El Rio / Ventura County Branch

Jose Trinidad Octaviano Moraga

Photo said to be of Jose Trinidad Octaviano Moraga circa 1900, a former barkeeper at the New Parian Bar in Ventura. Latest reports say he and his wife may have originated from Magdelena, Sonora, the son of Antonio and Margarita Moraga. He would eventually own his own boarding house in Ventura

Whenever someone finds out you are a Moraga, they often ask are you related to so and so Moraga of Camarillo, Oxnard, Ventura…

Part of the challenge of being a Moraga in Ventura County is that both branches of the family ended up in the same region — the descendants of José Joaquin Moraga who came from Sonora with the Anza expedition in the 1770s to found San Francisco, and the descendants of Jose Trinidad Octaviano Moraga (Octaviano Moraga), who first came to Ventura County in the 1870s, eventually settling in El Rio.

Photo said to be of Rosario Moraga de Andrade, circa 1900, who arrived in California circa the 1870s. Said to be related to the Andrade family in Ventura. She would eventually have at least 13 children. Her headstone, and that of her husband and son, can be found at the Santa Clara Cemetery in Oxnard in the old section of the grounds. Newspaper reports at the time said she died on the family ranch in El Rio after a rope broke holding a galvanized water tank, killing her instantly.

Photo said to be of Rosario Moraga de Andrade, circa 1900, who arrived in California circa the 1870s. Said to be related to the Andrade family in Ventura. She would eventually have at least 13 children. Her headstone, and that of her husband and son, can be found at the Santa Clara Cemetery in Oxnard in the old section of the grounds. Newspaper reports at the time said she died on the family ranch in El Rio after a rope broke holding a galvanized water tank, killing her instantly.

To this day there are members of both families spread throughout Ventura County.

Thanks to research by Maria Cortez de Moraga and others, we believe the El Rio branch of the Moraga family got it’s start from Octaviano Moraga’s great-grandfather, Salvador Moraga, who was born in San Ignacio, Sonora in 1760.

His son was Francisco X. Moraga, born circa 1783 in Santa Maria Magdalena, Sonora.

Francisco’s son, Jose Antonio Moraga, christened 20 July 1818 in Magdalena, Sonora, was the father of Octaviano, born circa 1844 in Madalena and eventually settling in the Oxnard neighborhood of El Rio, died 9 May 1922; and his brother, Jose Santiago “James” Moraga, christened 31 July 1864, eventually settling in Ventura, died 8 Sept. 1947. Other children in the family included Jose Ramon, c. 14 March 1840; Maria Luz P., b. 1849; Narcisa b. 1850; Nicolasa b. 1856; Ynez b. 1859, c. 24 April 1859; and Maria Rita (Margarita) b. 1862.

It was reported that Octaviano returned at least once to Magdalena.

We are still searching further back to see if Salvador Moraga was related to some of the earlier Moraga families in Sonora.

We have just found one National Park Service webpage (be patient, it takes time loading up) that shows that Basilio Moraga and wife Lucía Moraga Carrisosa de Garcia were the parents of Salvador Domingo Moraga, husband of María Francisca Bonilla of Santa Ana, located just south of Magdelana, Sonora.

Please contact us at moragahistory@me.com if you have any information.

Resources:

Obituaries:

Family of Octaviano Moraga of El Rio, California
  1. Rosario Moraga de Andrade — d. 10 Aug. 1912
  2. Octaviano Moraga — d. 9 May 1922
  3. Emma Salinas de Moraga — d. July 13 1942
  4. Antonio S. Moraga — d. 23 Feb. 1950
  5. Joseph ‘Joe’ Pablo Moraga — d. 11 Feb. 1953
  6. Bernie Moraga — d. 15 June 1955
  7. Mary Ruglioni de Moraga — d. 19 April 1959
  8. Bertha Moraga — d. 19 Oct. 1972
  9. William Moraga — d. 1 July 1981
  10. Rudy Moraga — d. 23 Nov. 1996
  11. Frieda Martinez de Moraga — d. 28 Aug. 2000
  12. Nellie L. Moraga Valenzuela — d. 19 Feb. 2002
  13. Eva P. Merrill de Moraga — d. 30 Aug. 2003
  14. Toney Frank Moraga — d. 18 April 2008
  15. Evelyn Lopez de Moraga — d. 8 Aug. 2011