“When Peter Romain De Boom, the god-father of 18 year.Romain Camille De Boom, died in 1857, he left a tract of land of 13 acres on Mission Street opposite old St. Mary’s College (now St. Mary’s Residential Park) to his god-son Romain (my father) in trust for the latter’s unborn children. In Belgium in those days such a bequest was legal, but not in California. The 13 acres are known as the “De Boom Tract, ” wrote Emma. Legal or not, RC DeBoom and his children enjoyed the proceeds of the De Boom Tract for decades. (See SF De Boom Tract Legacy page under RC De Boom.)
