Santa
Clara County
Biographies
HON.
JAMES C. ZUCK
HON. JAMES C. ZUCK. From no single human agency has the town of
Gilroy received such substantial professional and other support as that
furnished by the career of Hon. James C. Zuck,
lawyer, state senator, United States consul to China, banker, real estate and
insurance merchant, and owner of one of the largest and finest farming
properties in Santa Clara county. The
versatility which has enabled this promoter to traverse so many avenues of
activity would not alone account for his prominence, or his recognition as a
leader in local affairs. He comes of a
family which values thoroughness and practicability, and whose pride in
achievement has found expression in several bearing the name on the coast. The student of success finds as great
satisfaction in a knowledge of the early environment
and moulding influences of men high in public esteem
as he does in the mature achievements which command recognition and inspire
emulation. In the case of Mr. Zuck the interest is justified to an unusual extent, and
bears out, in addition to personal characteristics, the universally conceded
claims of one of the pluckiest and most advanced and best governed countries in
Europe.
Canton Zug, Switzerland, bears testimony
to the prominence enjoyed by the forebears of Mr. Zuck,
and it is surmised that American descendants are responsible for the corruption
in spelling of the family name. As early
as 1741 three brothers, Moritz, Johanna and Christian, left the Alps country
and located in Pennsylvania, the paternal great-grandfather of Mr. Zuck making his home in the eastern part of the state. Here was born John Zuck,
the next in line of succession, in 1771, but he in time removed to Somerset county, where he married Annie Van Gundy in 1798. In 1804 he took his family overland to Ross county, Ohio, where his son, David, the father of
James C., was born January 30, 1808, and from where he removed to
Marion county, the same state, in February, 1835. His death occurred January 19, 1863, his
wife surviving him until 1868, at the age of eighty-nine years. David Zuck was
reared on the Ross and Marion county farms, and April 11, 1833, married
Maria Eliza Linton. His eldest son,
John, born November 5, 1835, was destined to twice represent Santa Clara
in the state legislature, and his death, March 22, 1867, cut short a
career of both political and financial promise.
His second son, William H. H., died in Nevada
December 27, 1863; his third son, James C., was born in Marion county, Ohio, January 14, 1844; his youngest son,
Albion Theodore, died April 29, 1870; his daughter, Mary Ann, is the
deceased wife of M. T. Holsclaw, and his
second daughter, Harriett, is the widow of J. H. Ellis.
David Zuck was
ambitious and resourceful, and the reports of gold on the coast awakened a
spirit of unrest which he found it hard to resist. Leaving his farm in the hands of his strong
and capable sons, he left St. Joseph, Mo., April 12, 1849, and
crossing the plains in an ox train, arrived at the Yuba mines October 26, the
same fall. After a comparatively brief
experience in the mines he went to work on a farm on the Horn Cut, remaining
there from December, 1850, until the following March. He then settled on a farm of his own fourteen
miles from Marysville, and December 5, 1852, embarked at San Francisco for
Panama and his home in the east, reaching there January 7, 1852. Notwithstanding his failure as a miner, he
was favorably impressed with the west, and soon infused his family with his own
bright prophecies. The work of
preparation for another trip across the plains with those dependent upon his
care progressed rapidly, and after the usual hardships and experiences he
arrived at Marysville, September 17, 1852.
November 7, 1853, he removed to Santa Clara county
and purchased a portion of the farm now occupied by his son, the
Hon. James C., and which proved to be the nucleus of extensive later
additions. He was a man of untiring
industry, excellent business judgment, and inspiring faith in the country which
he had exchanged for the place of his birth.
Passing years found many fine improvements on his land, and his
interests increased in number and extent as success made larger purchases
possible. His was an essentially happy
and prosperous life, and his wife fortunately lived to share his opulence, as
she had in years past shared his upward struggle. Her death occurred May 10, 1881, and
January 12, 1889, he followed her to the bourne
from whence no traveler returns, his last years having been comparatively free
from care and responsibility.
After his graduation from the University
of the Pacific in 1867, Hon. James C. Zuck
started the first law office in the town of Gilroy, and about the same time
inaugurated the first real estate and insurance business of this section. His masterful handling of the cases that came
his way during the first few months secured him a practical monopoly of legal
business in town and vicinity, and up to the time of his retirement from the
profession in 1900 he was regarded as the highest exponent of Blackstone,
although in the meantime other followers had arrived to share his honors, and
maintain the legal prestige of the county.
Besides possessing a masterful knowledge of his profession, Mr. Zuck was a financier, investing his savings in real estate
and other sure channels of return. He
was one of the chief organizers of the Gilroy Bank in 1879, and at a later
period served as president of the bank for five years. He became interested in the educational
advancement of the town, and for twelve years was a trustee of the University
of the Pacific.
A stanch[sic]
Republican since casting his first presidential vote, Mr. Zuck took an active interest in politics for many years,
and during the session of 1880-81 represented Santa Clara county in the state
senate. In the fall of 1881 he was
appointed United States consul at Tientsin, China, returning to this country on
a leave of absence in the fall of 1883, and the following January resigning
from the service on account of his father’s illness from paralysis. With the exception of this intermission from
professional duties at home, he continuously practiced law and engaged in real
estate and insurance business until 1900, since which time he has lived on his
farm, four miles from Gilroy, where he is engaged in farming, dairying and
stock-raising. Thus the tendency of the
thinkers of to-day to return to the land, the independence and the
healthfulness of country life is again exemplified, for in the peace of summer
days, the satisfaction of harvests and the nearness to nature’s heart, the
erstwhile busy brain finds its greatest relaxation. Mr. Zuck is to
be congratulated upon the extent and productiveness of his farm, the perfection
of detail of each department and the scientific thoroughness and dispatch noted
in its management. This property is
generally conceded to be one of the most desirable in Santa Clara county, and is eight hundred and ten acres in extent, a
portion being the original claim of the pioneer settler of the family. He also owns valuable town property in
Gilroy. Mr. Zuck
occupies the first brick house erected south of San Jose, and its successful
weathering of many seasons argues well for the constructive ability of earlier
architects. As one of the earliest as
well as most active members of the Methodist Episcopal denomination in Gilroy,
Mr. Zuck was instrumental in securing the
building of the present church, of which he has been a trustee for years, and
the interests of which he has forwarded by liberal contributions and continued
personal exertion. He joined the church
when seventeen years old.
February 26, 1868, Mr. Zuck was united in marriage with Mary L. Headen, whose father, Dr. Benjamin F. Headen, was a trustee of the University of the Pacific and
an honored citizen of Santa Clara county. She was born November 8, 1847, and died
October 1, 1872. Of the two
children of this union, Nellie is the wife of A. Flickinger
of San Jose, Cal.; and Arthur C. died in infancy. December 23, 1873, Mr. Zuck married Jennie Patterson Dorland, born in Canada,
November 12, 1856, and the mother of Ralph J., Marguerite and
Rosamond Catherine. Of these,
Ralph J. is a graduate of the University of the Pacific and is married and
resides on a part of the home ranch.
Transcribed by Donna Toole.
Source: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages 419-421. The Chapman
Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2015 Donna Toole.