Lucien Heath

Lucien Heath (May 10, 1819 – December 19, 1888) was an American farmer, merchant, and politician in Oregon. A native of New York, he was raised there and in Michigan before immigrating to the Oregon Territory. A Democrat, he served as the first Oregon Secretary of State after Oregon entered the Union in 1859, and was also the mayor of Salem. After moving to Santa Cruz County, California, he was elected to the California Assembly for two terms as a Republican.

Early life Lucien Heath was born on May 10, 1819, in the state of New York near Buffalo to a merchant father. The family moved to Michigan when Heath was young where he farmed. In 1852, the family of Jane, Lucien, and son Henry (the daughter Lina had already died), moved to the Oregon Territory over the Oregon Trail. In 1854, he was appointed as the clerk of the territorial court. He moved to Salem and served in office until leaving on September 8, 1862. He then served as the clerk to the Oregon Supreme Court from 1862 to 1864. He served as a Republican legislator in the California State Assembly twice.

In 1866, Heath moved south to Santa Cruz County, California, where he continued to farm. He also was a hardware merchant and then president of the Santa Cruz County Bank. The hardware store was on Pacific Avenue in Santa Cruz and partly owned by John Byrne. Later he entered the real estate business as a partner with Samuel Drennan.

Personal life Heath died on December 19, 1888, at the age of 69 while on a trip to the East Coast and was buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Santa Cruz. Heath’s brother Albert was a captain for the Union Army during the American Civil War, and son Frank was a landscape artist, while the other son Henry followed in his father’s footsteps as a merchant.