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1800. Their successors were José Panella (arrived June, 1797), and José Barona (arrived
May, 1798). Pedro de San José Estévan was supernumerary, April, 1796, to July,
1797. Panella was accused of cruelty to the neophytes and was reprimanded by President
Lasuen. He left the country in 1803. Barona remained as minister throughout the
decade (1800-1810). Panella was replaced for about a year after 1803 by Mariano Payeras,
and then José Bernardo Sanchez took the place in 1804. Pedro de la Cueva, from
Mission San José, was here for a short time in 1806, and José Pedro Panto came in
September, 1810.
1810. Father Sanchez continued to serve until the spring of 1820, when he was succeeded
by Vicente Pascual Oliva. Panto died in 1812, and Fernando Martin took his
place. "Panto," says Bancroft, "was a rigorous disciplinarian and severe in his punishments.
One evening in November, 1811, his soup was poisoned, causing vomiting. His
cook, Nazario, was arrested and admitted having put the 'yerba,' powdered cuchasquelaai,
in the soup with a view to escape the Father's intolerable floggings, having received
in succession fifty, twenty-five, twenty-four, and twenty-five lashes in the twentyfour
hours preceding his attempted revenge. There is much reason to suppose that the
friar's death on June 30th of the next year was attributable to the poisoning." The new
Mission Church was dedicated November 12, 1813 (this is the building whose ruins yet
remain). The blessing was pronounced by José Barona, of San Juan. The first sermon
was by Geronimo Boscana, of San Luis, the second by the Dominican Tomás Ahumada,
of San Miguel, and Lieutenant Ruiz acted as sponsor.
1820. Father Martinez served for a time in 1827.
1830. Fathers Oliva and Martin continued in charge. Martin died October 19, 1838. He
was a native of Robledillo, Spain, born May 26, 1770. He was a Franciscan, and arrived
at San Diego July 6, 1811. He was regarded as an exemplary frey. He was one of the
few missionaries who took the oath of allegiance to Mexico.
1840. Oliva remained alone, and was the last missionary to occupy the mission, till
August, 1846. Upon the secularization of the missions in 1835, José Joaquin Ortega
was placed in charge as majordomo or administrator, and 1840 he was replaced by
Juan M. Osuna. Others served at different times. Some Indians lingered at the place,
and in 1848 Philip Crosthwaite leased the Mission. Oliva went first to San Luis Rey, then
to San Juan Capistrano, where he died in January, 1848.
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PART SECOND. WHEN OLD TOWN WAS SAN DIEGO
Page 81
PART II. CHAPTER I. LIFE ON PRESIDIO HILL UNDER THE SPANISH FLAG.
For more than a hundred years Old Town was San Diego. It began with the
founding of the fort and mission in July, 1769; it ended, as a place of real consequence,
with the fire of April, 1872, which destroyed most of the business part of the town and
turned the scale decisively in favor of the new settlement which had sprung up at Horton's
Addition, or South San Diego, as it was then called. It is rare that two historical