The Santa Margarita Ranch House Bell

The Santa Margarita Ranch House Bell. It is not known where the Santa Margarita Ranch House Bell was cast or in what year it was first hung in the arch on the front porch of the ranch house., It has been suggested that it may have been brought to California from Spain or Mexico by the Franciscan Missionaries or it may have been a ship's bell from one of the sailing vessels that visited the California coast in the early 1800's. , For over a century it played an important role in the daily routine of the Santa Margarita Ranch. Each morning at 5:00 a.m. it rang an awakening call at which time all hands turned out to groom and feed the many horses needed for the operation of the ranch - at 6:00 a.m. it rang breakfast call - at 12:00 noon lunch call and finally at 6:00 p.m. dinner call., At no other time was it rung except as an alarm in an emergency such as a fire. , The only exceptions to the above were when it tolled upon the death of Richard O'Neill Sr. in 1910 and upon the deaths of James Flood II and Jerome O'Neill in 1926., The bell was taken from the ranch house in 1942 by the Baumgartner family as a memento and kept at the ranches of John J. Baumgartner, Jr. in San Benito and Santa Clara Counties until 1974 when it was returned to the Santa Margarita Ranch House by Elizabeth Baumgartner Yates, John J. Baumgartner, Jr. and Jerome O. Baumgartner.