Family Nibbles

In 1910, the Gallaghers had been in Lamar and Barton County for 40 years. These photos of Gulf Street, on the west side of courthouse square, show the remarkable difference those 40 years had made.

The changes in the lives of the Gallagher family over these four decades was just as dramatic.

In the 1910 Census, Mike and Ellen Gallagher were enumerated on North Fifth Street. Once again, I think that’s a variation on the address for their long-time house on Block 5.

Michael was age 46, Ellen was 43. Michael was listed as a laborer who did odd jobs.

Henry (Patrick H) was age 19, and was a collector for the Kansas City Star newspaper. Jim was a night clerk at a hotel. Tom was age 15 and Nellie was 8.

Patrick Gallagher, 86, was living in Mike and Ellen’s household.  Patrick was disabled with diabetes and had lost his sight a few years earlier. Mike and Ellen tried to be good caregivers, but by all accounts, Patrick was a very difficult patient.

Here’s a photo of Mike and Ellen’s family around 1910.  What a shame that we have no photo of Patrick or Ellen Large Gallagher.

Horse stories

In 1910, Tom and his friends had a harrowing experience when the horse pulling their buggy got tangled in a downed electric wire.

Six months later, in 1911, Tom was clerking at Galloways Store. A clever customer traded Tom a wild horse for a fine suit, apparently unknown to Tom. Read on…

If nothing else, we learned from the above news article that Tom was working at Galloways store evenings and Saturdays. Galloways was a clothing and dry goods store on the courthouse square. That must have been Tom’s early entry into retailing that would become his career.

Nellie wins July 4 race

While Tom was horsing around, Nellie won the race around the courthouse square during the July 4, 1912, festivities. She won a set of silver tablespoons donated by Hoyt Humphrey, the local furniture businessman and undertaker.

Henry worked at Cole’s

While Tom worked at Galloway’s store on evenings and weekends, Henry had joined Cole Brothers Dry Goods Store as a full-time employee by 1912. He would work for the Cole brothers for the next several decades.

Patrick Gallagher died

Patrick Gallagher died November 3, 1912, at age 85.  He had been disabled by diabetes for several years.

Another encounter with Humphrey, local furniture store businessman and undertaker.

Patrick was buried in St. Mary’s Catholic cemetery on November 5, 1912.  Michael and Ellen provided a nice headstone.

Ellen had died in July 1907, a few months before St. Mary’s cemetery opened, and was buried in the East Cemetery. Was she moved to the new cemetery when Patrick died? Or is the headstone just a tribute? I don’t know.

Patrick’s obit was on the front page of the Lamar Democrat November 7, 1912.

Patrick Gallagher was the first person that hooked me on genealogy. In 2014, we had stopped at the cemetery in Lamar on the way home from a trip to Arkansas. We had some free time, so we visited the Barton County Historical Society in the courthouse basement. They were very attentive, and showed us the location of the Gallagher farm. We visited the Catholic Church, where we pored through their records.

We visited the old East Cemetery, where we couldn’t believe poor Hannah couldn’t be found.

It’s hard to write a memorial tribute to Patrick. He’s the consummate ancestor. He’s tough, gritty, smart, difficult, and a tightwad. He’s an immigrant, a coal mine worker, a railroad worker, a farmer. He’s the story of the 19th century American immigrant.

Had we been in his circumstances, it’s fascinating to think what we would have thought and done. I would love to have a long conversation with Patrick. I’d have lots of questions. Why did you do that? What was the coal mine like? Why did you move? Why Missouri? How did you buy a farm? What would you do differently?

Jim at MU

In 1911, Jim Gallagher enrolled at the University of Missouri. He was certainly the first of his family to attend college. He majored in civil engineering, and got his degree in 1914.

Jim was also a star player on the Missouri Tigers football team.

Let’s take a break

It’s 1915. Time for a break.

We’ve found the Gallagher homelands in Donegal, and learned about their life and times in Ireland in the early 1800s. We researched our Large ancestors in the Castlecomer coal fields of Kilkenny.

We followed Patrick Gallagher and Ellen Large as they immigrated to the Pennsylvania anthracite coal country. Pat and Ellen married and had children.

In 1870, the Gallaghers left coal country for western Missouri and railroad work. A few years later, they bought their own farm in Barton County.

We learned how Ellen Dugan accompanied her friend Hannah Gallagher from Donegal to Lamar, Missouri. There, Ellen married Mike Gallagher in 1885.

Mike and Ellen had children in the 1890s – Henry, Jim, Tom, and Nellie. Those children have come of age by 1915. Now it’s their turn.

We’ve said goodbye to Ellen Gallagher in 1907 and Patrick a few years later in 1912.

Those are a lot of stories. It’s 1915. Let’s take a break.

When we resume, we’ll follow Tom Gallagher as he begins a career with Cole Brothers stores. He’ll be called to serve in the Great War. After the war, in 1920, Tom will move to Sedalia, Missouri to open a new Cole’s store. There he’ll meet and marry Catherine Riley.

Stay tuned. Our Gallagher stories will continue.

Timeline

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Sources

• Image – Gulf Street looking north – Lamar, Missouri – 1870 – State Historical Society of Missouri – Jefferson City, Missouri – https://digital.shsmo.org/digital/collection/imc/id/18629/rec/8
• Image – Gulf Street looking north – Lamar, Missouri – 1910 – Cardcow.com – https://www.cardcow.com/901413/lamar-missouri-gulf-street-looking-north/
• Census – 1910 Census – Michael and Ellen Gallagher – Ancestry.com – https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7884/images/31111_4330350-01126?pId=14123353
• Image – Michael and Ellen Gallagher family – c 1910 – Catherine Gallagher Paul collection
• News article – Tom Gallagher and horse live wire – The Lamar Democrat – August 11, 1910 – State Historical Society of Missouri – Jefferson City, Missouri
• News article – Tom Gallagher trades fine suit for wild horse – The Lamar Democrat – March 16, 1911 – State Historical Society of Missouri – Jefferson City, Missouri
• Image – Galloway’s Store – Lamar, Missouri – 1928 – ebay
• News article – Nellie Gallagher wins July 4 race – The Lamar Democrat – July 11, 1912 – State Historical Society of Missouri – Jefferson City, Missouri
• Image – Children’s race – A Poem for Father’s Day: The Race – May 22, 2008 – The Daily Courier – Prescott Arizona – https://www.dcourier.com/news/2008/may/22/a-poem-for-fathers-day-the-race/
• News article – Henry Gallagher works for Cole brothers – The Lamar Democrat – August 12, 1912 – State Historical Society of Missouri – Jefferson City, Missouri
• Image – Death of Patrick Gallagher – Gallagher Family Bible – Teply family documents
• Image – Death Certificate – Patrick Gallagher – Barton County Clerk – Lamar, Missouri
• Image – Headstone of Patrick and Ellen Gallagher – St. Mary’s Cemetery – Lamar, Missouri – photo by Mark Jarvis – 2014
• New article – Obituary of Patrick Gallagher – The Lamar Democrat – November 7, 1912 – State Historical Society of Missouri – Jefferson City, Missouri
• Image – Missouri engineering students – Brosseau family documents – Jim Brosseau collection
• Image – Jim Gallagher c 1914 – Brosseau family documents – Jim Brosseau collection
• News articles – Jim Gallagher – engineering and football at University of Missouri – The Evening Missourian – various dates – Newspapers.com
• Image – Missouri vs Rolla football game – University Archives – University of Missouri – Mizzourah! Football at MU – https://muarchives.missouri.edu/football3.html
• Music – Ragtime Dance – Scott Joplin – 1906 – Free Music Archive – https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Scott_Joplin/Piano_Rolls_from_archiveorg/ScottJoplin-RagtimeDance1906/