José Antonio María de Jesús Castro was a
Californio, born in
Monterey, California, when it was under
Spanish colonial rule. His father José Tiburcio Castro was a soldier, member of the
Diputación (territorial legislature), mayordomo (administrator) of
Mission San Juan Bautista after it was secularized, and grantee of
Rancho Sausal. As a young man, Castro was a vocal and active supporter of Californian self-rule and full independence from Mexico. His first public office was as secretary to the Monterey
ayuntamiento (town council). In 1830, Castro was arrested for his opposition to the Mexican governor of
Alta California. By 1835 he was
Vocal Primero (First Member) of the legislature and acting governor. Along with his brother-in-law
Juan Bautista Alvarado, he was a vocal proponent of California-born governors and sought a semi-independent status for Alta California.
Rebellions against Gutiérrez and Micheltorena in
San Juan Bautista was built 1839–41. The town of San Juan Bautista was briefly known as San Juan de Castro in the 1830s, owing to his family's prominence there. A long period in which far-away Mexico City neglected California and sent up scandalous and incompetent governors culminated with six chief executives taking office in Monterey in 1836 alone. In November 1836, Castro helped lead the overthrow of newly appointed Mexican Governor
Nicolás Gutiérrez.
Post-Conquest and later life In February 1848, after the Mexican–American War ended, José Castro opened his adobe
house in San Juan Bautista to an Irish settler, Patrick Breen. Breen and his family were surviving members of the
Donner Party. They arrived at San Juan Bautista nearly a year after surviving their arduous journey over the Sierra Nevada. The Breens were the first English-speaking Americans to live in the town. Castro allowed them to live at the house until one of Patrick Breen's teenage sons made a fortune as a gold miner and purchased the house from Castro in 1854. == Legacy ==