Illusive Gallaghers: The Next Generation

From the earlier article on the Gallahers, the children of Thomas Gallaher and his wife were lined out, so we'll now move on to the next generation, in order to answer some more questions about the family.

While digging around the net, I found the following article from the Juniata Sentinel, which appeared for several weeks in April 1873:
 

Rule - In the Orphans' Court of Juniata County. Estate of Robert C. Gallaher, deceased. In the matter of the petition of Samuel H. Showers and Henry S. Scholl for decree of specific performance of contract in writing made with said decedent in his life-time, for the purchase and sale of two Lots of Ground, situate on Washington street in the borough of Mifflintown, February 25, 1873, a rule was granted by the said court on the rule of Joseph Rothrock, executor of the last will and testament of said Robert C. Gallaher, deceased; and also in the legatees and devisees of the said Robert C. Gallaher, deceased, to appear on the first day of the next Orphan's Court, at 4 o'clock P.M.., (to wit, the 28th day of April, 1873) of said day and show cause, if any they now have, why the prayer of the petitioners should not be granted as prayed for.

To Joseph Rothrock, executor of Robert C. Gallaher, deceased; Lydia C. Beale, James A. Reynolds; Catharine A. Robison; Robert G. Reynolds; Mary M. Reynolds; Harriet E. Geehan; Joseph Gallaher; Samuel Gallaher; John A. Gallaher; James Gallaher; Catharine A. Gallaher; John B. Bratton; Alexander Speddy; Harriet Rickenboch; Mary J. Runner; Seth Ziegler; William Bratton; Robert Bratton; Sophia Oswalt, and Jane Gallaher, widow of Robert C. Gallaher: -

Take notice that you are required, in obedience to the above Rule of Court, to be and appear at our Orphan's Court, in and for the county of Junaiata, to be held at Mifflintown, onthe 28th day of April, 1873, at 4 o'clock P.M. of said day, to show casuse, if any you have, why the said decree of specific performance of contract should not be made as prayed for.

Joseph Ard, Sheriff

The Robert C. Gallaher in question is, of course, the merchant son of Thomas and Lydia/Lucretia and the names in the articles are, no doubt, persons that were named in his will, as executed by Joseph Rothrock. There was a follow-up to this will a bit further down the road, as seen by this following article,  from the Juniata Sentinel & Republican:

A Bill in Equity - Jane Gallaher vs. Joseph Rothrock, Executor of Robert C. Gallaher, deceased, and Joseph H. Gallaher, was presented, setting forth that had been aggrieved by the transfer to the said Joseph H. Gallaher of twenty-three U.S. Bonds of $1000 each, for $5, and of a promissory note for $140 to same for $5, by Joseph Rothrock, the Executor. It was ordered by the Court that this Bill be served upon Joseph H. Gallaher, now residing in Jefferson, Greene County, Iowa, by delivering to him a copy of this Bill, by hte sheriff of Greene County, who will certify, under oath, the time , place and manner of service, with a copy of the Bill annexed to his return, which return shall be sent to the Prothonotary of Juniata county, Pa., and said Joseph H. Gallaher is required to cause an appearance to the Bill to be made within 30 days after service of the Bill.

To make it a bit easier to see how these various people fit into the picture, I've extracted below their names and realtionships (where known):

  • Lydia C. Beale, dau of Harriet and John Reynolds, RC's niece
  • James A. Reynolds; son of Harriet and John Reynolds, RC's nephew
  • Catharine A. Robison; dau of Harriet and john Reynolds, RC's niece
  • Robert G. Reynolds; son of Harriet and John Reynolds, RC's nephew
  • Mary M. Reynolds; dau of Harriet and John Reynolds, RC"s niece
  • Harriet E. Geehan; dau of Harriet and John Reynolds, RC's niece [Guignon]
  • Joseph Gallaher;(Joseph H. Gallaher)
  • Samuel Gallaher;
  • John A. Gallaher; son of Isabella and Thomas Gallaher, RC's nephew, married Mary Ziegler
  • James Gallaher; son of Isabella and Thomas Gallaher, RC's nephew
  • Catharine A. Gallaher; dau of Isabella and Thomas Gallaher, RC's niece
  • John B. Bratton; son of Lucretia and Wm. Bratton, RC's nephew
  • Alexander Speddy; unknown relationship
  • Harriet Rickenboch; dau of Harriet and Benjamin Oswald, RC's niece, married Samuel Rickenbaugh
  • Mary J. Runner; unkown relationship
  • Seth Ziegler; may be related to John A. Gallagher's wife Mary, he resided for a time with RC
  • William Bratton; son of Lucretia and Wm. Bratton, RC's nephew
  • Robert Bratton; son of Lucretia and Wm. Bratton, RC's nephew
  • Sophia Oswalt, (Oswald) - RC's sister, married Benjamin Oswald
  • Jane Gallaher, widow of Robert C. Gallaher, maiden name Wright

One thing that becomes clear quite easily is that the names mentioned are mostly those of RC's nieces and nephews. At this point, I have left the relationship for Jopseh and Samuel Gallaher blank, but I do have some further information which leads me to believe that they are sons of RC's brother Samuel. Information about the documented relationships above can be found in my online genealogy database:Genroots.

At first glance, I supposed that the Samuel shown might be RC's brother, but his wife Elizabeth appears in the 1860 census in Peoria, Illinois as a widow, so that rules him out as RC died in 1872. Samuel wil remain a bit of a mystery for now.

Joseph H. Gallaher may be a bit more clean-cut, when we add in some more info. If you recall from the earlier article, I mentioned that RC's brother Samuel had married Elizabeth Burrell and had a daughter Elizabeth who married Ezekiel Day, settling in Peoria, IL. I also noted a business listing showing a partnership between Ezekiel and Jos. H. Gallaher as cigar merchants. If Joseph H was the son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Burrell), he and Ezekiel would be brothers-in-law and it would be quite possible for them to be business partners as well. But, wait, there's more!

A biography for J. Albert Gallaher appearing in a History of Idaho gives a good bit of information about his father, Joseph H. Gallaher, mentioning that Joseph was born in PA and was married Diana Walker Spears in Belle Vernon, Pa about 1842. He was involved in the dry-goods business for a while in Pittsburgh, which is where Ezekiel Day married Elizabeth Gallaher, finally moving to Peoria in 1858. In 1869, he moved to Iowa, where he spent the rest of his life, dying there in 1904. By his son, J. Albert Gallaher, we can see the family names carrying down after he married Katherine Ball in 1900. Their first born son was named Burrell L, no doubt a tribute to Elizabeth Burrell, his grandfather's wife.

Though the items presented do not constitute proof of the realationship of Joseph to RC, I do think that they make it very likely. At this point, my next step will be to atempt to obtain a copy of RC's will, in the hopes that the relationships may be spelled out further.