Butte County
Biographies
JACOB MOAK
JACOB
MOAK.--Coming to Butte County a full half century ago, when the country was new
and the Indians were troublesome, Jacob Moak, a
well-known and highly esteemed resident of Chico, suffered all the privations
and hardships of frontier days, the story of his early trials being full of
interesting and thrilling incidents. He is a man of excellent business
capacity, and his early education and his habits of thought and observation
have tended to provide him with a good fund of information, which has in every
respect proved valuable to him. A son of Jacob Moak,
Sr., he was born in Albany County, N.Y., March 16, 1836. He is of thrifty Dutch
ancestry, the emigrant ancestor having come from Holland to this country in
1614, locating eight miles southeast of Albany, in the Hudson River Valley, on
land that is now in possession of one of his descendants.
Mr. Moak's
grandfather, John F. Moak, a life-long farmer in
Albany County, served in the Revolutionary War under Col. George Washington. He
was wounded in battle, and while at home on a furlough the Indians and Tories
tried to rob the house, it being their fifth attempt, and he hid the blankets
and other things wanted by the redskins under leaves. He subsequently returned
to the army, and serving under General Gates, was present at the surrender of
Burgoyne. He was of great physical power and endurance, and at his death at the
remarkable age of ninety-six years and nine months, it was said that he had
never been ill a day in his life.
Born in Albany County, N. Y., in
May, 1796, Jacob Moak, Sr., inherited the patriotic
spirit of his forefathers and served in the War of 1812 as a brave soldier. He
succeeded to the occupation to which he was reared, and until his death in May,
1886, was engaged in farming on the old home place. He married Hannah Relyea, who was born in Albany County, N. Y., in May, 1804,
and died on the home farm in May, 1886, three weeks after her husband's death.
They became the parents of seven children, namely: Fannie and Levi, both deceased;
Elizabeth; John, deceased; Jacob, the special subject of this sketch; David, a
carpenter and contractor, living in Chico, Cal.; and Simeon, an engineer for
the Sierra Lumber Company.
Educated in the common schools,
Jacob Moak lived on the parental homestead, until his
marriage, when he rented near-by land and engaged in agricultural pursuits on
his own account. His two older brothers, who began mining in
California in 1853 and afterwards made a trip to Pike's Peak, returned to New
York in 1863, and soon induced Mr. Moak to come to
California, giving him glowing descriptions of the possibilities in store for
an active, wide-awake man in this country. He therefore started by the
Nicaragua Route, in 1863, on the old steamer America, and had a hard time on
the voyage, being obliged to wait a long time on the Isthmus for a San
Francisco steamer. Arriving on the coast without any money, Mr. Moak located in the Oregon Gulch, hoping to find gold in
the mining district round-about. The water was scarce, however, and leaving his
family with his brothers, he came to Chico and for a time worked for Dave Reavis. Subsequently he and his brother took charge of the
ranch belong to Mr. Sendecker, who had incurred the
enmity of the Indians, by taking part in a raid on the savages and was forced
to leave his ranch. Mr. Moak subsequently suffered
much at the hands of the hostile red men, the Mill Creek Indians, principally,
and had many narrow escapes from death. These savages were on the war path much
of the time, making many raids on him and his neighbors, and, on a ranch not
far from the one on which he was living, capturing the Lewis children and
killing all but one, who made her escape. Mr. Moak
tried to get a party formed to capture the Indians. Shortly afterwards these
Indians murdered three of the Workman family besides stealing three thousand
dollars. Later they attempted to rob and kill the Sylva family. After these
depredations, Mr. Moak and about thirteen neighbors
immediately went in pursuit of the red men. On the way he picked up Billy Boness and Jack Reed, who stayed at Bob Anderson's that
night. Mr. Anderson and two Gore boys, Mr. Bolivar, Sim
Moka, Sylva and the hired man took up the hunt the
next morning, and after three days and nights of untold hardships (not daring
to build a fire) they came upon the red men unexpectedly. The majority of the
Indians were killed and a great deal of stolen property, before mentioned, was
recovered.
Mr. Moak
subsequently purchased a saw-mill, which he operated successfully for a time,
and during this period he began dealing in cattle. In 1870 he bought a ranch at
Big Meadows, buying a claim of one hundred sixty acres of Mr. Meeker, and this
property is still in his possession. In 1863 he bought land on little Chico
Creek, improved it, sold it in 1868, purchased it again in 1879, and again sold
it in 1888. He has a pleasant home in Chico Vecino,
at 602 Esplanade, and is still prosperously engaged in the cattle business.
In Albany County, N. Y., November
17, 1857, Mr. Moak married Susan Margaret Houck, a
native of that county and the daughter of Peter Houck, whose ancestors came
with those of Mr. Moak from Holland to New York, and
like them located in the Hudson River Valley. She died April 19, 1909, leaving
him two children of their own (and an adopted son), namely: Emma F., wife of S.
T. Barry of Chico Vecino; Hattie E., at home; and
Edward, whom they raised from the time he was sixteen months of age, and who is
now engineer at Diamond Springs. Politically Mr. Moak
is a straightforward Republican. Mr. and Mrs. Moak
united with the Dutch Reformed Church when young, but are now members of the
Presbyterian Church.
Transcribed by Sande Beach.
Source: "History of
Butte County, Cal.," by George C. Mansfield, Pages 416-418, Historic Record Co, Los Angeles, CA, 1918.
© 2006 Sande Beach.
Golden Nugget Library's Butte County Biographies