Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1886-01-10
J, ". MACKAY'S BONANZA
This Former Bartender and Miner
and His Millions.
The Career Of a Bonanza King---His Dis
enlargement and Struggles and
Later Triumphs--M Mrs, haCkay
and Her Social Distinc-
ton in Paris,

The e~Xtravagances o. q leTsl4u 'aio aE
outdone in the actual career OF John "
Macksy. He was once g shivering new
boy in Park Bow. Nov be is worth $50
OOO,COO. lie was ouce a common minel
Now he is a financial prince, He wa
born in Dublin November ., lo3l. II
came TO this country when q mere boy
After q time he obtained employment il
the office OF Vim. II. Webb, the famou
s~hipbuilder of New York. \ few year
before the discovery of gold in California
be was a saloon keeper in Louisville. Hi
saloon, | understand, a in an old two
story frame building ct the corne,
Of Main and Twelfth street.
in that city. The walls were white. snc
the long narrow bar was made Of pine
boards. The place bore no resemblance
to the drinking palaces Of to-day, with theil
yari,colored windows, their quaint anC
pleasing devices of architecture, their
works OF art, their great mirrors, and tease
lated goors Of marble. He was always
smiling and good nstured, however, and
prospered in q business for which, it is fail
to say, he had no great liking. In 1852
he got the gold fever. He sold his Louis
vile property for q small sum, and with
twenty-five others ven TO California. He
had two good friends in San Francisco
James c. Flood and John O'Brien'
who were then the proprietors of q
liquor saloon, but afterwards became DO,
uanza kings. Young Macksy at once en-
gagged in placer mining in Allegheny,
Sierra county, Cal. lie was only moder,
gtely successful, He did not spring at one
bound into wealth; he had his privations.
His supreme ambition Wes 10 accumulate
$2j,O 00 in order to ease the last days OF
his mother. He amaased n moderate sum
and went to Virginia CITY, New. With an
other he started a tunnel in the ground
north of the famous Ophir mine. 1t was
unsuccessful and he lost all he had. Then
he worked in the Mexican mine ss q tim
Der man for 81 u day. Heswung the pick
and shovel in other mines for the same
pay. lie made his next move toward q
fortune in connection with the kentuck
mire, in Gold Hill. Then be had rey5rse8,
Struggled against them. and il 1863 cast
in his lot with j. NJ Walker, q brother OF
ex Governor Walker, of Virginia In 1861
the firm was enlarged by the addition Of
Messrs. Flood and O'Brien. In l~6s
James &. Fair, who has since become n
United States Senator, joined the firm
The partners i'll l>Oj secured control Of
the Hale a Norcross mine, and Iii the next
two years had considerable success. Their
capital constantly increasing, the firm Ell.
tered upon q hunt for treasure which was
% make each member of 1t rich beyond the
dreams Of a~varice. 1t did not come at
once Mr.. Mackay and his business
associates, believing in the richness
OF what aiterwari became known
as the bonanza territory, purchased
the controlling in'erest in the corpora.
tiOu which ben owned the ground. Then
they began to ay.-.h for the ore body. At
times it scemed y forIoru hope. NJ. Shs.
ron and other large operators had already
abandoned the ground. The famous drift
from the Gould and Curry mine through
the Best and Bslcher and into the ground
of the Consolidated Virginia was run over
300 feet before il made the strike that
suddenly turned John W. Machay and his
friends into bonerza kings. What dis.
couragements, what heart aches, fears,
hopes and struggles preceded the great
triumph the world little knows. 1t knows
the dazzling success. 1t enormously
suoposes it was easily attained. In
prospecting over this old field, the GENE
tery, so to speak, Of 50 many buried hopes
and suukep fortunes, the firm spent not less
than $500, 900; and it was at that time
when $jO0,000 was more to them than
fifty times that sum would be to-day. In
February Of 1874 they got on the right
track, but it was not until December Of
that year that the world was astoundcd by
the discovery Of the vast ore bodies which
formed the famous Consolidated Virginia
AID California silver mine7. Later on,
with Messrs. Flood aud o BrieD, ne estso-
lished he Nevada Bank. OF the wild days
and f8verish nights OF speculation in San
Francisco much has been written. The
success Of John W Mnckay started o
frenzy Thinning gambling in which q few
acquired large fortunes, . while the many
acquired large stores of experience. Mr..
MGckay has become famous as a mining
prince. Mrs. MacEay is Ambitious Of 50.
cial distinction and lives in Paris, where
she excites considerable interest. She
merits more than passing notice.
Dr.. Bryant, the first husband Of Mrs.
Mackay, is understood 10 have been some.
what Incorporate. She herself is said to
have greatly injured her health by the i'm,
prudent use Of morphine. She went to
Paris for relief. This was after her mar.
rage to Mr.. Msckay, and he accompanied
her. While there be developed the fa.
nous mines OF the Comstock lode, through
which he acquired his immenss fortune.
Since he became wealthy, Mrs. Msckay,
whose Grandmother, by the way, vas
French, has lived mostly in Paris, where she
has o m~Ggnigcent "hotel, and
eutertaius sump:uously. She is
one Of the wonders OF Paris. The Parisiana
stand aghast at the extravaganza Of this
silver princess. She is extremely vein oil
her wealth, talks merrily OF buying the Are
de Triomphe, when TO- some reason it has
become objectionable TO her. In some re,
spects, however, che is q Of good
sense. If she made a less lavish display
! ofweallh it would be better for our reputa-
tica as nation for good taste. Esr daugh.
ter Eve, by her first husband, Is now the
Princess Colonna, having married Don
Fernando de- Colonun Prize, &c Gala;ro.
lie is -, rich md handsome. The story
that the marriage was arranged sans dol
contrary to the foreign custom, was re
ceived in Partisan society, ga we'll as else.
where, with a slight degree Ct allo vance
The Prince is o descendant OF the famous
Victoria Colonna, the poet, a friend Of
Michael Angelo. The family is Iioera'
and not on bad terms with lha Quirinal
Mrs. Msckay's mother, | undprsrani
once kept q boarding house in New Yorh
City. The future wife Of tho bonanza nil
honaire and her sister assisted their mother
Mrs. Msckay's sister married q gentleman
who is now knoSn as Count Te!rener, ant
was largely interested 10 the building O
railroads in Texas some Gears ago. He il
understood TO have been generously egsis,
ed by Mr.. MackAy in these undertakings
BE is o very wealthy and lives ia Paris
out occasionally ;sits New York. Anon.
Mr5 Mnfkoya frat iriards IN y -, -