It had belonged to Lemuel Carpenter, something of a mountain man whose roots lay in Kentucky.
Carpenter came here in 1832, after stopovers in St. Louis and New Mexico. He settled and founded a soap factory on the west bank of the San Gabriel River not far from Los Nietos (which later became known as Downey). His place was called Jaboneria.
Carpenter later bought the Santa Gertrudes Rancho and lived on it until 1959. He didn’t know it, but his rancho was to become the site of one of the historic battles of California.
He had charm and his nature suited him to the easy life of the Spanish residents who accepted him.
Sadly, the transition of California from its Spanish landholders to an American holding, complete with political fights over land boundaries proved to be too much for him. He was not acute in the world of business. He eventually lost everything and Downey purchased the land at a sheriff’s sale.
Carpenter was so emotionally shattered after the loss of his estate that he commited suicide.
How had he acquired his lands? During his successful years as a soapmaker, Carpenter had married a girl of Indian heritage named Espiritu. She died in childbirth and Carpenter, apparently seeking friends, moved his soap factory to the Santa Gertrudes side of the river to be nearer to Los Nietos. There were fiestas, horse racing and dancing there.
He met Maria de Los Angeles Dominguez, a niece of the widow who owned Rancho Santa Gertrudes. They were soon married.
The union with Maria produced five children, and Carpenter found he had crossed a cultural barrier. He accepted the way of life of Spanish early California. He bought the rancho in 1843 from his aunt by marriage. He raced horses and was known for playing cards.
But he had barely established himself as an Anglo Don when a band of soldiers and sailors from the United States marched across his rancho. It was Gen. Stephen Watts Kearny’s Army of the West, part of the force that claimed and won California for the United States.
One of the few fights of the brief war for California was fought on the northwest corner of Carpenter’s ranch. It was known as the Battle of San Gabriel.
A bronze plaque and two cannon mark the spot today at Bluff Road and Washington Boulevard.
Following Carpenter’s death, John Downey, who had ended up with most of the vast landholdings, showed concern for the welfare of Carpenter’s widow and her children. He gave them 100 acres with a house on the east bank of the San Gabriel.
She lived there for years, making a meager living by growing walnuts.
The dairy of Carpenter’s daughter, Mary Refugio Carpenter, is one of the finest historical chronicles of the times.
Her entry of Jan. 2, 1861, read, "After dinner I sewed most of the afternoon. I have been thinking so much of my father tonight. It made me weep."