Santa
Clara County
Biographies
CAPT. ISAAC MESSEC
From the beginning of the war with Mexico to
his lamented and widely mourned death in the lonely mountains of Santa Cruz
county in February, 1901, Capt. Isaac Messec was a
familiar character on the frontier, a brave and generous gentleman, an
intelligent and modest bearer of political and other honors, and a man whose
good sense invaded many departments of western activity. He was a resident of
Gilroy for many years, storekeeper of the United States Mint at San Francisco
for years, and he dignified the office of sheriff with his high sense of honor
and his rare conception of justice. Possibly his name is as widely known as is
that of any of the plains pilgrims of 1849, and it is invariably associated
with personal effort which meant the upbuilding of the coast country.
Captain Messec
was born in Macon, Ga., and at an early age removed with his father, mother,
and three brothers to Texas, where he lived on a farm until his eighteenth
year. He had the blood of patriots in his veins, and the constitution of a
sturdy race to do his bidding. Enlisting in the regular army he fought in the
advance guard of the Texas rangers on the march from Matamoras to Monterey, the
result of that famous march being the acquisition of California, a part of the
Spanish domain ceded by Mexico to the United States upon making the treaty of
peace. The war ended, he became interested in the gold of the far west, and
again starting away from home, crossed the plains on horseback in 1859, and
engaged in mining in both California and Nevada. He run (sic) the gamut of the
mines from San Francisco, through northern California and Nevada, becoming well
known in Humboldt and Trinity counties, where he not only added to his worldly
possessions, but became rich in the possession of warm and appreciative
friends. In Trinity county he was active in politics,
serving as under sheriff for one term, and as sheriff for two terms. At the
same time he was captain of a company in the Klamath Indian war, in southern
Oregon, gaining distinction because of his bravery and daring in suppressing
the murderous tribe of Klamaths.
Captain Messec
married, in Yreka, Cal., November 18, 1856, Lucy J. Kellogg, a native of Erie
county, Pa., and daughter of Alonzo and Maria (Peck) Kellogg, natives of New
York and Erie county respectively. Mrs. Messec is of
Revolutionary stock, and in her own nature inherits the nobility, faith and
justice of the New England fathers. Her paternal great-grandfather and
grandfather enlisted in the same regiment of the Colonial army under the banner
of Washington, the older man attaining to official rank, and eventually to the
remarkable age of one hundred and ten years. Alonzo Kellogg was a builder and contractor
in Erie county, N. Y., where he and his wife both died
at advanced ages. They were the parents of eight children, two of whom are
living, Mrs. Messec being the third in the family.
She was reared in Herkimer county, N. Y., and in 1852
crossed the plains with horse teams, living in northern California until after
her marriage.
Captain Messec
arrived in Gilroy in 1870, thereafter making his home here for many years.
Eventually he went to San Francisco, where his integrity and ability won him
the position of storekeeper of the United States Mint for eight years, or until
his resignation because of failing health in September, 1900. In order to
regain his health, he had gone to his mountain home six miles from Santa Cruz,
in the Santa Cruz mountains, the latter part of October, and here he suffered
greatly from heart trouble. The illness which terminated in death attacked him
in the morning of Thursday. The scene in the lonely mountain retreat takes on
additional pathos because of its unexpectedness, and because of the absence of
those familiar faces which had brightened the life of the noble hearted
pioneer. The day following his death being Sunday and the trains irregular,
friends could not reach the mountain home before Monday, and on Wednesday the
body was brought to Gilroy, and met by a committee from Keith Lodge, who
escorted the body to the home of Mrs. P. B. Tully. Captain Messec
was buried with the beautiful and imposing ceremonial of the Masonic
fraternity, and was followed to his last resting place by a body of friends
whose heads were bowed with grief at the passing of one well beloved and richly
honored. At one time Captain Messec was a member of
the California Pioneer Association of San Francisco, and he always took a keen
interest in tracing the lives of those whose coming to the state was
contemporary with his own. Since his death his wife has lived in the Gilroy
home, where she is known for her lovable and sympathetic nature, her
intelligence, and general worth. She is a member of the Eastern Star, and of
the Ladies Guild of the Episcopal Church.
Transcribed By: Cecelia M. Setty.
Source: History of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast
Counties, California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages 1265-1266. The
Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2016 Cecelia M. Setty.