The Street Seen: Lucas Ranch
Ocean Park
In 1875 (the year Santa Monica is founded), recent widow1 and Ocean Park pioneer, Nancy Lucas2 buys, along with other Los Angeles area property, 861 acres for $12,000 in the northwest corner of the La Ballona Rancho from the Machado family. The Lucas Ranch extends from Pico Blvd (the border with Rancho San Vicente y Santa Mónica) on the north, to the current city border on the south: and east from Main Street (formerly Lucas Ave) to about 23rd Street.3
In 1875, Lucas sells 50 acres (which is subdivided as the “South Santa Monica” tract) to Ivar Weid4/ Haverstick.5 In 1879, Lucas hoping to restore Santa Monica as a shipping port, donates 5 acres of land (“South Santa Monica Wharf” tract) for a new wharf.6 7
When Nancy Lucas dies in 1881, the heirs are her three surviving sons:- James Lucas (1829 – 1882),8 John Henry Lucas (1836-1924),9 and Edward Lucas (1842 – 1882).10 In 1883, James sells his rights to J.H. Lucas for $6,000 - and disappears. Edward Lucas dies in 1882, and his wife Sylvia Louise Bentley Lucas (1854 – 1944)11,12 inherits his share.
In 1883, the Lucas estate probate closes and the Lucas ranch is subdivided into 47 blocks.13 Blocks 1 – 29 (mostly 10 acres each) are in Ocean Park, and Blocks 30 - 47 (mostly 20 acres each) are in Sunset Park. The Lucas Ranch tract map is recorded with Los Angeles County in 1885 by J. H. Lucas.
In 1884, (before the 1985 Lucas Ranch tract map is recorded), W. D. Vawter (1815 – 1894) purchases 100 acres (Blocks 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 & 13) of the Lucas ranch for $7,000.
John Lucas (1794 – 1873) is born near London, England. William Henry Lucas, the father of John & Joe, had a counting house (a bank) and is considered very wealthy. In 1820, John (26) and Joe (23) left England and come to the US. They go into business together in a general merchandise store in IN. Here, in 1825, they married sisters Nancy and Matilda Jones. John and Joe sold their business in 1842. Joe Lucas went to IA, and again went into a general merchandise business. John Lucas and his wife Nancy went to Santa Rosa, where they accumulate much real estate. John Lucas dies in Santa Rosa on his ranch. He is buried in the cemetery he donated to Sonoma County, and in the plot (Lucas Plot) he reserved for his family.
Nancy Talbot Jones Lucas (1806 - 1881) is born in GA and marries John Lucas in 1825 in Indiana - her sister Matilda marries John’s brother, Joe Lucas. John and Nancy Lucas move to Santa Rosa, CA. Between 1836 and 1847 she gives birth to 8 children. After the death of John Lucas in 1873, Nancy sells their Santa Rosa property for $41,000 and moves to Southern California where she buys, along with other property, 861 acres in the northwest corner of the La Ballona Rancho from the Machado family. Nancy Lucas constructs a grand 2-story mansion (“Lucas Mansion”) on on the highest point of her ranch—the hill between Strand and Hollister from 3rd to 4th Street - now Mary Hotchkiss Park. In 1881, Nancy Lucas dies from “accidental” strychnine (used for killing rats) poisoning.
The Lucas property does not include the strip of land along the beach west of Main St and south of Strand. Arthur J. Hutchinson (1846 – 1926), a former British Army officer, acquired the beach front property in the late 1870’s, when he foreclosed on loans made to the Machado family. Kinney & Ryan, as the Ocean Park Development Company, later purchased this property.
Ivar A. Weid (1837 – 1903). Ivar Weid a Danish immigrant, railroad owner and major land holder in Hollywood. In 1875, with J.W. Haverstick, subdivided the South Santa Monica Tract.
John Wilson Haverstick (1842 – 1923). Born in PA. A Civil War veteran, he enlisted in 1861 and remained in the Marines until 1869. He married Isabella Guirado “Bella” Mellus (1852 – 1917) in 1873 in Los Angeles. Her father, Henry Mellus (1816 – 1860), is the mayor of Los Angeles in 1860. Haverstick is the Los Angeles Receiver of Land Office of the US Dept of Interior. In 1875, with Ivar Weid , subdivided the South Santa Monica Tract. In 1904, Haverstick enters the Soldiers’ Home in Sawtelle and remains there until his death from cirrhosis of the liver.
Juan Bernard (1824 – 1889). A native of Switzerland, came to CA by way of the Horn, in search of the precious metal. For awhile, he had a brickyard on Buena Vista Street ; but in the late 1870’s, soon after marrying Susana Machado, daughter of Agustin Machado, he bought a vineyard on Alameda Street in downtown Los Angeles. He also came to own the site of the Natick House.
A large warehouse is built, and Juan Bernard begins construction of a wharf at the foot of Strand street. Intended to be 1500 feet long, the wharf is not completed, and is destroyed in a 1883 storm.
James Lucas (1829 – unknown). James Lucas is the eldest son. In 1877, he opens a sea shell souvenir store with Henry Forrest. After a beaten dead person is found on a boat owned by Henry Forrest & Co, the partnership is quickly dissolved. James Lucas is a 50 plus year old bachelor living with his mother, Nancy Lucas when she dies. He sells his rights to his inheritance to his brother J.H. Lucas for $6,000. And disappears - nothing else is known about him.
John Henry Lucas (1836-1924). Born in IN, John Henry Lucas moved with his family to Iowa in 1859 and married Farina Marie Bentley (1844 - 1924). In 1870, Lucas was the District Attorney in Elko, NV. In 1875, he comes to CA. J.H. Lucas & his brother Edward Lucas are partners in Lucas Bros lumber. In 1881, Lucas is a Probate Court Judge in Tombstone, AZ and is a witness to the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. In 1884, he is a partner in the Los Angeles law firm of Wicks, Lucas & Bentley [Moye Wicks (1855 – 1932), J.H. Lucas (1836 – 1924), and Edward Howard Bentley (1857 - 1913)]. In 1890, Judge Lucas moves to live with his daughter in Oakland - where he dies in 1924.
Edward Lucas (1842 – 1882). Born in IN, Edward moves with his family to Iowa in 1859. In 1876, He marries Sylvia Louise Bentley (1854 – 1945) in Los Angeles. Edward and his brother JH Lucas are partners in Lucas Bros lumber.
Sylvia Louise Bentley Lucas Sessions (1854 – 1944). Born in MI. In 1876, Sylvia Bentley marries Edward Lucas (1842 – 1882) in Los Angeles. Her sister, Farina Marie Bentley (1844 - 1924), is married to Edward’s brother John Henry Lucas. When Edward Lucas dies in 1882, Sylvia becomes the heir to the Lucas estate. Sylvia Bentley Lucas then marries Edgar Sessions (1843 - 1934) in 1883.
Edgar Sessions (1843 - 1934). Born in IL, Edgar Sessions moves with his parents to Utah in 1864. They then move to Pima, AZ in 1879, as part of the first Mormon colony in the Gila Valley. In 1883, Edgar marries in Los Angeles, Sylvia Louise Bentley Lucas (1854 – 1944), a widowed school teacher. In 1887, he buys the W.D. Vawter grocery store on 3rd Street in Santa Monica.
The 1883 survey of the Lucas Tract is made by E. Sessions - who is not Edgar Sessions.