
Born in Dublin, Ireland, November 28th, 1831 and while still a child John MacKay was brought to New York City by his parents. He lived with them in Park Row, working in the ship-building trade as an apprentice, until early in 1852, when he went to New Orleans and from there sailed for Chagris, crossed the Isthmus of Panama, and from Panama he went by steamer to San Francisco.
In the summer of that year he went up the Sacramento River, landed at Marysville and started to walk to Nevada City. While on the road, “Curley Bill,” the stage driver, gave him a free ride for a part of the way, something Mackay never forgot.
In fact, the Mackay family took care of “Curley Bill,” whose name was actually William Garhart, until his death at 76 on August 2nd, 1904.
From 1852 up to the fall of 1859 Mr. Mackay mined at Downieville, Forest City, Sierra City and on the American River, making a specialty of placer and drift mining with varied fortune. In December, 1859, he and “Jack” O’Brien went over the Sierra Nevada Mountains from Downieville to Virginia City, Carson County, Utah.
Carson County was made a Territory in 1863, called Nevada Territory, becoming the State of Nevada in 1864. On his arrival in Virginia City he went to work in Cook Tunnel, at first as a miner at $4 a day, but he soon became most expert in timbering a mine to sustain the roof, and because “of his efficiency received $6 per day.
He gradually accumulated money, and in 1861, with John Henning, he went to Aurora and bought the Esmeralda Claim. This venture proving a failure, he returned to Virginia City and joined with J. M. Walker in building the Petaluma Mill at Gold Hill, which turned out to be a profitable enterprise.
Walker introduced Mackay to James C. Flood and William S. O’Brien, of San Francisco. The four carried on operations for several years, and then James G. Fair became a member of the group, each having a one-fifth interest.
Walker finally said that he was rich enough, so he sold his one-fifth interest to Mackay and, went back to the State of Virginia, where his brother was Governor. This gave Mackay a two-fifths interest in the business.
Mackay, Fair, Flood and O’Brien obtained control of the Gould and Curry, Best and Belcher, Consolidated Virginia and California mines. Mackay and Fair studied the characteristic features of the great lode to ascertain if the indications might lead to valuable ore bodies.
Neither Mackay nor Fair had any previous experience with ledges or schooling as geologists. What they acquired in the way of mining lore was in the hard school of experience.
It was the theory of Mackay and Fair that the old workings in the Consolidated Virginia and California, if explored, would reveal a good deal of low grade ore which had been passed, but which might be profitably worked with reduced cost in transportation and reduction. After six months’ exploration very little had been realized, and it was determined that they should go to the bottom of the Curry shaft, 1,200 feet deep, and drift north, on the theory that it would be through virgin ground.
Then, if the Ophir and Mexican surface-ores had any counterpart in the depths, by the strike of the vein, it would probably be on the line of such drift. This was done and the drift passed from the Curry shaft 150 feet north through the Curry ground, the 700 feet of the Best and Belcher, and 150 feet into the Consolidated Virginia (all the way through blasting rock), where the “big Bonanza” was struck about 30 feet below its apex.
Had the drift been 40 feet higher, the Bonanza might have remained undisturbed to this day. From that single ore body $119,000,000 in gold and silver was taken, and $67,000,000 paid in dividends.
Mackay married Marie Louise Bryant (daughter of Colonel Daniel E. Hungerford, a Mexican war veteran), in 1867 at Virginia City. They continued to live there until 1874, when they went to San Francisco, but Mackay himself passed most of his time in Virginia City.
In 1876 they went abroad and lived in London and Paris. Mackay frequently returned to Virginia City and later to New York City to take charge of his cable and telegraph interests, but he was often in London where Mrs. Mackay resided and still resides at No. 6 Carlton House Terrace.
She was a widow when Mackay married her, and by her former husband had one daughter, the Princess di Stiglianno Colonna. The Mackay’s had two sons.
The oldest, John William, was thrown from a horse and killed on October 18th, 1895. The younger son, Clarence, survived; devoting himself to carrying on the enterprises he inherited from his father.
During the six months after the great fire in Virginia City, by the express desire of Mackay, Bishop Monogue drew upon him for the poor of the city checks to the amount of $150,000, and every one was honored. For years he met the expenses of the Sisters’ Orphan Hospital at Virginia City at about $5,000 a month.
In politics Mackay was a Republican. he was twice offered the United States Senator seat from Nevada once in 1874 and again in 1880 but he declined.
At one time he seriously contemplated the building of a line of great transatlantic steamers. However, he turned to submarine cables and land telegraph lines.
He found in 1884 a strongly entrenched monopoly the Western Union Telegraph Company with no opposition on the Atlantic Ocean and only a few scattering, badly organized and insolvent competitors on land. That year he laid two submarine cables from America to Europe, through The Commercial Cable Company which he had organized in 1883.
Two years later, in 1886, Mackay organized the Postal Telegraph-Cable Company, and commenced the construction of land telegraph lines throughout the United States. It had been the boast of the Western Union that no telegraph company in competition with them had ever paid a dividend.
And that was true up to that date. The trouble was that no competitive company had ever been able to cover the whole United States, and the public would not patronize a telegraph line that did not reach all important points.
The third step in building up the Postal Telegraph-Commercial Cable System was in laying a cable from San Francisco across the Pacific Ocean to Honolulu, Manila, China and Japan 10,000 miles. Mackay was engaged in this at the time of his death and the work was completed by his son Clarence.
In 1902 Mr. Mackay was spending the summer in London with his wife and looking after the European side of his telegraph and cable interests. While there he died suddenly, July 20th, 1902, at the age of 72.
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