In summer 1919, Tom Gallagher was back in Junction City. He was out of the army. It was time to rejoin the work force and the social scene.

In summer 1919, Tom Gallagher was back in Junction City. He was out of the army. It was time to rejoin the work force and the social scene.

A telegram arrived April 22 from Headquarters Advance Section, ordering the regiment to move to Le Mans.
And suddenly the telegrams changed the destination of the regiment to Brest.
Victory – History of the 805th Pioneer Infantry


Continue readingWe shall never forget the night that Varennes was flooded with light, and a celebration broke loose on the strength of the reported signing of the armistice.
Victory – History of the 805th Pioneer Infantry
The 805th Pioneer Infantry was in France, arriving in Rolampont on September 20, 1918.

The United States entered World War I in April 1917. The goal was to organize a million man army. In May 1918, President Wilson authorized the creation of eight colored regiments.

In March 1916, Tom Gallagher moved from Lamar, Missouri to Junction City, Kansas. He was the shoe department manager at Cole Brothers’ Dry Goods Store, replacing his brother Henry. Henry moved back to Lamar, becoming manager at Coles’ store there.


Jesse Cole was born in 1875 in Fort Scott, Kansas. His father William, 27, was a bartender and mother Mary, 22, was a homemaker. Jesse grew up with an older sister and four younger brothers.
In 1897, at age 22, he was a partner in The Cyclone, a dry goods store in nearby Garnett, Kansas. The partners were Glaze, Lewis, and Cole.
Continue readingIn 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.
Continue readingThe dawn of the new century marked fifty years since a 23-year-old Patrick Gallagher had arrived in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. Ellen Large Gallagher had arrived even earlier, in 1844, at age 11. A half-century of struggles and successes.

Mike Gallagher and Ellen Dugan had married in Lamar in 1885. Their first child, a son John, was born in 1886. Sadly, John died at two months. There were no more children born in the 80s.
The 1890s were a different story. In the early years of the 90s, Mike and Ellen had three sons.
