Jacks, David Baird (1822–1909)

“It's the Cheese!” This motto graces television advertisements across the country extolling the quality of California cheeses and their positive impact on life in California. The implication is that you too can have a California life by eating lots and lots of California cheese. The most famous of these cheeses is Monterey Jack, a soft white cheese native to California. Its name combines the city of its origin, Monterey and the name of the man credited with its creation, David Jacks.

David Jacks was born David Jack in Crief, Perthshire, Scotland, on April 18, 1822. Two of his brothers immigrated to New York, becoming successful storekeepers. In 1841 or 1842, he joined his brothers in Long Island, finding work at Fort Hamilton, in Brooklyn. He tells of meeting Robert E. Lee, then a captain in the army, who came to inspect caisson wheels. In 1848, Jack heard of California gold and decided to seek his fortune. He spent his savings of $1,400 on revolvers and booked passage around the Horn, landing in San Francisco in April 1849 and selling the guns for $4,000, which he then lent out at the rate of 2 percent per month. He found employment in the Custom House and was legally naturalized on December 3, 1849.

In 1850, he moved to Monterey and lived there the rest of his life. At some point in his residence in California, probably during his time in Monterey, the surname “Jack” became “Jacks.” He went to work for Joseph Boston as a clerk in Boston's store, the Casa del Oro. By 1855, he had purchased the building. In 1851, Jacks worked as a clerk for a fellow Scot, James McKinley, who owned a dry goods store in the Pacific Building. Jacks bought that building in 1869. The first record of his real estate purchases shows that within a year of arriving in Monterey, he was lending money secured by land. The next year he was chosen treasurer of Monterey County, and he purchased his first piece of land. It was at this time that he acquired some property through foreclosing on his loans or buying at tax sales. In 1856, he returned to Scotland for a year following the death of his father. His holdings in Monterey were left in the care of an agent, and he returned in 1857.

The acquisition that set him on the path to becoming the largest landowner in Monterey County started with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848 and litigation to legitimize Monterey's title to an 1830 Mexican pueblo land grant of 29,698 acres. The city hired an attorney, Delos Rodeyn Ashley, to press its claim to the land grant before the U.S. Land Claims Commission. Ashley was successful and presented the city with a bill for $991.50. The city had no funds to pay the fee, and the state legislature authorized the Monterey city government to auction off the lands to pay off theAshley debt. On February 5, 1859, Jacks, in partnership with attorney Delos, made the only bid on the property, for $1,002.50, the amount of the debt and costs of sale. All of the money went to Delos, who [Page 346]later sold his interest to Jacks for $500.00. The sale of the land at auction came to be known as “The Rape of Monterey.”

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