Oral Histories

Interview of Catherine Dace

Granddaughter of Senator Charles McClay and daughter to Henry Cutler Hubbard, a pioneer rancher in the San Fernando Valley.
Subtitle:
Early San Fernando: Memoirs of Mrs. Catherine Dace
Topic:
Community History
Biographical Note:
Granddaughter of Senator Charles McClay and daughter to Henry Cutler Hubbard, a pioneer rancher in the San Fernando Valley.
Interviewer:
Nunis, Doyce B. Jr
Interviewee:
Dace, Catherine
Supporting Documents:
Records relating to the interview are located in the office of the UCLA Library's Center for Oral History Research.
Length:
2.5 hrs.
Language:
English
Copyright:
Regents of the University of California, UCLA Library.
Abstract:
Reminiscences about grandfather Senator Charles Maclay (born 1822), founder of city of San Fernando; Maclay's family background; trip to California via ship and across Isthmus of Panama; arrival in San Francisco, 1851; first minister of earliest Methodist church in San Francisco; work with vigilantes; friendship with Leland Stanford; move to Southern California; meeting with General Andrés Pico at San Fernando mission; purchase of ranch in San Fernando Valley from Eulogio de Celis; right of way given to Southern Pacific Railroad Company; partnership with B. F. Porter; land for town of San Fernando cleared by Chinese laborers; streets in San Fernando named for first families; Maclay's activities in Southern California land development in 1880s; role of father Henry Cutler Hubbard in growth and prosperity of San Fernando Valley; relationship with Harrison Gray Otis; visit of President Theodore Roosevelt; transition of city of San Fernando from pastoral community to commercial and residential city.