José Antonio Yorba

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José Antonio Yorba (1743–1825) was a Spanish California settler and soldier. He was born in Sant Sadurní d'Anoia, Catalonia, Spain, and was one of the early Catalan volunteers who came to California.

Yorba fought in the Seven Years’ War and later served as a corporal under Gaspar de Portolá during the 1769 expedition to explore and claim California. He lived in San Francisco (1777), Monterey (1782), and San Diego (1789). He retired in 1797 as an inválido sergeant.

In 1810, Yorba received the Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana land grant, about 63,414 acres. This land covered a large part of today’s Orange County, including areas that would become Olive, Orange, Villa Park, Santa Ana, Tustin, Costa Mesa, and Newport Beach. He died in 1825 and requested to be buried in an unmarked grave at Mission San Juan Capistrano; a cenotaph was later placed in his honor.

Yorba married Maria Garcia Feliz in 1773 and, after her death, Maria Josefa Grijalva in 1782. His descendants married into several prominent Spanish families, such as the Cotas, Grijalvas, Perralta, and Dominguez, and later ties connected to Kraemer and Irvine families. In the 20th century, Samuel Kraemer, who married Angelina Yorba, tore down the Yorba Hacienda after Yorba Linda declined a donation. General George S. Patton was a great-great-great-grandson, and Patton’s maternal grandmother was Yorba’s granddaughter Ramona Yorba. The Yorba Cemetery, established in 1858, is now surrounded by Woodgate Park.