griselda Pico. In the es-
tate of Pho Pico their identity was es-
tablished as the children Of Pho Pico
and Ascension Avila de Sanchez.
In March Of 1S47 Ascencion Avila died
and was buried from the house Of her
father-in-law, Vicente Sanchez, on the
east side of the plaza, and upon March
17th-St. Patrick's day-and' rendered
memorable by the second detachment
10 of the Angels.
The two children, Joaquina and Gri-
selda, were taken almost at their birth
and handed over to the care of an aunt
at San Diego-a sister of Pho Pico Ow-
ing to internal dissensions in the Avila
and Sanchez families, these two girls
were left out Of the "divvy' Of the estate
of their grandfather, Don Antonio. and
very much to their disgust
The redoubtable "Tom" Sanchez, with
the assistance of the then mayor, John
King, and also Attorney A. ]. King,
brought such pressure to bear upon the
city council that an ordinance was
passed giving him the Land once claimed
by Don Antonio
Having been so successful in his first
raid upon the city, Sanchez tried sec
ond time to get something for nothing,
and, so far as the plant city council was
concerned, with equal success. In this
second grant of land however, it would
puzzle a whole corps of Philadelphia
lawyers-and their acuteness is not to
be doubted-to tell where 1t lies and what
are its boundaries.
MONKEYING WITH THE RECORDS
This is to some extent at all events
explained by the fact that after the
death of Ascencion Avila de Sanchez,
her sister, Conception Avila de Varela,
turned to with exceeding good will and
began taking and executing convey
ances and other legal forms under the
name of Ascencon Avila de Sanchez.
This assumption by the lady Of her sis
ter's name made the record appear COR
rect and as the dusty tones didn't re-
veal anything about the matter Of the
Iiason of Pho Pico and the Dona AS
cension, nor the death of the latter in
1S47, it was naturally thought things
would drift along nicely and without
any great disturbance.
The suit instituted by Dan Freeman,
however, threatens to bring hopping out
of their graves the entire list of the
departed onesin the Avila-Sanchez fam
lilies with old Don Antonio in front and
Pho Pico bringing up the rear. ''
The girls, Joaquina and Greselda-
rather mature girls at the present time,
by the way-were not blessed with much
of worldly dross, but lived in. the hope
Of some day reveling with the millions
to be derived from the one time magnifi-
cent domain of their grandfather, Don
Antonio. Nor were they benefited much
when the effects of their illustrious
father, Pho Pico, were divided. What be-
came of a large portion of his estate is
a moot point, but he died apparently
poor on his small ranch near Puente,
after having, as said by Judge Hoffman,,
United States district judge, in an opin-
ion, attempted "to redeem by the pen
what he had lost by the sword"
WAITING FOR HELP TO COME
Being, as it were, between the devil
and the deep sea-" Donas Joa-
quina and Griselda to bide their time.
They saw a gleam of light when B. w.
King, a San Francisco attorney, prom
ised to aid them in recovering their
rights-for a consideration. He got a
twenty eighth interest in. the property
made over and secured to him, and then
returning north organized a company
which incorporated in June, 1885, as the
Avila Estate company, with a capital
stock of s1,50O,000, divided into 100000
shares. To date this company has not
justified it's existence to any measurable
extent but inasmuch as it has been
made a party to the suit begun by Dan
Freeman it may yet help to entangle
matters a little further. On Saturday
certified copy of the incorporation papers
were filed in this city and that may
mean that the company is about to
actively champion the cause of the two
of Pho Pico.
But after the Avila company incor-
porated with such a heavy capital it
might have been anticipated that the
people at this end would have been
scared into compromise. AS a matter
of fact. they didn't scare worth a cent.
Then one Andrews, known locally as a
~ let