The chronologically-arranged documents demonstrate the range of legal, financial and real estate-related transactions initiated by or concerning the Bernal family and their associates. Included in this series are legal contracts, mortgages, leases, title deeds, promissory notes, tax receipts, and general accounting records. The series also includes personal and business letters to and by the Bernal family members and their associates. Two portraits comprise their own series. Both portraits were taken by San Francisco-based photographers, Charles Lake Cramer and George Daniels Morse, sometime during the last thirty years of the 19th century. Finally, ephemera are contained in the last folder of the collection. Subjects include H. W. Halleck, Joseph Mora Moss, real property in California, San Francisco, San Mateo County and Livermore, California.

The Bernal Family resided in the San Francisco Bay area during the latter part of the nineteenth century. Carmen Sibrian de Bernal, who was born at San Juan Bautista Mission on April 14, 1804 (Early California Population Project baptism SJB 01300) married Jose Cornelio Bernal on June 26, 1819 at Santa Clara Mission (ECPP marriage SCL 01883). As these documents reveal, Carmen Sibrian de Bernal assumed a greater role in the family’s legal and financial matters after the death of her husband in November 1850 (ECPP death SFD 05614). The documents also demonstrate that the couple’s son, José de Jesus Bernal, born circa December 26, 1830 at San Francisco Mission (ECPP baptism SFD 06528c), also took an active role in the family’s dealings, particularly in real estate affairs. José de Jesus Bernal eventually married Geronima Rufino, whose family members also contributed to this collection. Other persons who had familial ties to the Bernals include members of the Vasquez and Higuera families. Other associates include members of the Italian and Euro-American communities in the San Francisco area.

67 items

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