From the
Spanish period until the arrival of the Americans, the Municipality of Quezon was only a small barrio of
Aliaga, Nueva Ecija. This area was once a dense forest, while the open lands were grasslands thickly covered with
cogon. In earlier times, the barrio was called El Toro because the area served as a pasture for cattle owned by a man named Joaquin Samson. Under the leadership of the gobernadorcillo of Aliaga, the name El Toro was changed, and the place came to be known as Barrio
Santo Niño. The first settlers of the area came from the province of Ilocos, including the families of Simplina, Cruz, Quitan, Zuner, Sajor, Tubay, Nicolas, Capalungan, Duldulao, Lagasca, and Ignacio. They were later followed by Tagalog families from towns in the south, namely the Joson, Villasan, Samson, Magno, Domingo, Tolentino, Evangelista, Garcia, Da Jose, and Quijano families. Through their hard work and perseverance, they cleared the forests and hills and transformed them into agricultural lands. On 15 November 1915, several prominent residents of Barrio Santo Niño united and petitioned for the barrio to be converted into a municipality. These individuals were Tomas Joson, Martin Villasan, Jose Cruz, Ariston Cebrero, Victor Domingo, Gaudencio Tolentino, Jose Jacinto, Pedro Capalungan, Florentino Da Jose, and Romualdo Quijano. At that time, Don Isauro Gabaldon was the representative of the province of Nueva Ecija to the Philippine Legislature, and with his assistance, their request was granted. As a result, on 17 November 1917, Barrio Santo Niño officially became a municipality. It was named Quezon in honor of Manuel L. Quezon, who was then the Philippine Resident Commissioner to the
United States and who also helped in the barrio’s elevation to municipal status. The first municipal mayor of Quezon was Martin Villasan, followed by Pedro Capalungan as the second mayor. In its early years, the town of Quezon was visited by the parish priest of Aliaga to attend to the spiritual needs of its residents. Quezon became a full-fledged parish in 1929 and had its first parish priest in the person of Father Emilio Guttierez. The parish was placed under the patronage of the Holy Family. ==Geography==