San Luis Obispo County Biographies

Z. A. PICO

Submitted by Peggy Hooper

This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm


Z. A. PICO. � It is quite safe to say that there is not a family in California who has withal 
borne a more conspicuous part in the early settlement and history of the State than the 
Pico family. The name is familiar to the student of Southern California history. It has 
been the writer's privilege to meet several members of this honored and historic family, 
and he can not fail to give expression here to a sentiment which is not only founded upon 
pleasant personal acquaintance, but is also expressed by those who have known the Pico 
family in times of war, times of peace, and under various trying vicissitudes incident to the 
settlement and growth of the Commonwealth. 

Don Jose Jesus Pico, of San Luis Obispo, is one of the aged surviving members of this 
family, born at Monterey, this State, March 19, 1807. There he lived until 1840, when 
he moved with his family to San Luis Obispo and assumed the administration of the affairs 
of the mission at that place, which duly he discharged until the change of government 
took place. In 1847 he held the office of Alcalde of San Luis Obispo, and in all matters 
civil, business and social, his expressed wish and opinions were accepted without dissent 
or question. He possessed a stout heart and a clear, keen judgment in matters of private 
or public policy. He later devoted several years to the care of his ranch and stock interests, 
and now lives in retirement in San Luis Obispo city. He has five surviving children. Mrs. 
P. A. Forrester, a widow lady, and Mrs. William J. Graves, of San Luis Obispo, are daughters. 
Benigno and Fredrico, of San Fernando, and Zenobia A., of San Luis Obispo, are the surviving 
sons. 

Benigno Pico was born in Monterey, March 17, 1837, the third of the family. For some 
time he pursued the hotel business at Port Harford, and in 1877 went to San Fernando 
and opened the present well-known and popular Pico Hotel, which he still conducts. He 
is a popular landlord and a highly respected citizen. 

Zenobia A. Pico is a native of San Luis Obispo County, born in 1843, on the family 
homestead near the city, where the family lived from 1849 to 1868. He was first As- 
sessor of San Luis Obispo County for one term of two years, and then City Assessor, 
in which office he is now serving his third term. He married, March 8, 1868, Miss 
Mary Baxter, and they have three children. 

History of Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura Counties, California  - by 
C.M. Gidney, Benjamin Brooks, Edwin M. Sheridan, Vol I, II.  -Lewis Publ. Co., 
Chicago, 1917.