William’s son David was born in
CRIEFF on April, 18,1822. In his early years he was said to be a
somewhat solitary youth who had few friends. This may have been an
indication of his independence and single mindedness that would reveal
itself in later years.
Little is known about his early life in
Crieff, but he did work for a while in one of the handloom weaving
shops, which existed in Crieff at the time. David clearly had
aspirations, which he probably felt he could not achieve in Crieff at
that time, and by the age of 19 or 20 years, he decided to emigrate to
America, which was fairly common practice in these days. Indeed, David’s
brothers, Peter, James, and John had emigrated a number of years before
him, although Peter returned to Scotland a short time after. James and
John however, settled in the Long Island area of New York and became
successful storekeepers.
It has been written elsewhere that JACK
left Crieff in 1841 following the death of his father, in order to
lessen the burden of his widowed mother. This is inaccurate as his
father lived until 1855. After following his brothers out to America,
David worked for seven years for an army contractor in Williamsburg,
Virginia, and then in Fort Hamilton, New York. One of the regular
visitors to his store at that time was one Robert E. Lee who
visited the store to inspect ‘caisson wheels’. Lee of course went on
to become General LEE, a famous leader during the American Civil War.
JACK got to know him well and is said to have liked him.
In 1848 JACK read of great wealth to be
found in California around the time of the California gold rush. Like
most men of his age at that time, he decided to go there and give it a
try. Before he left, he invested his total savings of $1,400 dollars in
revolvers which he intended to sell on to law –abiding and lawless
alike, thinking that both would pay a handsome price for such items at
that time in Californian history. He arrived in San Francisco in April,
1849 where he sold his entire investment in revolvers for $4,000 dollars
in the first 48 hours, making a 286% profit in the process. He
immediately made his way to the Gold Mines, but found little success.
Returning to San Francisco he gained employment as an Inspector in the
Custom House earning 100$ a month. His capital of $4,000 dollars was put
to good use. He lent portions of it at an interest of 2% a month.
In 1850 a business trip took him to
Monterey, then a small town with a population of less than 1,000. He saw
potential in the town however, and moved there the following year. At
first JACK was employed by Joseph BOSTON, who operated a general store
on Olivier Street. JACK also boarded with BOSTON at his residence on Van
Buren Street. JACK very much admired BOSTON and his position in the
community. BOSTON’S house was a wonderful old house with a history of
its own and JACK vowed that one day he would own the property which he
eventually did.
Next, JACK clerked for two years for
another Scots pioneer James McKinley who owned a dry goods store in
Monterey. At the same time, JACK who was very ambitious carried out
various farming enterprises, hiring men to cultivate land for him. He
became involved in the growing of potatoes which he felt sure would be
successful. However, a combination of a falling market and being ripped
off by schemers and speculators led to this enterprise petering out. An
example of his failure around this time is when he was forced to sell
hogs he had purchased for about $3,000 for $50 dollars.
Following the death of his father, JACK
returned home to Crieff in 1856 to visit his family, perhaps feeling
pangs of homesickness. He left his meagre holdings in the hands of
agents and went to Scotland for a year during which time he raised the
headstone in memory of his father at his grave in Muthill Churchyard. He
returned to California in 1857.
About this time, the chapter in David
JACK’S life, which led to his becoming one of the country’s largest
and richest landowners, was about to occur. David JACK was about to
engage in an enterprise, along with his partner, Attorney, Delos ASHLEY
which would result in him becoming a landowner far beyond the wildest
dreams of any Scottish laird, but which would lead to his being reviled
by some.
In 1830, the Mexican government had
granted 30,000 Acres of land to the City of Monterey. When California
became a state and the United States took provenance of the town, a
problem facing the new governor was how to settle the land claims of the
former Mexican province. Under Mexican law there were three main
dispositions of land; first, the large "ranchos", countless
acres of land granted to the early Spanish settlers and their
descendents, second the mission properties including the church, its
gardens and outbuildings with additional acreage to be held in trust for
the Indian neophytes; third the pueblo lands which were allotted for use
of the community and its citizens.
After the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in
1851, at the conclusion of the Mexican – American war, a board of
three commissioners was appointed to hear the cases within a period of
two years. This would prove very difficult for those who had to provide
funds for the legal action and travel necessary for the hearings.
Because of the confusion, delay, and appeals, it was nearly ten years
before the appeals were settled.
In 1853, the "pueblo" of
Monterey hired Attorney Delos Rodeyn ASHLEY to legitimise its claims to
29,698.53 acres of land before the United States Land Claims Commission
in San Francisco. He was successful and presented a bill of $991.50 to
the city fathers. However, the treasury cupboards were bare. The State
Legislature therefore passed a bill, which allowed the Monterey city
government to auction off its town lands in order to pay off the debt
owed to ASHLEY. The auction took place at 5PM on February 9, 1859 on the
steps of the Colton Hall. All 29,698.53 acres of Monterey pueblo lands
were auctioned off. The sole bidders at this auction were David JACK and
Delos ASHLEY. The total selling price was $1,002.50 all of which was
given to ASHLEY. ASHLEY sold his interest to JACK a number of years
later.
Many have speculated since, that JACK and
ASHLEY engineered the entire purchase, from the start. Therefore JACK
came to own 30,000 acres of magnificent, scenic countryside surrounding
Monterey as well as the town itself.
The City of Monterey tried twice,
unsuccessfully to reclaim its lost lands. The case went all the way to
the U.S. Supreme Court, which eventually ruled in JACK’S favour. This
event became known locally as ‘THE RAPE OF MONTEREY’.
JACK embarked on what appears to have
been an almost obsessive taste for land acquisition. He soon learned
that the Californians in the Salinas were more adept in their saddles
than they were in business, many of them hard pressed for money because
of dry years when they had been forced to sacrifice cattle, and they
were lax in the matter of taxes. JACK began to pay overdue taxes on good
land, allegedly without troubling to notify the owners. When the
inevitable showdown came, he simply pointed out that he was within his
legal rights, and that if they paid him with interest they could have
their land back. He also foreclosed on defaulted mortgages. This, he
again allegedly did, by pinning foreclosure notices on outlying reaches
of the respective properties. If English speaking, the notices were
posted in Mexican and vice- versa. Piece by piece was added to his
holdings through mortgage and tax sales and other shrewd practices. At
his height JACK was said to own around 100,000 acres of Monterey County
Lands.
Due to these practices however, JACK
incurred the enmity of the native peoples and others. Indeed the
locals are said to have placed a curse on he and his family that they
should have no issue who would benefit from what they considered to be
his ill-gotten gains. Those who lost their lands to Jack considered
him a Land Thief, but Jack considered them to be ‘squatters’ on his
property. This led to the formation of an organisation calling
themselves ‘The Squatters League of Monterey County’. In 1872
the League wrote to Jack;
"…You have been the cause of
unnecessary annoyance and expense to the settlers…now if you don’t
make that account of damages to each and every one of us
within ten days, you son of a bitch, we will suspend your animation
between daylight and hell"
Around this time the famous author Robert
Louis STEVENSON was visiting California and heard the stories
surrounding JACK and his land acquisitions. In his book ‘ACROSS THE
PLAINS’ STEVENSON wrote;
‘ In the meantime however, the
Americans rule in Monterey County. The new county seat Salinas City, in
the bald, corn bearing plain under the Gaelano Peak, is a town of purely
American character. The land is held, for the most part, in those
enormous tracts which are another legacy of Mexican days, and form the
present chief danger and disgrace of California; and the holders are
mostly of American or British birth; We have here in England no idea of
the troubles and inconveniences which flow from the existence of these
large landholders, - land thieves, land sharks, or land grabbers, they
are more commonly and plainly called. Thus the town lands of Monterey
are all in the hands of a single man. How they came there is an obscure,
vexatious question, and rightly, or wrongly, the man is hated with a
great hatred. His life has been repeatedly in danger. Not very long ago,
I was told the stage was stopped three evenings in succession by
disguised horsemen thirsting for his blood. A certain house on the
Salinas road, they say, he always passes in his buggy at full speed, for
the squatter sent him warning long ago. But a year since, he was
publicly pointed out for death by no less a man than Mr Dennis Kearney.
Kearney is a man too well known in California, but a word of explanation
is required for English readers. Originally an Irish drayman, he rose,
by his command of bad language, to almost dictatorial authority in the
state; throned it there for six months or so, his mouth full of oaths,
gallowses, and conflagrations; was first snuffed out last winter by Mr
Coleman, backed by his San Francisco vigilantes and three gattling guns;
completed his own ruin by throwing in his lot with the grotesque green
backer party; and had at last to be rescued by his old enemies, the
Police, out of the hands of his rebellious followers. It was while he
was at the top of his fortune that Kearney visited Monterey with his
battle cry against Chinese labour, the railroad monopolists, and the
land thieves; and his one articulate counsel to the Montereyans was ‘to
hang David Jack’. Had the town been American, in my private opinion
this would have been done years ago. Land is a subject on which there is
no jesting in the West, and I have seen my friend the lawyer drive out
of Monterey to adjust a competition of titles with the face of a captain
going into battle and his Smith and Wesson convenient to his hand’
All the hassle generated from the
purchase of the pueblo lands seems to have been too much for JACK’S
partner ASHLEY and in 1869 he left Monterey after selling off his
holdings to JACK. His reasons for leaving are probably best summed up in
a letter that he wrote to JACK as early as 1862, when he wrote; "Why
don’t you leave Monterey for a place where a man can
have a dollar and not be envied"
However, JACK stayed on in Monterey and
continued to amass land. The pueblo lands alone consisted of some of the
richest and most valuable property in all California consisting as it
did of the present day cities of Pacific Grove, Del Rey Oaks, and
Seaside, the Del Monte Forest, Ford Ord, and the spectacular coastline
of 17 mile drive. His land also comprised the area of Pebble Beach, best
known nowadays of course, for it’s Championship Golf Course. JACK
owned many of the historic Spanish, and Mexican adobes of Monterey as
well as properties extending far into the inland valleys behind the
Monterey coast. The highest point of the Monterey peninsula stood on his
land and is still known as ‘Jack’s Peak’. Indeed, there is ‘Jacks
Peak County Park’ which overlooks the spectacular Monterey Peninsula
and is located about two miles from scenic highway 68. A natural
reserve, the park’s 525 acres of ridge top is set amidst native
Monterey pines. The abundance of trees, flowers, and wildlife, found at
Jack’s Peak make it the destination for any nature enthusiast. Linda
LARSON, a guide with the Department of Parks and Recreation, Monterey,
is in no doubt how history should remember David JACK. She states; ‘He
was indeed a controversial figure, but, as far as we know, broke no
laws. It is very important I believe, to be very careful about passing
judgement on people such as he who came from a different time and a
different culture. He is certainly not atypical of the high-powered
businessmen of his day. He also contributed a great deal to this area as
did his children.’
One of JACK’S other business interests
was a dairy, which he owned on the Salinas River. It was here that JACK
produced a cheese which origins can be traced to the Spanish Franciscan
fathers who came north to California from Mexico during the early days
of the missions. The fathers proved that necessity is the mother of
invention. Left with an oversupply of fresh milk, they devised a way of
preserving the milk by converting it to cheese. The result was a soft,
creamy, light delicacy, which became known as "Queso blanco pais"
the country peasant cheese and "Queso blanco" the white
cheese. "Queso Blanco" became a staple diet of the
Spanish-speaking settlers. JACK eventually had a partnership in 14
dairies, with Spanish and Portuguese dairymen. Together they dominated
North Californian dairy farming. JACK suffered from the same problems of
surplus milk. He solved this problem in a similar manner to the
Franciscans and produced his own cheese marketing it as ‘Jacks Cheese’.
It became very popular on the West Coast and people began asking for it
by name and ‘MONTEREY JACK’ became synonymous with this
white, creamy cheese. To this day the cheese is very popular and can be
found in most large supermarkets. It is also a staple ingredient in
various Mexican dishes and in Pizzas. The Sonoma Cheese Factory in
California alone produces some 10,000 pounds of Jack Cheese daily, and
the cheese accounts for about 10 per cent of all cheese production in
California.
However, like so much else in David Jack’s
life, the question of who put the ‘JACK’ in Monterey Jack
cheese is not devoid of controversy. A debate has raged on in California
for many years into this question. A number of other persons
manufactured similar cheeses before David Jack, one of whom was a
Domingo Pedrazzi of Carmel Valley, California. He manufactured a cheese,
which apparently required ‘the application of pressure’. This ‘pressure’
was brought to bear by means of a ‘house jack’, hence ‘Jack Cheese’.
Pedrazzi’s cheese became known as ‘Pedrazzi’s Jack Cheese’. What
is not in doubt is that David JACK was the first person to commercially
manufacture the cheese in a large scale and successful way.
One thing, which may have
contributed to the controversy, is that David Jack was known in
California as David Jacks. Quite why or when the ‘S’ was added to
his surname is not known, although there is no reason to believe it has
any sinister connotations. After all, if one wanted to change one’s
name for any reason, one would do more than simply add an ‘S’. It is
possible that none of Jack’s immediate family in America were aware of
this fact.
The author is inclined to believe that
the ‘S’ was added through common usage. Jack owned so much land and
property, and with Jacks being a more possessive sounding name, people
would often refer to property or places owned by him, such as ‘David
Jack’s Church’, ‘Jack’s Peak’, Jack’s Cheese’ and so on.
It does not therefore require a large leap of imagination to understand
why people started using the extra ‘S’. Perhaps David Jack got to
like the name in such form, or believed it to be more American sounding,
and therefore adopted it.
Another possibility is raised when one
reads the various postings within the Jack/Jacks Genealogy Forums on the
World Wide Web. A number of Genealogists researching their own
Jack/Jacks lines have found the same anomaly, with different members of
the same family spelling their surnames, both with and without the ‘S’.
One researcher found that the anomaly in one case was down to a Census
taker, spelling the family surname, on that occasion without the ‘S’,
instead of with it. It is just possible, that such an error resulted in
the confusion surrounding David Jack’s name, on his arrival in
America.
For the purposes of this Biography
however, the author is inclined to refer to Jack (and his family) by his
given birth name, the name he appears quite content to have
used whilst home in Scotland.
Members of his own family commented upon
JACK’S surname change in 1929. At that time, Josiah Van Kirk THOMPSON,
a prominent, wealthy, Pennsylvania coal baron was researching the
American Revolutionary War history, of a number of families connected to
him in the Cumberland County area of Pennsylvania. One such family was
the Jack Family. During the course of this he visited another
immigrant from Scotland, William JACK, at his home at 70, Moore Street,
St. Thomas, Ontario, CANADA.
William JACK was a Nephew of David JACK,
the son of David’s half brother, Peter, and was able to relate to
THOMPSON some of his family history. THOMPSON wrote down details of his
research into what is now the ‘JV THOMPSON JOURNALS’, and
what he learned from William JACK is contained within its 28 volumes. He
writes;
" I arrived here just as it struck
eleven and have been talking to Mr and Mrs Jack for an hour, and will
now make record of some of the things they tell me. Mr Jack’s
grandfather, William Jack lived at Crieff, Scotland, where he was a
Sawyer, running a sawmill. He had a brother Robert Jack who owned a
little bit of land within a mile of Braco village of about 200 people
(Silverton Farm – Author).
He was married but did not have any
children. Mr Jack remembers being in his house once when he was a small
boy and says he died shortly thereafter and was a pretty old man. He is
buried in the Established Church Presbyterian burying ground there,
where several Jacks own layers. He says there were nine families of
Jacks in Braco, but none related to the other, so far as they knew, but
showing that the family probably lived there many generations. (Correct
– since the 17th Century – Author).
They had all gone from there when they
left for America on June 8, 1907, and she followed on August 17, 1907,
being the last of the Jacks to leave Braco, as there was nothing there
to give them a livelihood"
" Mr Jack thinks his grandfather,
William Jack was dead before he was born and would be buried at Crieff
or Muthill. He don’t know the name of his first wife, his own
grandmother, (Elizabeth Christie – Author), but says his second wife
was Janet Campbell (this is wrong, his second wife was called Janet
Mcewan – Author) who they think survived him. He thinks his father
Peter was the oldest (this too is wrong – he was the youngest,
Alexander, James, John, Robert, and Elizabeth arrived before him, in the
first family – Author) and then they know of but Christine (wrong –
‘Christian’ – Author) in Scots, Kirsty, and David.
Peter, John and James came to the States
and Peter went back to Scotland but John and James stayed. Either John
or James never married, but the other married and left but one child, a
daughter of whom they have no trace. David joined them in the States
prior to 1849 as he left about then on the trek to the California gold
fields, but John nor James went.
David after appeared with money and they
believe he got what his half brothers John and James had, for he became
a loaner of money on land in California to Mexicans and foreclosed the
mortgages so extensively that the Mexicans were out for his scalp to
kill him, but never got him. In 1866, he went back to Scotland and took
his sister Kirsty to California to keep house for him and later married
a Penna Dutch wife, much
younger than himself and with whom Kirsty could not agree, and she went
to a ranch of her own where she was kicked by a colt curtailing her
activities, but she lived until six or seven years ago when she died at
San Luis Obispo, bound to be in her nineties Mrs Jack says and is buried
there. It was she who gave the old bible to her brother, Peter in 1866.
David’s family settled her estate about four years after her death.
David went back to Scotland a year or so
after Mr Jack was married and had a talk with him about the rivers of
Scotland not washing away the banks like a river in California that went
through his land did. He said he could drive a whole day and never get
off his own land. David died in Monterey, California about twenty years
ago, say in 1909, shortly after they came here when Mrs Jack’s sister
saw in the ‘Edinburgh Scotsman’ a column article of his death saying
he was a native of Crieff where all of William’s children were born.
This article spoke of his being a multi millionaire, his estate being
valued at ten million dollars. Mrs Jack says his widow who survived him
was rich when he married her. Mr Jack says he was past 80 years old when
he died"
"Mr Jack said that the article about
his Uncle David Jacks said that he had a lawsuit about some land in
California which was in the courts for 30 years, but the Scotsman David,
finally won the suit. Apparently a similar case to that of Stephen
Girard who likewise acquired his Penna lands by foreclosure. Mr Jack
said all their people in Scotland spelled the name "Jack" and
none of them spelled it Jacks, and he said David put the ‘S’ to the
end of his name after he came to America"
Although many people viewed JACK in a
negative fashion, he had friends during his lifetime as well, both
amongst the historians of the day, and from the people who undoubtedly
benefited from his generosity. The renowned historian Hubert Howe
BANCROFT stated;
"It seems paradoxical that it should
be the fate of most good men to have enemies…He whose deeds and
successes are a reflection on the indolence of others will always be a
subject of diatribe"
JACK was apparently a deeply religious
man, and although some of his business actions were considered in some
quarters to be immoral he was deeply self-conscious about breaching the
laws of society and morality. On April 20, 1861, Jack married Marie
Christina Soledad Romie whose parents were German immigrants to Mexico.
She was born in Oajaca, Mexico in 1837 and came to Monterey with her
family when she was four years old. She and Jack had nine children,
seven of whom survived into adulthood, five daughters and two sons. As a
young Scottish lad of indifferent schooling JACK saw the value in a
proper education and his children were encouraged to pursue their own
educational goals and all went on to attain a high level of academic
attainment at various colleges and universities.
David JACK was a devout Presbyterian, but
supported the Methodist and Episcopal Churches as well. He taught Sunday
school for many years, and, in fact, was supposed to have fallen in love
with his future wife, when she was a student in one of his classes. A
story existed, told by Louis Sanchez, whose mother was Nellie
Vandergrift Sanchez, sister of Fannie Osbourne Stevenson, and therefore
a nephew of Robert Louis Stevenson. ‘He
and several of his boyhood friends would attend Sunday school on the
second floor of the Pacific House, which was owned by Mr Jack. After
dutiful recitation of the catechism, the boys would line up at the door
and receive a coveted nickel from Mr Jack, and then after sedately
walking to the end of the block, would "run like hell" to the
church to hear Mass. He also remembered that the poor could depend on a
basket of food when they knocked on the door of the house at Van Buren
Street. Another early resident of Monterey, Mrs Millie Birks, remembered
that at Christmas time, the Jack home was always open and there was an
abundance of good things to eat, candy, fruit, and other treats for
anyone who came. She also remembered Mrs Jack as a "very kind and
loveable person".
JACK was also a major contributor to the
Presbyterian Church in Monterey, sometimes referred to as ‘David Jack’s
Church. Another instance of his charity was his support of the religious
retreat known as Pacific Grove. Pacific Grove was situated on JACK’S
land, Punta De Pinos. JACK invited Mr and Mrs. W.S. ROSS to live on this
property. After a summer of wonderful weather, their health was
recuperated. On hearing of this, a group of religious leaders assembled
to form the ‘Pacific Grove Retreat Association’. JACK sold them 100
acres of ocean front land, only charging them $1 an acre to legalise the
transaction and donated $30,000 to the association to make internal
improvements. Pacific Grove soon became a world renowned retreat
considered by many to be more popular than San Francisco. Robert
Louis STEVENSON during his sojourns in California also wrote about
Pacific Grove saying;
"I have never been in any place that
seemed so dreamlike, Pompeii is all in a bustle with visitors, and its
antiquity and strangeness deceive the imagination; but this town had
plainly not been built above a year or two, and perhaps had been
deserted overnight. Indeed, it was not so much like a deserted town as
like a scene upon the stage by daylight, and with no one on the boards.
The barking of a dog led me at last to the only house still occupied,
where a Scots Pastor and his wife pass the winter alone in this empty
theatre. The place was the ‘Pacific Camp Grounds, the Christian
Seaside Resort’. Thither in the warm season, crowds come to enjoy a
life of teetotalism, religion, and flirtation, which I am willing to
think blameless and agreeable"
JACK also instigated an idea of leasing
land on shares, a scheme that helped his farm tenants survive through
periods of drought and famine. His treatment of Asian emigrants was fair
and his ideas in this regard were more enlightened than many other
landowners. In 1874 the Monterey and Salinas Valley Railroad, a narrow
gauge line, was built between the two towns by Monterey businessmen and
Salinas Valley farmers. The total cost of this enterprise was $360,000
of which JACK contributed $75,000, borrowed on his Ranchos, Chualar and
Zanjones. He also acted as unpaid treasurer. He ‘sank’ over $40,000
dollars in this road, which was finally sold to the Southern Pacific
Company from which JACK received little or no profit. JACK was a friend
and business associate of the Railroad Tycoons known as the ‘BIG
FOUR’, Leland STANFORD, Charles CROCKER, Collis P. HUNTINGTON, and
Mark HOPKINS, and sold them a great deal of land, for their railroad
constructions, including almost the entire Del Monte Forest, which he
owned at one time, for six dollars an acre. Leland STANFORD went on to
become Governor of California, and the prestigious and world-renowned
Stanford University in California, was so named in his honour.
BARROWS and INGERSOLL, who wrote a
biographical history of the coast counties of California, said of JACK;
" Of
course the lands which Mr Jack bought, or had to take, or was besought
to take many years ago, are much more valuable now than they were then.
But it should be remembered that money at interest at the rates current
in earlier times, would have doubled many times over in the last thirty
or forty years".
Hubert Howe BANCROFT also stated;
" Mr Jack came into possession of
his estates, on the whole, by fair dealing, through force of that good
fortune, business judgement and character which are very generally
admitted to be the birthright of the Scots".
And further from BARROWS and INGERSOLL;
"It may be true to say, though not
miserly, he was fond of money, and that it was his strongest ambition to
purchase every rod of land to which he could see his way…we are quite
willing to admit, that Mr Jack like most mortals, is susceptible of
flattery to no inconsiderable extent…There may be times when his
charity to the foolish and erring was not as liberal as people would
have expected".
When one looks into the question of Jack’s
land dealings in Monterey, and the opinion held of him by some, even to
this day, one is left with the question, what did he do that caused him
to be reviled so much by the Montereyans, and is it justified? Like many
entrepreneurs of the past, and indeed today, Jack was clearly imbued
with a cold, calculating, ruthless streak. But were the Montereyans
themselves the Architects of their own misfortunes? Once again, Robert
Louis STEVENSON may give us some insight into the kind of people that
Jack was dealing with when he wrote about two reputed murders, which
occurred in Monterey during his time there, he describes them thus:
"As
the Montereyans are exceptionally vile speakers of each other and of
every one behind his back, it is not possible for me to judge how much
truth there may have been in these reports"
And of the business acumen of the locals
he wrote:
"Again, the Mexicans having no ready
money to speak of, rely almost entirely in their business transactions
upon each other’s worthless paper. Pedro the penniless pays you with
an I O U from the equally penniless Miguel. It is a sort of local
currency by courtesy. Credit in these parts has passed into
superstition. I have seen a strong, violent man struggling for months to
recover a debt, and getting nothing but an exchange of wastepaper. The
very storekeepers are averse to asking for cash payments, and are more
surprised than pleased when they are offered. They fear there must be
something under it, and that you mean to withdraw your custom from them.
I have seen the enterprising chemist and stationer begging me with
fervour to let my account run on, although I had my purse open in my
hand", "Now this villainous habit of living upon ‘tick’
has grown into Californian nature, I do not mean that the American and
European storekeepers of Monterey are as lax as Mexicans: I mean that
the American farmers in many parts of the state expect unlimited credit,
and profit by it in the meantime" "It seems as if certain
sorts of follies, like certain sorts of grain, were natural to the soil,
rather than to the race that holds and tills it for the moment"
It is not hard to understand then, how
people such as this would find Jack’s business philosophy rather
different to what they had been accustomed to. David Jack’s Scottish
Presbyterian background which would have inculcated in him an attitude
towards money, best summed up in the old Scots adage ‘look after
the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves’ was always
going to be at odds with the lax attitudes of the local people. But did
this make Jack a bad person? It seems to me that the people of Monterey,
could, and perhaps should have learned something from Jack. The politics
of envy were clearly as potent then as they can be today.
There seems little doubt however, that
the poor, native peoples of Monterey were swept away in the tidal wave
of progress that existed at that time. David Jack was not alone in this
however, as many high powered businessmen of the time such as the
aforementioned ‘BIG FOUR’ were involved in various business
enterprises which showed little or no concern for their effects on the
local populace. However, whilst Jack has gained little but historical
opprobrium, others, such as the ‘Big Four’ are hailed as important,
and worthy historical figures.
If I can borrow from STEVENSON one last
time;
" But revolution in this world
succeeds to revolution. All that I say in this paper is in a Paulo –
past tense. The Monterey of last year exists no longer. A huge hotel has
sprung up in the desert by the railway. Three sets of diners sit down
successively to table. Invaluable toilettes figure along the beach and
between the live oaks: and Monterey is advertised in the newspapers, and
posted in the waiting rooms at railway stations, as a resort for wealth
and fashion. Alas for the little town! It is not strong enough to resist
the influence of the flaunting caravanserai, and the poor, quaint,
penniless native gentlemen of Monterey must perish, like a lower race,
before the millionaire vulgarians of the Big Bonanza"
Despite his successful business dealings
in the United States it seems that JACK did not forsake his family and
friends back in Scotland, and he regularly contributed financially
during times of hardship as these letters from home indicate. The
letters are as they were written and are not grammatically improved.
Perthshire Scotland
Braco village March 3 1876
" Dear Brother,
I duly received your letter of the 5 Feb
on the 27th at 11am and I was glad to see it, I went to
Crieff on the following day and transacted your business which you will
see by the receipts, Dear brother you speak of paying me for doing so, I
think I have been well paid for all the trouble it was to me, your two
old women was very glad to see me, I come now to speak personally of
your old friends I do not think that Betty Law will need another £10.00
from you, she is very poorly I do not think she be able to go to Crieff,
get her bill cashed, she told me that you was not to give her share to
Mrs Mcnaughton as you had the full power to do what you please with it.
She would rather anyone get it, nor her, but I see myself they are at
enmity the one with the other and what the reason is, I know not, my
time was short with them. The next is Mrs Mcnaughton; she is well in
health but has lost a cow and calf, valued £18 about a week ago. All
she had to say was that she would like to have the money about the New
Year. She went to the bank with me, I cashed her bill of which you will
see that I am a witness, she told me that she had two daughters in
America that was very kind to her, she was very anxious to know if I got
any money from you but she was none the wiser for asking. I was hearing
that Miss Buchan of Aranbank was going to get married shortly but I have
not heard the exact time. It is to a clergyman not far from Aranbank.
His father is some small farmer, the name is Bryce, they have been
selling a great deal of property this some time past. I hear that her
sister is coming home from India but whether her sister and husband will
be going live in Aranbank after Louisa leaves is a thing I do not know;
when I was at Gilmertown I had not time to make a call. Dear brother I
come now to speak of myself I thank you very kindly for the money you
have sent time after time and I hope it will be a blessing to you and
me, it has been a great benefit to me and the family, there is none of
them able to keep themselves yet, and there is none of it foolishly
spent. I am writing this letter for the post as I know you will be
anxious until you receive it, and when you receive it you will send an
answer and let me know if you are satisfied with the way I have settled
your business. Please send a paper also, give myself and wives best
respects to sister D McEwan. Dear brother may god’s blessing rest and
abide on you and me and all belonging to us (adieu)
Peter Jack
Peter JACK
died in Braco on 26 June 1886, aged 73 years.
This, from Peter’s wife, Isabella;
Stirling Oct 16 1891
6 Lower Bridge St
To David Jack Esq.
Monterey California
Dear Brother in Law
Just a few lines to let you know how we
are all getting on. I was to have wrote to you long ago but I have been
in very bad health all summer. Since ever I had the rose in my head it
has been very bad sometimes, times it was like to make mad, it all broke
out and a trained nurse came every day for four months to drip it and
then I got a cleaved bone take out of it and she came every day for two
months more but thank god it is much better now, but I have to very
careful of it yet. Louisa is much stronger, this season nor she was last
one, and she has had a great deal to do with me being so bad. The rest
of the family is all well as far as I know; the two that went to America
never write to me, I have had no word from them for two years. We have
had a very warm summer in Scotland this year and I hear there has been a
very good crop of all cereals. The potatoes is very cheap at present,
but I am never outside. I hope this will find you and your family all
well and that you and Mrs Jack is keeping well, for like me you are
getting up in years. We cannot to be so well as when we was younger. I
hope that you have had a better crop this year nor the last three
seasons. I am sorry to have to ask you for a little help again, for my
rent is due on eleventh of November and I am not able to meet it, it is
very hard living in Stirling nor it was in Braco. I had leave the house
at No. 8 and am staying in No. 6, now it is just the same house only
downstairs. We have very close wet weather here at present . Old Mr
Brydie in Silverton has died about two months ago, that is yon old man
we was taken to when we was up at Uncle Robert’s old place, when you
was home. He was in his ninety year, so that is the last friend we have
had at Silverton. Give my love to Mrs Jack and all the family, not
forgetting yourself and aunty Kirsty when you see her and thank you for
your great kindness and for all that you have done for us in the past
and I will be very grateful if you could send me a little help at
present for help. This place is not like Braco at all. Hoping god will
bless you and prosper you all is the earnest wish and prayer of yours
faithfully
Isabella Jack
Louisa also sends her love to you all.
This from his niece Louisa
Jack;
6 Lower Bridge St
Stirling
2 March 1903
Dear Uncle and Aunt,
I now take the pleasure to write you
according to my promise. But I am very sorry to inform you that mother
is not improving much and is still confined to her bed. The doctor is
still attending her and he says she is very feeble and requires as much
nourishment as we can give her that is the only thing to keep her up.
Mother hopes that you have had a happy
and pleasant winter and that you are all enjoying the best of health.
Business here in Stirling is very dull, nearly all the works are on
short time and there are an awful lot of men going about idle. I think
that the very bad weather that we have had here had something to do with
it. We have scarcely had any frost or snow this winter at all, nearly
every day has been wet and very stormy.
Dear uncle I am sending a paper with this
mail, I hope you will get it all right, with best love to all.
I remain your affectionate niece
Louisa Jack
PS I will let you know how mother is
keeping
Louisa herself, eventually immigrated to
America where she ended her days in Cleveland, OHIO.
JACK’S family back home in CRIEFF
were no less concerned for him than he was for them. An excerpt from a
letter from his sister CHRISTIAN, 14 February 1861 states;
" My dear brother I feel very uneasy
about you on account of this coming warfare, will it affect you, you
must write and tell me the real truth what you think about it"
Christian, who was known to the family as
‘Kirsty’ eventually joined David in America where she acted as his
Housekeeper. However, she had a falling out with David’s wife, and
moved to San Luis OBIPSO where she spent the rest of her days. It should
be pointed out that in none of these letters do Jack’s family add the
‘S’ to their surnames. Notwithstanding this, on addressing their
letters to their relation, they do refer to him as David Jacks. A
curiosity, which may never be satisfactorily explained.
David JACK is known to have visited CRIEFF
as a millionaire businessman. He apparently received a cordial
welcome from older residents who knew him before he left for America.
Among a number of local luminaries who met him at this time was a former
Provost of CRIEFF, Mr MACROSTY, who later had a local park named
after him. MACROSTY made
repeated suggestions to JACK that he may wish to remember his hometown
in some tangible manner. JACK never took him up on this suggestion. He
perhaps felt that the town had done little for he or his family that
deserved such charitable reciprocation. |