Moses and Ernest Cerf, SLO Land Purchases, Part 2

Many of the deeds I inspected while researching Moses’ and Ernest’s land purchases revealed that Ernest bought a lot of property sold at auction by the sheriff for nonpayment of taxes by landowners. He scooped up a lot of valuable property for next to nothing, both in the City of San Luis Obispo and within the County.

 

Purchases of SLO City Lots

Ernest bought lots in SLO at auction for as low as $2.88 per lot to as much as $60. These lots were spread out all over the City. It’s hard to imagine someone letting their property go because they couldn’t afford to pay $2.88 in taxes. Remember, however, there was a drought within the county creating financial woes for many county residents. This also kept land prices down for a few years.

My research focused on property purchased, mostly because I was interested in what Ernest and Moses owned. I reasoned that it would be too difficult and time-consuming to match properties sold to original purchases. I assume Ernest made money off the sales with purchases that low. He made a nice sale on one lot. On March 13, 1872, Ernest agreed to sell a lot to the City of SLO for $1,500 to be used as the site for building a new county government building. (La Vista 4:1, 8) The current SLO County Courthouse sits on that property.

Moses’ earliest purchase in San Luis Obispo County was in 1859. For $4,000, Moses purchased the St. Charles Hotel a block from the SLO Mission. The mercantile store known as A. Blochman and Co. was probably set up on the ground floor of the hotel. The same year, Moses purchased a lot near the SLO Mission from the City of SLO for $5.00. I asked a clerk in the County Recorder’s Office why a lot would sell for $5.00. She said maybe the City wanted the lot to be further developed or improved.

A few years later, Blochman and Moses had a new store built. The building they erected was mentioned in the newspaper in 1870 in comparison to a new saloon. “This [the saloon] promises to be the finest improvement in town since the erection by A. Blochman and Co. of their magnificent brick store.”(Angel 360) In an 1880 deed, A. Blochman, who was moving to San Diego, transferred his interest in the store property to Moses Cerf, calling the building the Pioneer Brick Store. My efforts at finding a photograph of the building or even determining if it still exists have failed. The old property descriptions don’t specifically translate to today’s descriptions. It’s too bad.

I did manage to get a copy of a sales receipt for a sale by the store to the County of SLO (courtesy of the SLO History Center):

[Transcription of articles sold in 1861: 1 # candles .50; 1 pr blankets 1.00; 2 # candles 1.00; 1 doz matches .75; 1 pr pants (prisoner) 3.00; 1 undershirt and drawers 3.50; epsom salts .50; 1 lamp glass 1.00; 1 overshirt 2.50; 1 doz matches .75; 1 # candles .50; 1/2 ream paper 5.00; totaling $25.00.]

Land Grab

Moses made purchases of land belonging to various Ranchos beginning in 1866, some with purchase amounts that raise research questions. Examples are 350 acres of Rancho Corral de Piedra for $5.00; 328 acres of Ranchos Canada de Los Osos and La Laguna for $1.00; 200 acres of Rancho Pecho y Islay and Ranchita Santa Fe for $3,969; and 201.7 acres of Rancho Santa Manuela for $14,000. (SLO Deeds) Blochman and Co. also owned 640 acres of farm land in the area known as San Jose Valley/Pozo. (Angel 365)

Ernest’s many purchases at auction of acreage within the County of SLO include 1,760 acres for $70; 12,760 acres for $37; 17,080 acres of grazing land for $362.95; 203 acres of the San Geronimo Rancho for $27.87; unknown number of acres near San Miguel for $4,770; 378 acres for $40; 48 acres of the Ranchos Corral de Piedra, Santa Manuella and Bolsa de Chemisal for $500; 81 acres for $500; 1,080 acres for $500; unknown number of acres of the Ranchos Pecho y Islay and Santa Fe for $969; 155 acres of Nipomo Rancho for $5,000; and 157 acres of Nipomo Rancho for $4,250. (SLO Deeds) Some of these areas are truly beautiful. Part of lovely Montana de Oro State Park along the coast was once part of Rancho Pecho y Islay. Here is a photo of a beach in the park that is not the portion owned by one of the Cerf brothers.

Spooner's Cove at Montana de Oro State Park in San Luis Obispo County

On July 31, 1868, a revealing article appeared in the Alta Californian in San Francisco (La Vista 2:4, 34).

“San Luis, the Bishop, is a town of some 700 inhabitants, the chief portion being the old native stock of the country. It was founded in 1772 as the inscription upon the church[reveals], which building, with the priest’s quarters and some others attached, were repaired last year, and now look quite fresh and well preserved.

The town has the same rusty, dirty and dilapidated appearance as San Juan and Monterey. The wealth of the old inhabitants has passed away, and the industry of new arrivals has not yet been sufficient to repair buildings or enlarge cultivation. Townspeople are…indifferent…as to the immediate future of their section (but there has been) a large immigration (during the last year).

Some of these newcomers have taken up tracts of excellent public land upon the very borders of the town, whilst speculators from San Francisco got hold of considerable bodies of other…lands near here. (They) have purchased some ranchos at low rates, all of which have greatly enhanced in price since.

This place and the whole county (is) in a great hub bub at present about the swindling way in which some of these speculators have been operating. C.E.P., a Correspondent.”

I have a feeling Moses and Blochman (Ernest didn’t buy property until 1870) were included in that group of speculators from San Francisco.  I hope they weren’t using swindling ways, however.

I am actually skeptical of which transactions went through because purchases of acreage for as little as $1 don’t make sense, and I see other court actions mentioned in the deeds.  In one court action in 1876, A. Blochman and Co. sued a Mexican Rancho land grant owner (I don’t know the nature of the lawsuit). The deed notes that the court ordered all land sold at public auction. The buyer at the auction was E. Cerf, who purchased two square leagues of the Rancho Piedra Blanca for $1,728. There was so much wheelin’ and dealin’ that it would take a lot of work to make sense out of all the transactions.

Just How Much Property Did the Cerf Brothers Own?

SLO County tax receipts offer a clue about the holdings of Blochman and Co.:

1864 – Property Valuations: House and lot $2,000, second house and lot $600, merchandise on hand $7,500, 2 tame horses, buggy and harness $100, 300 Spanish sheep $2,250 = total value $12,450, tax paid $404.63. (SLO Tax Assessment)

1874/5 – City lots and other acreage totaling 1,453, with personal property, goods, and merchandise (valuations not known). (Tax Index)

1883 – Real Estate valued at $21,722, improvements thereon valued at $9,820, Personal Property valued at $19,750, Value of Mortgages and Trust Deeds $4,240, Money on hand $300 = $55,832, tax paid $949.28. Here is a copy of that tax receipt:

Kern County tax receipts (Cerf Collection):

1883 – For A. Blochman and Co., Valuation of 11 parcels in Townships 10 and 11 was $1,650, tax paid from A. Blochman (per A. Weill) $27.25.

1883 – For Ernest Cerf, Personal Property is mortgage on property $500 [mortgage holder], tax paid from E. Cerf (per A. Weill) $8.25.

The brothers also had holdings in Santa Barbara County, but I don’t have any Santa Barbara tax documents to share.

There were a few other interesting land purchases, which I am saving for next time.

References:

Angel, Myron. History of San Luis Obispo County, California, Oakland, CA: Thompson & West, 1883.

A. Blochman and Co. sales receipt, courtesy of San Luis Obispo History Center.

Carpenter Index to Grantor/Grantee Databases, San Luis Obispo County Genealogical Society, http://www.slocgs.org/carpenter/.

Cerf, Marcel E., Collection, Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Land Grants and Ranchos, San Luis Obispo County Genealogical Society, http://www.slocgs.org/carpenter/LandGrants.html.

La Vista, Volume 2, Number 4, San Luis Obispo: SLO County Historical Society, 1972.

La Vista, Volume 4, Number 1, San Luis Obispo: SLO County Historical Society, June 1980.

Nicholson, Loren. Rails Across the Ranchos, Fresno, CA: Valley Publishers, 1980.

San Luis Obispo County Deeds, SLO County Recorder’s Office, San Luis Obispo, CA.

San Luis Obispo County Tax Assessments, San Luis Obispo, CA.

Tax Index of 1874-1875 Assessment Book, San Luis Obispo County, http://www.slocgs.org/land/Tax1874-1875.pdf.