Continuing with a series of presentations starting with the granting of Rancho Santa Ana del Chino, the western border of which extends into Carbon Canyon to just east of Sleepy Hollow, to Antonio María Lugo and then its ownership by Lugo's son-in-law, Isaac Williams, there will be a talk, sponsored by the Chino Hills Historical Society, tomorrow night on Williams' daughters, Merced and Francisca, when they inherited the 37,000 acre ranch after his death in September 1856.
The talk discusses the turbulent life of the sisters, who married Southern-born employees of their father and died violent deaths in the first half of the 1860s, and what happened to the Chino ranch during a decade of economic depression, floods, drought and personal turmoil.
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| Merced Williams Rains (1839-1907) |
Illustrated with photographs, maps, newspaper articles and other items, the presentation revolves around these teenaged girls, whose inheritance meant valuable property in their name, but the reality was that their husbands took control of the estate and it led to a strange tale that left the sisters in distinctly different circumstances later in life.
The talk, "Heirs Apparently: The Tumultuous Lives of Merced and Francisca Williams of Rancho Santa Ana del Chino," is at 7 p.m. at the Chino Hills Community Center, 14250 Peyton Drive (across from Ayala High School.)
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