 David JACK and his wife Marie had a total
of nine children seven of who survived namely their five daughters,
Janet, Lee, Mary, Vida, and Margaret, and two
sons, William, and Romie. Because of JACK’S financial
success none of his children suffered from the same disadvantages as
JACK and his family back home in Scotland did. Their father’s money
paved the way for success in any profession they chose to enter. As
stated earlier, JACK placed a great emphasis on education and Mary and
Lee both attended MILLS COLLEGE an exclusive university in
America from which they both graduated in 1887,
For postgraduate work, Mary elected four
more years of music study in Boston. Lee furthered her studies in
languages and art in San Francisco, Oakland, and New York. She joined
Mary in Boston, where they took courses in business. Vida, the youngest
child, was lame as a child and was educated privately before attending
schools in Oakland and Berkely, where she was found to be a bright
student. Her teacher in Monterey was Lou Henry, the future wife of
United States President, Herbert HOOVER. Margaret attended, in
turn, the Cole Grammar School in Oakland, the Boston Girls’ Latin
School, Cornell, where she graduated in 1895, and Radcliffe. In an
advisory letter to her parents, she suggested that her younger brother,
Romie, should come east for study to develop his backbone. She felt that
he would be forced there to study harder.
Janet and brothers William and Romie also
benefited from an excellent education and all the family took part in
the family business
Lee and Mary both followed active careers
in the family enterprise. They served as Administration Officers,
including terms as Presidents of the family corporation known as the
David Jack Corporation. They both handled their business competently;
Lee especially showed shrewd administrative and business sense. Both
sisters subsequently used their fortunes to assist future Mills students
of the future.
At the age of 85 years David JACK
relinquished control of the family business to his wife. On July 5, 1907
she deeded all her real and personal property to the David JACK
Corporation chartered two days earlier in Nevada. Exclusively the
children operated the corporation. The corporation paid an income to Mr
and Mrs JACK. David JACK died in 1909 and the "San Francisco
Call" of Tuesday, January 12th had the following notice;
"David Jack multi millionaire and
the largest and richest landowner of Monterey County died at his home in
Monterey at 12.30 o’clock yesterday afternoon (Jan 11th) at
the age of 87 years. Born in Crieff, Perthshire, Scotland in 1822, Jack
came to the United States in 1841, and in 1849 reached California
settling a year later in Monterey"
JACK’S grave marker in Monterey
Cemetery simply reads:
‘ DAVID JACK(S) (1822 – 1909) NATIVE
OF CRIEFF, SCOTLAND, CAME TO CALIFORNIA 1849’
His wife died in 1917.
William, the older brother served as the
first President. At the same time he was President of the Monterey Board
of Trustees from 1906 to 1911. Soon after his marriage to Bertha
Wilcoxen of Salinas, he began to suffer from poor health and embarked on
an extended vacation. He died on 29 January 1937. His obituary stated;
‘ Will JACK, native son of Monterey and
member of one of the pioneer families of the community, passed away here
this morning after prolonged illness. He was the son of the late David
JACK and Maria Romie JACK, both of whom were members of old Monterey
County families. Mr JACK had recently observed his 70th
birthday. He was born here on 4 January 1867.
He received his early education at the
University of the Pacific at San Jose, California later going to Cornell
University and subsequently to the Harvard Law School where he graduated
with the degree of LL.B in 1894.
Mr JACK was admitted to the practice of
law in the States of Massachusetts and New York, being affiliated with
the legal department of the German Legal Aid Society.
Later he returned to Monterey where he
organised the DAVID JACK CORPORATION and became its President and
General Manager. He served successfully in this capacity for many years.
Mr JACK also took an active interest in
municipal affairs and was Mayor of Monterey during the years 1905 to
1910, during which time the city had a very successful administration.
He was a member of the Monterey Masonic
Lodge and of the Knights Templars of Watsonville. He served as Master of
the Monterey Masonic Lodge for a period. He was also a member of the
Monterey Elks Lodge.
Will JACK was loved by a large group of
friends who admired him for his integrity, honesty, and kindly interest
in his fellow citizens. Among his acquaintances and business associates
his word was always as good as his bond.
Mr JACK is survived by his sisters Janet
(Jack) BALCH, Lee L. JACK, Mary (Jack) THOMAS, Margaret A. JACK, and
Vida G. JACK and by his brother Romie C. JACK.
Funeral services will be conducted by the
Monterey Masonic Lodge at 2PM. Monday afternoon from the Monterey
Presbyterian Church. Rev. T.J. BARKLE will assist with the services.
The Paul Mortuary is in charge of
arrangements’.
Mary JACK assumed his role in 1913 and in
1914 became the official president. Romie had been placed on salary
earlier as manager of the corporation owned Abbot Hotel in Salinas.
Janet, the oldest sister, sold her stock back to the corporation and
withdrew as director in 1911. An honour graduate of the University of
the Pacific, she had gone on immediately in 1886 to Cornell where she
met Alan C. BALCH an engineering student. They married in Oakland in
1891, and for a few years both were in the family business circle. BALCH
borrowed money from David JACK to become established in the electrical
industry. He worked his way from the Pacific Northwest to the Los
Angeles area; he was a pioneer in the development of power for pumping
water and oil. He and Janet gave their time to Philanthropy when he
retired in 1927. He also served as Chairman of the Board, of the
California Institute of Technology, and a Trustee of the establishment.
He died in 1943. Janet died soon after him.
The corporation was terminated in 1919,
when its properties were divided equally among the six remaining
shareholders. Merging their shares the three unmarried sisters formed
the L.M. and V. JACK firm with Lee as President, Margaret Vice –
President and Secretary Treasurer.
Distributions from the estate of Mary
Jack (Thomas), who died in 1955, were settled in 1986. Through her
residual trust Mills received $2.5 million, approximately $1.3 million
in 1986 and roughly $53,000 annually between 1962 and 1985. Lee arranged
for most of her estate to be shared equally between the University of
California, Stanford, and the California Institute of Technology.
Indirectly, Mills also benefited from the estate through a bequest of
$10,000 from Margaret for whom Lee left a lifetime trust. David JACK and
his wife inculcated in their children, through guidance in religious
education and social, economic, and ethical practices, a firm belief in
excellent formal education and through the years both the parents and
their children bequeathed millions of dollars to various educational
establishments throughout the country.
Margaret JACK the last remaining member
of the family died in 1962 and this brought to an end the 112 year JACK
family business. In her advanced years, Margaret JACK gave back to the
people of Monterey, most of the land, which her family had held for many
years. In doing so, many have speculated that she was exorcising the
ghost of what had been considered to be the greed of her father when he
had obtained the land in the first place.
On her death, all that remained of the
family holdings, which were in her possession and care, went to Stanford
University, where academic chairs in certain disciplines were eventually
named in memory of some of the family. The bequest was said to have been
the largest since the University’s founding.
Coincidentally or otherwise, none of JACK’S
children had children of their own and it seems that the curse placed on
David JACK many years before had been realised? |
