Santa Clara County
Biographies
JOSEPH O. McKEE
JOSEPH O. McKEE. Closely
associated with the annals of San Jose’s pioneer years is the name of Joseph O.
McKee, whose privilege it has also been to witness the prosperity of the present
day. The family which he represents has been identified with America ever since
the colonial period and its early members were of the Presbyterian faith and
patriotic spirit. His grandfather, Russell McKee, who was born at Sacket Harbor, was the son of a Revolutionary soldier and
was himself a participant in the second war with Great Britain, after which he
engaged in shipbuilding, with a specialty of spar-making. Under such influences
and amid such surroundings as these his son, Capt. Henry McKee, a
native of Cromwell, Conn., was reared to manhood, and very naturally he became
interested in seafaring. When only sixteen he shipped to sea, and when
twenty-five years of age he was captain of a vessel in the West India trade.
During November of 1849 he started around the Horn in a vessel of which he was
master and part owner. With him was his son, Joseph O., then a youth of
nineteen years.
After a voyage of almost six months the barque Isabella cast anchor in San Francisco, where all
hands deserted in their eagerness to hasten to the gold fields. The Klamath
gold excitement was then at its height and the captain bought a little craft,
with which he made a trip toward Klamath as far as Mendocino, and then sold out
and went back to San Francisco. His next trip was to Valparaiso, Chile, where
he loaded his ship with flour and returned to San Francisco, where he sold the
flour and also the barque. He then came to San Jose,
where he died in the fall of 1852. In January of the next year his wife arrived
in San Jose, having started before her husband’s death. She was
Sarah Sage, a native of Cromwell, Conn., and a daughter of
Allen Sage, a farmer of that state, where he spent his entire life. In the
family of Captain McKee and his wife there were two sons, one of whom died
in San Jose at sixteen years of age; also the following daughters: Sarah, wife
of E. J. Wilcox; Mrs. Abigail Clark, deceased; Caroline,
widow of D. J. Porter; Mrs. Isabella Bothwell
and Mrs. Mary Lewis, both widows. All of the surviving daughters make
San Jose their home. Captain McKee had two brothers who settled in
California. One of these, William, was a sea captain; the other, J. W.,
engaged in the mercantile business in San Francisco until his death.
Joseph O. McKee was born in Cromwell, Conn., May 7, 1831.
After receiving a common school and academic education, at the age of sixteen
years he became an apprentice to the cabinetmaker’s trade, at which he served
for two and one-half years. When his father sailed on the Isabella he
accompanied him as ship carpenter. The vessel encountered severe storms at
Valparaiso, but with that exception no event of moment marked its progress, and
in May, 1850, they landed in San Francisco. From there he sailed to Mendocino
with his father and then for a year followed coasting on the bay. At first he
was master of a schooner and then had a sloop on the bay, with facilities for
freight and passenger service. On his boat he took the first pears from the
Santa Clara valley to San Francisco, these coming from the old Mission orchard
at Santa Clara. This was about the first fruit ever sold in the San Francisco
markets. When his mother came west he left the bay and came to San Jose, where
he built a house for the family. Pending its erection they lived in the old Sutter
house, which is still standing. When the house was completed he began to farm
on property owned by Josiah Belden, then the alcalde
of San Jose. Later he bought fifteen acres of this property and here he now
resides. At a cost of $50 he bought a cast-iron plow in San Francisco and this
he brought to the Santa Clara valley, he being the first man to use such
machinery in this part of the county. On giving up farm work he started a
carpenter shop on the corner of Santa Clara and Second streets, where he also
had a lumber yard. In addition to cabinet-making he took contracts for
building, and later became an architect and superintendent of construction, in
which occupation he continued successfully for twelve years. He built the
Farmers’ Union, the Richmond, several schoolhouses, the Baptist Tabernacle (the
first church built here in the opera mode of construction), various business
blocks and residences. From boyhood he was fond of drawing, his first work in
that line being for patents. He built a yacht, Camarada,
forty-two feet long, at a cost of $2,500, and this he keeps at Alviso, using it for an occasional sail on the bay. On his
home place he has an orchard containing a variety of fruit, with a specialty of
French prunes, which he was one of the first to raise and sell.
The marriage of Mr. McKee united him with Rachel
Clevenger, who was born in Missouri and in 1852 came to California with her
father, Archibald Clevenger, a miner. From the time of his arrival in the
west Mr. Clevenger remained here until his death, which occurred in 1901,
at the age of eighty years. Mrs. McKee is identified with the Christian Church
and a contributor to its maintenance. Of her marriage there are four daughters,
viz.: Mrs. Isabella Lundy, of San Jose; Mrs. Nellie Rayner, who lives near Merced; Mrs. Abigail Coykendall, of San Jose; and Mrs. Edith Hogg,
also of San Jose. Through his membership in the Santa Clara County Pioneer
Association Mr. McKee has occasional
opportunities of meeting with those who, like himself, were associated with the
early history of Santa Clara valley. Reminiscences of olden times impress upon
those of the present generation the wonderful transformation wrought in the
past half century. Mr. McKee recalls the times when the state capital was
a floating affair. When it was removed from San Jose to Vallejo, he and his
father conveyed the archives on their vessel to the new headquarters. He has
seen towns spring up on the once desolate spots, the valley has been made to
blossom as the rose, and prosperity has been the reward of the patient toil of
the pioneers. While he has never sought office for himself nor cared to
identify himself with public affairs, he has always been a stanch
supporter of the Republican party and has cast his
ballot in favor of its men and measures.
Transcribed by Marie Hassard 14 November 2015.
Source: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages
892-895. The Chapman Publishing Co.,
Chicago, 1904.
© 2015 Marie
Hassard.