Orange
County
Biographies
JOHN McCLELLAN LACY, M. D.
Though two decades have passed since
the death of Dr. John McClellan Lacy, he is still remembered by many of the
older residents of Orange County as an honored pioneer physician of Santa Ana
who crossed the plains to the Golden state in 1879. He was born in Huntsville, Alabama, February
22, 1837, a son of Thomas H. and Mary E. (McClellan) Lacy, who moved from
Alabama to Arkansas in 1855. The Lacy
ancestry is traced to France, where the name was de Lacy, but when
representatives of the family came to America with the Huguenots on account of
religious persecution in France, the name was changed to its present form. Thomas H. Lacy, the father of Dr. John
McClellan Lacy, died in the year 1861.
His wife, who bore the maiden name of Mary E. McClellan, was a
descendant in the maternal line of Sir William Wallace of Scotland. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas H. Lacy had a family of
three sons and eight daughters. Their
youngest son, Theodore Lacy, severed as sheriff of Orange County, California
for a period of sixteen years.
John McClellan Lacy attended grammar
school in Huntsville, Alabama, and read medicine with Dr. William B. Welch in
Arkansas. He was graduated from the St.
Louis Medical College and subsequently pursued postgraduate work at the
University of Nashville in Tennessee. In
1861 he volunteered for service in the Confederate Army as a surgeon to an
Arkansas regiment, with which he marched and fought for four long years. During the period when he was reading
medicine he had also engaged in farming and in the shipping of cotton, and in
this outdoor life he developed the robust physique that enabled him to
withstand the hardships incident to long marches with his solider comrades. Following the close of the Civil War he
engaged in the practice of medicine in Arkansas and the Indian Territory. In was in 1879 that he journeyed across the
plains to California by wagon, reaching his destination at the end of eight
months and meeting with many interesting experiences en route. He became a pioneer physician of Santa Ana,
where he continued in practice throughout the remainder of his life and served
for a time as city health officer. He
held membership in the Orange County and California State Medical Societies and
long enjoyed high standing in professional circles of this part of the state.
On the 3rd of April,
1861, at Canehill, Arkansas, Dr. Lacy was united in
marriage to Miss Eliza P. Bean, daughter of Mark and Nancy J. Bean. Her father, a wealthy cotton planter and
factory owner, was representative from Washington County to the Arkansas
legislature. They had nine children of
whom four are living. The first home
occupied by Dr. Lacy was the first schoolhouse in Santa Ana, which he remodeled
for a home.
Politically Dr. Lacy was a
Democrat. He served as a member of the
city council of Santa Ana and by his influence and cooperation contributed
materially to the welfare and advancement of the community. He joined the Masonic fraternity in 1860 and
was also affiliated with the Ancient Order of United Workmen, while his
religious faith was indicated by his membership in the First Presbyterian
Church, of which he was one of the organizers.
His death occurred on the 2nd of February, 1913, when he was
seventy-six years of age, and his passing was sincerely mourned by all who knew
him.
Transcribed by
V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: California of the South
Vol. IV, by John Steven McGroarty, Pages 295-296, Clarke Publ.,
Chicago, Los Angeles, Indianapolis. 1933.
© 2012 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
GOLDEN NUGGET'S
ORANGE COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES