Rancho Ojo de Agua de la Coche was a 8927 acres (36.1 km²) Mexican land grant

Ranchos of California

The Spanish, and later the Méxican government encouraged settlement of territory now known as California by the establishment of large land grants called ranchos, from which the English ranch is derived. Devoted to raising cattle and sheep, the owners of the ranchos attempted to pattern themselves...

 in present day Santa Clara County, California given in 1835 by Governor José Figueroa

José Figueroa

General José Figueroa , was a General and the Mexican territorial Governor of Alta California from 1833 to 1835.Figueroa oversaw the initial secularization of the missions of upper California, which included the expulsion of the Spanish Franciscan mission officials.This also involved the issuing of...

 to Juan María Hernandez. The name means "pig's spring". The grant extended south from Rancho Laguna Seca (Alvires)

Rancho Laguna Seca (Alvires)

Rancho Laguna Seca was a Mexican land grant in present day Santa Clara County, California given in 1834 by Governor José Figueroa to Juan Alvires. "Laguna Seca" means "Dry Lake" in Spanish...

 between Coyote Creek and Llagas Creek, and encompassed present day Morgan Hill

Morgan Hill, California

Morgan Hill is a city located in the southern part of Santa Clara County, California, United States. Founded on November 10, 1906, the city was named after Hiram Morgan Hill, a San Franciscan who built a country retreat home there in 1884...

.

History

Juan Maria Jorge Hernandez (b.1776) married Maria Francisca Lorenzana (1782-1852) in 1800, and received the two square league Rancho Ojo de Agua de la Coche in 1835.

In 1846, Martin Murphy Sr. purchased the Rancho Ojo del Agua de la Coche. Martin Murphy Sr. brought his family to California with the Stephens-Townsend-Murphy Party

Stephens-Townsend-Murphy Party

The Stephens-Townsend-Murphy Party consisted of ten families who migrated from Iowa to California prior to the Mexican-American War or the California Gold Rush. The Stephens Party is significant in California history because they were the first wagon train to cross the Sierra Nevada during the...

 in 1844. Son Martin Murphy Jr. was the founder of the city of Sunnyvale

Sunnyvale, California

Sunnyvale is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States. It is one of the major cities that make up the Silicon Valley located in the San Francisco Bay Area...

. Murphy's sons, John and Daniel, struck gold in the Sierras, then made a fortune selling dry goods to local miners and Native Americans. The town they established in the Sierra foothills still bears the family name - Murphys

Murphys, California

Murphys is a census-designated place in Calaveras County, California, United States...

. In 1851, Daniel married Maria Fisher, of the neighboring Rancho Laguna Seca

Rancho Laguna Seca (Alvires)

Rancho Laguna Seca was a Mexican land grant in present day Santa Clara County, California given in 1834 by Governor José Figueroa to Juan Alvires. "Laguna Seca" means "Dry Lake" in Spanish...

. Martin Murphy Sr. died in 1865.

With the cession

Mexican Cession

The Mexican Cession of 1848 is a historical name in the United States for the region of the present day southwestern United States that Mexico ceded to the U.S...

 of California to the United States following the Mexican-American War, the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is the peace treaty, largely dictated by the United States to the interim government of a militarily occupied Mexico City, that ended the Mexican-American War on February 2, 1848...

 provided that the land grants would be honored. As required by the Land Act of 1851, a claim for Rancho Ojo del Agua de la Coche was filed with the Public Land Commission

Public Land Commission

The Public Land Commission, a former agency of the United States government, was created following the admission of California as a state in 1850 . The Commission's purpose was to determine the validity of prior Spanish and Mexican land grants in California.California Senator William M...

 in 1853, and the grant was patented

Land patent

A land patent is a land grant made patent by the sovereign lord over the land in question. To make a such a grant “patent”, such a sovereign lord must document the land grant, securely sign and seal the document and openly publish the same to the public for all to see...

 to Murphy's son, Bernard Murphy in 1860.

Bernard Murphy was killed in the explosion of the steamboat "Jenny Lind" en route from Alviso to San Francisco on April 11, 1853. In 1854, Daniel Murphy (d. 1881) took over operation of Rancho Ojo del Agua de la Coche. When Daniel Murphy died in 1881, daughter Diana and son Daniel Jr. inherited the land grant. Diana Murphy, who inherited 4500 acres (18 km²) of the rancho, married Hiram Morgan Hill in 1882. In 1892, Diana Murphy, sold her portion of Rancho Ojo de Agua de la Coche to real estate developer Chauncey Hatch Phillips.