What was Californias first multi-ethnic love story?
The story of Josefa Carrillo, daughter of the Joaquin Carrillo family in San Diego, is one of the best known in early California history. In 1829 she eloped with Henry Delano Fitch, an American merchant sea captain, thus becoming one of the first Californianas in San Diego to marry a foreigner. When Capt. Henry D. Fitch made a call on the port of San Diego in 1826, Josefa was introduced to him. She remembered that she was attracted to him by his “fine manners and handsome demeanor.” Within a year he requested her hand in marriage and her parents approved. Josefa promised to marry him but she was legally unable to do so because he was a foreigner and a Protestant. Several years passed until Capt. Fitch agreed to be baptized Catholic in order to be married. On April 15, 1829, the day after his baptism, the marriage was to take place. It was arranged for them to be married in her father’s house. The day for the marriage arrived and scores of family members and important guests assembled i
