Compiled by Nick Sestanovich

75 years ago

Daughter of Benicia’s founder dies in Sonoma (July 29, 1943)

Senora Luisa Vallejo Emparan, only surviving daughter of General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, one of the founders of Benicia, passed away Friday at the Burnsdale Sanitorium in Sonoma, not far from the historic family home, where she was born.
She died at the age of 87 and was the last of sixteen children of General Vallejo, the last commandante of Alta California under Mexican rule.
In 1933 the State of California acquired the home and adjoining 17 acres, near Sonoma, and made it a part of the State Park system.
Mrs. Emparan was made custodian of the family home and museum and lived there until January, 1940, when she suffered a heart attack which left her an invalid.
The Vallejo home is about a mile from the plaza in Sonoma, where her father surrendered to the Bear Flag forces and ended his term as California’s last Mexican governor.
Senora Emparan at the age of 80, visited Benicia on the occasion of unveiling a marker to the founder s at Old Timers’ Day in 1936. Many who were there on that occastion will remember her remarkable singing voice as she sang “Estrileta” on the program of dedication.

50 years ago

Council appoints new administrator (July 25, 1968)

Lanier S. Brady, a former city manager of Brisbane, San Mateo County, was appointed the new city administrator of Benicia following a special executive session of the City Council, Tuesday night.
Councilman Warren H. Humbert offered a resolution approving Brady’s appointment. It was seconded by Councilman James Lemos and was approved unanimously.
Brady, 57, will be paid $12,000 a year for his services.
The new city official graduated from Modesto Junior College in 1932 and attended Washington and Jefferson college in Pennsylvania for one year, majoring in personal administration.
He spent three years in the U.S. Army during World War II and was discharged as a staff sergeant in personnel and classification section of Camp Roberts.
From 1936 until 1938, Brady was manager of a Safeway store in Modesto. H left that position to take a job as interviewer and placement officer in Modesto for California State Employment Service.

25 years ago

Museum may saddle up for camel races (July 25, 1993)

By David Hagerty

The Camel Barn Museum will experience a remembrance of things past this weekend when it hosts a meeting of the International Order of Camel Jockeys.
“We’re hoping to see if they would like to assist us in having camel races next year,” Lisa Eriksen, director of the museum, said.
Such an event would create a historical loop for the museum, which earned its name in 1864 when the U.S. Army auctioned off 40 camels there. The herd was being used as an experimental means of transportation in the deserts of the Southwest.
Camel races would seem like an appropriate event at the museum, given its history, and could also be a big fund-raiser as well.

The full articles of these and other stories are available on microfilm at the Benicia Public Library.

Editor’s note: As today marked the final Thursday edition of the Benicia Herald, this will be the final edition of Throwback Thursday…sort of. Check back next week when it is rebranded as “Flashback Friday.”

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