José María Verdugo (Carrillo) was born about 1751 in Presidio de Loreto, Baja California, New Spain to Juan Diego Verdugo and María Ygnacia de la Concepción Carrillo.

[3] In 1784, Verdugo requested and received a grant from his army commander Governor Pedro Fages to settle and graze his cattle on what became Rancho San Rafael, also known as La Zanja.

[4] Corporal Verdugo's grant consisted of eight square leagues (36,402 acres (147.31 km2)) of land stretching roughly from the Arroyo Seco in present-day Pasadena to the Mission San Fernando.

In 1798 he retired from the army to become a full-time rancher, and title to his property was established by Spanish Governor Diego de Borica.

Julio Antonio Verdugo (1789 - 1876), son of José María Verdugo, married María de Jesus Romero, and had the following children: Teodoro, Chrisóstimo, Fernando, Pedro, José María, Querino/Quirino, Rafael, Guillermo, Vittorio, Rafaela (first married to Fernando Sepúlveda then to Tomás Ávila Sánchez), and Maria Antonia (married Chabolla).