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Submitted by Deb Ross

Lacey has been in the news lately – this year the city celebrates the 50th anniversary of its incorporation. So, I thought I might take another look at the recurring question: how did the city get its name? My research unearthed a previously unnoticed classified ad that may provide a tiny clue.

steadman propertiesIt is widely believed that the city’s name derives from one Oliver Chester Lacey, better known as O.C. Although O.C. is sometimes described as a “shadowy” character, his background, brief presence in our community, and death are all well documented. Together, they paint a vivid picture of a man who rose quickly from obscurity, was often disliked and later despised, and left Olympia within ten years of his arrival here. Much of O.C.’s story is detailed in a thoroughly researched article written by historian Lanny Weaver, on behalf of the Lacey Museum, in 1995.

O.C. was born in Virginia in about 1841 and married his first wife Emma in North Carolina. Nothing further is known about him (including any involvement in the Civil War) until his arrival in Olympia in 1889, the year of statehood. He set up shop as a real estate agent and soon went into business with H.L. Forrest. Lacey and Forrest engaged in real estate, both representing clients and purchasing and selling land on their own. O.C. Lacey also was admitted to the Washington State bar in 1891.

city lacey history
O.C. Lacey was admitted to the Washington State Bar in 1891 and was appointed as a Justice of the Peace in 1893.

By 1892, negative press had begun to appear about O.C.’s personality and activities. A February 1892 article in the Washington Standard described him as a “poor little fly [who] lights upon the cow’s horn simply to be seen.” O.C. was interested in politics, and worked hard – but ultimately unsuccessfully – on behalf of the People’s Party, which was primarily known in the Pacific Northwest for its anti-Chinese stand, but also supported labor and agrarian reform. He was accused of paying citizens to attend a People’s Party rally, which backfired on him when the attendees heckled the speaker. He was also accused of hiding evidence in a case, with the provocative newspaper headline “Raped the Records.”

In 1893 he was appointed to fill a vacancy for Justice of the Peace, a sort of hired gun to hear and dispose of a wide variety of legal cases. The Morning Olympian interviewed several prominent businessmen about the appointment, and in their fulsome and exaggerated praise one detects sarcasm. For example, Major C.M. Barton appears to compare O.C. with the odious and vain Malvolio from Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, while others point to O.C.’s lowly origins and southern background. He was not reappointed to the position the following year.

In 1895, his wife filed for divorce on the grounds of cruelty. O.C. had fallen in love with another woman. He began what was called a “siege of cruelty … and brutality without parallel from any human being” against Emma. After the divorce, O.C. failed to pay ordered alimony, and Emma died in poverty soon after, and was buried in a “cheap coffin.” O.C. by this time had left town and returned to Virginia, where he remarried and continued to practice real estate, dying in 1905.

With this brief introduction to the personality of O.C. Lacey, let’s return to the spring and summer of 1891. As recently recounted by Lanny Weaver on behalf of the Lacey Museum and 50th Anniversary Committee, this was an important season in the development of the growing community known as Woodland, a few miles from Olympia. The Northern Pacific Railroad depot was established, and a new racetrack was being built by developer Isaac Ellis. It seemed appropriate to open a post office. The first application, naturally, requested the name Woodland, but this name was already taken. So on June 2, a new application was filed with a proposed name of Lacey. It has never been determined why this name was chosen, other than speculation that it had something to do with O.C. And no connection has conclusively been found between the community of what is now Lacey and O.C. Lacey. However, in my research, I discovered a classified ad that ran on July 7 and 8, 1891, just a few weeks after the post office application was filed. It read:

Lost. On Fourth street or on the road to Ellis’ race track, a patent ink stand. Finder please return to Lacey & Forrest, Olympia.

lacey washington history
The application for a post office may have been signed by O.C. Lacey.

This tiny ad establishes that either Lacey or Forrest was at Isaac Ellis’s new racetrack in Woodland around the time of the post office application; moreover, he brought along a patent (that is, portable) inkwell – not something you would bring to a fun day at the races, but would be required to execute a document. Of course, this does not establish that Lacey was actively involved in the naming of the post office. It does, however, finally hint at a connection, however slight, between O.C. and the community now known as Lacey, Washington; and suggests that O.C. was involved in some kind of business there.

It has been asserted that the name Lacey on the post office application is not in O.C.’s handwriting. I took a look at a known example of O.C.’s signature as Justice of the Peace, and compared it to the “Lacey” notation on the post office application.

 

lacey washington history
Pictured is a copy of O.C. Lacey’s signature when he serviced as Justice of the Peace.

When one overlays the post office application onto the Justice of the Peace signature, the a, c, e, and y match up almost perfectly. While the “L” is different, both Ls, as well as both c’s, have a little knob at the tip. It might be an interesting exercise to ask a handwriting expert for a determination whether the two “Laceys” are in the same hand.

With increasing access to documents through the internet, more will certainly surface about O.C. Lacey and his possible connection with the city that bears his name.

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