Roberto Balemino held a responsible position at
Mission Santa Clara. In 1844 he was granted the half square league Rancho Los Coches and was issued a "Certificate of Emancipation", giving him full citizenship.
Antonio Suñol obtained the Rancho Los Coches in 1847 from Roberto as payment on a debt.
Antonio Suñol (1796-1865), born in Spain, was a seaman on a French merchant ship and arrived in the
Pueblo of San José in 1818. He married María Dolores Bernal and held several public offices including Postmaster (1826-1829), and Alcalde (mayor) in 1841. He was a grantee of
Rancho Valle de San Jose with his three brothers-in-law.
Sunol, California is named for him. In 1849, Suñol divided Los Coches into thirds; one-third went to his eldest daughter, Paula and her husband
Pierre Sainsevain, grantee of
Rancho Cañada del Rincon en el Rio San Lorenzo, and one-third was sold to
Henry Morris Naglee. With the
cession of California to the United States following the
Mexican-American War, the 1848
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo provided that the land grants would be honored. As required by the Land Act of 1851, a claim for Rancho Los Coches was filed with the
Public Land Commission in 1852, and the grant was
patented to Antonio Suñol, Paula Sainsevain, and Henry Morris Naglee in 1857. ==Historic sites of the Rancho==