page_title: Rancho El Sur
section_title: Next generation
hierarchical_section_title: Rancho El Sur / History / Next generation
caption_attribution_description: English: The Cooper cabin built in 1888 is the oldest structures still existent in Big Sur, California today.
context_page_description: Rancho El Sur was a 8,949.06-acre Mexican land grant in present-day Monterey County, California on the Big Sur coast given in 1834 by Governor José Figueroa to Juan Bautista Alvarado. The grant extended from the mouth of Little Sur River inland about 2.5 miles over the coastal mountains and south along the coast past the mouth of the Big Sur River to Cooper's Point. In about 1892, the rancho land plus an additional 3,000 acres of resale homestead land was divided into two major parcels. The southern 4,800 acres became the Molera Ranch, later the foundation of Andrew Molera State Park. The northern 7,100 acres formed the El Sur Ranch.
context_section_description: After John B. R. Cooper's death in 1872, the ranch was divided between his widow Maria Encarnación Vallejo, their son John Bautista Henry Cooper, and their two surviving daughters, Anna Maria de Guadalupe Cooper and Francisca Guadalupe Amelia Cooper. John B. H. Cooper became a Monterey County supervisor and managed Rancho Bolsa del Potrero y Moro Cojo between present-day Castroville and Salinas. Later in life he lived in San Francisco while continuing to own the ranch. On March 12, 1871, 40 year old John B. H. Cooper married 18 year old Martha Brawley, a cousin of Abraham Lincoln, at the San Carlos Cathedral. They had four children: Alice, John, Abelarde, and Alfred. He built a new home on Rancho El Sur for his family but died on June 21, 1899, soon after its completion. Martha Brawley Cooper received 2,591 acres (1,049 ha) of her husband's  7,000 acres (2,800 ha) estate and over time bought the remainder from her sons and daughter.
  John B. H. Cooper's sister Francisca had married Eusebius J. Molera, an engineer and architect born in Spain, on March 28, 1876, in Vallejo, California. She retained her share of the rancho she inherited from her parents. The marriage between the Cooper and Molera families left a legacy marked by their names on notable places throughout the region, including the Cooper-Molera Adobe in Monterey.
  Francisca and Eusebius Molera had a son and daughter, Andrew and Frances. Andrew built up a successful dairy operation. His Monterey Jack cheese was especially well-liked. Andrew and Frances maintained a residence for most of their lives on Sacramento Street in San Francisco. The census record records their occupation as "farmer" and, indicative or their relative wealth, recorded the presence of a cook and maid living with them. During the time the Cooper family owned the land, they managed it as a cattle ranch and dairy, employing Hispanic and Indian vaqueros. They supported a school and community center. Big Sur pioneer Sam Trotter wrote about attending the "big dance Saturday night at the Cooper hall near the mouth of Big Sur [River] on the
  Cooper grant."
caption: The Cooper cabin, originally built in April or May 1861, is the oldest surviving structure in Big Sur.[16][17]
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