James Buchannan Gallacher, born May 26, 1829 in Dumfries Scotland, was the son of John and Elizabeth Anderson Gallacher. There were six other boys and girls in the family. James was given the middle name Buchannan after James Buchannan, the President of the United States, who years earlier as a minister to England from the U. S. was instrumental in initiating the laying of the first cable under the Atlantic Ocean linking the two continents.  Sir James Anderson, the brother of Elizabeth Anderson Gallacher, was knighted by Queen Victoria for engineering the laying of the cable.  He died in her service while living at 62 Queens Gate, London.  James, however, never used his middle name, but history writers often add the “B” to help distinguish him.

            James Buchannan Gallacher was highly educated and was trained for the ministry like his brothers, but he chose to be a baker by trade and had his own bake shop in Scotland. His first wife, Janet Roberton, was born June 10, 1829 in Sanguhar, Lanark County, Scotland.  They were married June 15, 1849 by John Farnie, a Baptist minister.

            James B. and his wife Janet heard the Mormon elders and James B. was baptized, 1 June 1851, and Janet, 8 June 1851, in Luger, Scotland much against the wishes of his people, especially his brothers, one of whom was a minister in the Church of England and one a minister in the Church of Scotland.  They disowned him and did not visit him again.

            James kept a daily journal and in his writings tells of his wonderful wife, and of her death on November 6, 1859 of quick consumption (tuberculosis).  She called her son John, who was then only nine years old to her bedside and told him to be good to his father, she also told him to watch out for his sisters and brother as she was going to die.  She also told her husband to live a good life.  In her honor, he wrote a wonderful poem as he did for most all special occasions in his life.  This poem was published in the March 1860 Millennial Star.

            James was left with five small children, John age nine, twin girls Elizabeth and Thomson age eight, William age six and Mary age two (who also died six months later of consumption).  After his wife’s death, he secured the services of housekeepers to care for his family.  They either drank and neglected the children or sold many of his possessions to a pawn shop.  He then hired another housekeeper, a fellow member of the LDS Church, Janet Izatt.  They were married shortly after on December 30, 1859.

            While in Scotland, he presided over the Colton Branch, the largest branch of the Glasgow Conference for a period of five years until 1860.  He preached day after day somehow managing to keep his old friends close to their old church book references while still preaching Latter-Day Saints doctrine.  The missionaries met with many difficulties.  They were chased out of Kirkcomce by about twenty men who threatened to kill them.  In Glasgow, he and Brother Thomas Todd had hard times getting places to preach.  They would get a call and half an hour after have it taken away from them.

            One man said, “If any prophet has arise, let him be burned!”  After the meeting James and his companion told this man, that spirit was from the devil.  A shoemaker, Alex Simpson, asked James to make a tumbler of water into wine, and James said to him, “Go to a magician.”  Another man, William Henderson, wanted a sign as proof of the Gospel, but he said their arguments were good.  At another meeting stones were thrown at them.

            They were called to administer to a Mr. Fraser, and so they laid hands on him in the name of the Lord and requested the faith and prayers of the brethren for the healing of his lungs, and then they went home.  The next day they called on him and he was healed.  These little bits of truth have been taken from his diary.

            Son John Gallacher was baptized when eight years of age, and when he became of age was ordained a Deacon in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  During his youth he also worked as a baker.  Many times he took minor parts in theatricals and he earned sixpence each night or 12 cents in American money.  This he saved for two years which then paid for his immigration. 

            As a young boy, son William R. lived with his Aunt and Uncle James Anderson, who was a diver and engineer.  There William showed a talent for swimming and received many medals.  Later in Utah he swam from Garfield beach, which is now Black Rock, to Saltair and back in that heavy salty water and received loud praises.

            At length, the family decided to join with the ‘Saints in Zion’ in the United States.  The four children of the first wife, Janet Roberton, came to Utah in 1868.  John was now 18, twin sisters Thomson and Elizabeth were 17, and William was 15.  The Izatts, parents and siblings of James’ second wife, Janet Izatt, had already come to Utah by 1864, but Janet remained behind with James and their other children.  Her parents, William and Grace Adamson Izatt, had settled in the Logan area.  Perhaps due to lack of funds and/or the fact that Janet was expecting their fourth child (Andrew Wiley Gallacher born 3 Jan. 1869), James and Janet did not leave until the fall of 1869.

            John, Thomson, Elizabeth and William set sail on one of the first steamships to cross the ocean.  They were 16 days on the water.  They arrived in New York and took the train to Omaha, Nebraska which was as far as it went in 1868.  They then took part in what is said to be the last wagon train before the railroad connected in May 1869.  John helped drive an ox team.  The pioneers had very few cooking supplies at this time.  When John was asked how he made his hotcakes so nice and brown, he said, “I steal a little wagon grease to put on the irons.” 

            While traveling the twins wanted a birthday cake (August 6^th) and William made and decorated it.  Right after it was made, the scouts came back to the wagons and told them that Indians were coming.  Every male member who was able to hold a gun was given one to use, but William was more afraid of the gun than he was of the Indians.  The Indians went through the circle of wagons and saw the cake and stopped in wonderment and pointed at it.  It was given to them and the Indians were so thrilled with it that they left the camp in peace.  The girls thought it was well worth doing without their cake for which they had saved their sugar on the journey for William to make; for they had really been frightened when they saw the Indians.

            On 5 Sep 1868 John, Thomson and Elizabeth arrived in Salt Lake City and slept one night on the cobble rocks in the tithing grounds (where the Joseph Smith Memorial Building now stands).  William did not arrive until two days later because he was one of those chosen to herd the cattle down.  The next morning John took his sisters to Logan by ox team to stay with their step-grandparents, William and Grace Izatt, who came to Utah in 1864.

            How terribly disappointed they must have been to find the Izatts living in a hole in the mountain, fourteen feet square with a dirt floor.  John found there was no employment for him there so he helped Mr. Izatt for two days, then got blankets, cut a willow for a staff, and he walked all the way back to Salt Lake City. 

            When William arrived in the valley, they camped at the 8^th Ward Square and when they went to get their (whose exactly ??, William’s or the family’s) trunk, it was missing and so they were without any clothes except what they had on their backs. Another great disappointment.

            William and John likely passed each other as William went to Logan only to find John had gone. Another disappointment. Things were hardly what William hoped to find. At 15 years old, he went to work for the railroad which was being built through Weber Canyon. That kind of work, however, did not appeal to him, so William walked all the way to Salt Lake to find his brother John. He was in bed two weeks from the effects of that long walk. He lived with his brother John from that time, off and on until he got married on 27 December 1875.

            John had found work as a baker for Brother Grinnick (Grenig Bakery according to the Salt Lake City Directory of 1869 for the year 1868). At this time he was a member of the State Militia. A little incident of his life that he often spoke of was his court martial, caused by his neglect to answer the call of the commanding officer. His excuse was his ovens were full of bread. Ordinarily this charge was only subject to a small fine, but as an example to his fellow soldiers a court martial was ordered.

            John earned one dollar per day and William saved money from employment there also and they were able to save enough to help bring their father and the remainder of the family to Utah. One history records that early on John found work as a cook at the Valley House, one of the “nicer hotels” and the first hotel in Salt Lake City, while Elizabeth waited on tables. Elizabeth married William Montieth, February 16, 1869 in Salt Lake City and they went to Corinne, Utah where William worked on the construction of the railroad near Promontory. It appears that Thomson stayed in Logan after her arrival, for the records show she married William Mitchell in 1869, and had a daughter, Janet Mitchell born June 12, 1870 in Logan, Utah and a son, Eli Mitchell born October 2, 1872. When William wanted to take another wife in polygamy, Thomson could not accept it and they were divorced. She later married William Mayne of Bingham, Utah and moved there where they had two sons, James and William. Both sons remained bachelors.

            James, Janet Izatt and their four children sailed from Liverpool, England on September 22, 1869 arriving in New York on October 7, 1869. They traveled on one of the first trains from Omaha to Evanston, Wyoming where son John met them as that was now the end of the line. From there they came by wagon to Salt Lake City. *(Another history says they traveled all the way by train arriving in Ogden, Utah on October 16, 1869 which makes sense because the railroad had made it to Ogden, Utah by May 10, 1869, with the driving of the Golden Spike celebrating the joining of the railroad lines from coast to coast).

            James B. and family lived first in the “Old Rock Row” at Sixth East and Sixth South Streets in Salt Lake City. The first work James engaged in was teaching school in the “Rock Row” and he also attended to his church duties. Son John purchased flour for the family at $20.00 per sack and carried it on his back all the way home. James soon got a home on Center Street in the 19^th Ward, and he decided to follow his trade as a baker which was his true calling.

            In the year 1871, John was offered a better position in Ogden at the first train depot, which was also a hotel. But he soon returned to Salt Lake, and sometime after 1871 James, John and William worked together at the Valley House. The Salt Lake City Directory of 1873 for 1872 lists father James and his two sons John and William working as “Bakers” on East Temple (now called Main Street) next to the Walker House. Two more children were born to James and Janet, daughter Jennette (Jenny) born November 24, 1872, and son David James (David Izatt?) born December 18, 1875. The S.L.C. Directory of 1879 (for the year 1878) lists James as a baker living at the corner of Centre and Apricot (that’s the ‘Marmalade’ district just west of the State Capitol).

            James wrote, “My first recollection of President Brigham Young was in the fall of 1869 when I arrived in the valley. I heard him discourse in the old Tabernacle, and went and stood close to the platform so as I could shake hands with the Prophet of God….” “On one occasion I heard President Young say that we would be the largest city between Chicago and San Francisco…and it looks like it will not be very long until it is a reality. He also said when they were acquiring the high school system that our taxes would be so high that many would lose their homes. I also heard him say in the Tabernacle, when he first came to the valley, it took seven yards for a dress; but now his wives took seventeen. Of the men, he spoke about them changing the style of the pants from the old fashion style.”

            Since the official Golden Spike at Promontory Point was in May of 1869, it is confusing to read his entry, “10 January 1870, the weather was cold, a heavy fog hung over the city and I believe there were about fifteen thousand people who had come from all parts of the State (Utah) to see the last spike driven. The sun which had hidden itself behind the clouds during the day, then came out like a grand surprise, and was looked upon as an omen of God….and I was one of this crowd that saw President Young drive the last spike which was then named “The Utah Central Railroad.” One possible explanation is that a golden spike was driven at other places besides Promontory Point, Ogden when they connected railroads together at special places. Possibly Salt Lake was a spur built to the rock quarry in Little Cottonwood Canyon.

            James wrote, “I remember in the year 1870, that Lt. General Wells issued an order for part of the militia to participate in the celebration of the 4^th of July; but acting Governor Black, in violation of right and courtesy, forbade (their participation in) the parade, and caused the arrest of several of the militia officers and confined them at Camp Douglas. Governor Black stationed soldiers at the old Townsend House and also in front of the Tabernacle grounds to see that no one packed a gun in the parade. The militia all carried brooms in the parade; and your humble servant was one of the number….and if I am not mistaken, there has been no general celebration since.”

            James kept up with his writing and wrote many poems for special occasions, births or deaths, which were often published in the daily papers and some songs for the Sunday School Song book. One of the most popular songs he wrote is, “Sabbath Morning Comes with Gladness” which is in the old song books.

            John loved the theater and often told how the young men would gather together at the home of Mrs. Porter, and there they would sew carpet rags into rugs which they would take to the Salt Lake Theatre ticket office, where they would receive theatre tickets for their projects.

            William in his early years in Utah, worked on the canal which brought water from Utah Lake to the Salt Lake Valley to help irrigate some of the land. He also cooked in Little Cottonwood Canyon for the men getting granite for the Salt Lake Temple. He was a real musician in playing the accordion, and often played at the ward dances, and also for the dances where his Scotch friends went, for he had sweet memories of his homeland and was always happy to be with his friends from Scotland. It was at one of these dances that he first met Christina Penman, his future wife. William had learned the confectioner trade from his father in Scotland and specialized in cakes and pastries, making wedding cakes and cakes for other special occasions. He also worked with his brother John, off and on for several years.

            John initially worked as a baker or a chef. In 1873 he met petite Annie Impey. They were married January 27, 1873 in the Endowment House after a courtship of only six weeks. They held a reception for about 100 guests in the rear of the bakery shop owned/operated? by Mr. Gallacher. In 1876 the three men started their own bakery shop on Main Street in what was known as the Keith-Emporium Building, and later relocated at 4^th South and 5^th East.

            In 1880, a critical change came to the James B. Gallacher family. On May 30, 1880, Janet drove James from their home and had him arrested. We do not know what so upset Janet, but she tore out the pages in James’ Journals that mentioned her name. Subsequently there was a trial before Esq. Pyper Justice of the Peace of the 5^th Precinct of Salt Lake City, on what James’ attorney called frivolous charges from which he was acquitted. A year later in September of 1881, Janet sued for divorce on the grounds that James had abandoned her and the children. He countered that his absence was only due to his being forced from the home. Judge Elias Snow still granted the divorce on September 12, 1881 and ruled that Janet would have custody of the children and retain possession of their property worth $1,600.00 and they were to split the court costs of $22.50. (This conflicts with a pencil notation on a history that the marriage was canceled by Brigham Young…who died in August 1877.) This was a devastating time for James. Histories say he moved into his son John and Annie’s home at 661 South 5^th East, but it was not built until 1886. The Salt Lake Directories indicate James lived in a building at 645 South 5^th East while John’s family since 1878 was at 649 South 5^th East. Perhaps that is a way of saying they shared the residence or it was a duplex. The directories show that Janet moved with their children to son James Izatt’s home at 139 Centre. (Ironically, the home at 139 Centre had been John and Annie’s home before they sold it to step-brother James and Harriet (Hattie) in 1874 when they (John and Annie) moved to a home on 5^th East and 4^th South….which home is also likely the location of their combined bakery.)

            James continued working as a cook and got his Temple Endowment May 30, 1882, but his spirit was broken and he died three years later at the age of 56. He was a quiet and unassuming man but very determined when his mind was made up. His faith in the Gospel never faltered throughout his life. He bore a wonderful testimony of its truthfulness to the end. James Buchannan Gallacher died July 23, 1885 in Salt Lake City, Utah. His funeral was held at his home according to his request. Friends from Scotland, Duncan McCallister and Robert Patrick, were the speakers.

            Despite the problems of the parents, it appears that the children from both the Roberton and Izatt sides of the family maintained good will and Roberton children were often found working for Izatt children and visa versa. Eventually, Janet moved to Logan where her Izatt family had immigrated and she married William Gilbert Burton on September 20, 1894, in the Logan Temple when she was 61 years old. However, when she died the following year, the children listed her name on her tombstone as “Gallacher” with no mention of Burton.

            In 1882, John had purchased his first restaurant, the Centennial Arcade Restaurant at 127 South Main. At times William and his father worked with him. While they liked working together, there were a goodly number of small restaurants on Main Street at that time so competition was heavy. The family did not want the younger boys to go into the restaurant business, as they had to work on Sundays and late at night, and every day without holidays off. From the Salt Lake City Directories, it appears in 1890 John left the restaurant business and started a store at 653 South 5^th East, next door to his home at 661 South 5^th East. It is referred to as a “General Store”. The General Store lasted for about four years, when around 1894 John got back into the restaurant business when he bought the Saddle Rock Café at 139 South Main, on the East of Main Street between 1^st and 2^nd South.

            John and Annie finished building their large, two-story red brick home with a long veranda at 661 South 5^th East in 1886. Daughter Minnie said they moved in just before Christmas in 1886. She was born in that house the following May 1887. Sister Corbett, who was Swedish, was a trained midwife who delivered all the Gallacher babies that were born on Fifth East. Annie gave birth to a total of 13 babies, three of whom died at birth. While Annie remained petite in height she gained distance around the middle, but each inch was dearly loved by her family.

            The home faced West on 5^th East which in those days was the outskirts of the city. There was a double door entry with a stairway on the North wall with a large gently curving railing to the upper floor. Children were tempted to slide down it. On the right was a large parlor with a beautiful white marble fireplace on the south wall and a large mirror above it. Annie loved oriental décor and John liked buying her treasures from the orient. Particularly beautiful were large screens made of mother of pearl, ivory and ebony. A doorway from the parlor went into a large kitchen with a wonderful big pantry. The Gallacher’s knew how to cook! Upstairs were four large bedroom suites. The southwest corner room had French doors onto the long veranda. John and Annie had the northwest corner room facing the veranda. There were rooms on the southeast and northeast with a small room between that was later built into a large bathroom. The back porch across the east side of the upstairs with the outside stairway was often used for additional family members.

            The Gallacher children went to school at the old schoolhouse across the street from the Second Ward Chapel (5^th E. 7^th S.) The school had one large room and was heated by a big-bellied stove. There were double benches with two students to the bench. The boys had to bring wood to fire the stove which used up 7 to 8 sacks a day. The wood had to be sawed at Fredrick Peterson’s home where there was a huge saw.

            The Gallacher children attended all the parties and socials of the Second Ward. After the children’s parties they were given small bags of peanuts for which they paid 5 cents. Their father was generous, so they always ran home to him to get more nickels so all their friends could go to the socials and get some peanuts.

            The Gallacher home was like a revolving door with occupants coming and going. When son John Henry was called on a mission in 1898 to the Texas/Oklahoma area, his wife Mary and baby rented their home to a couple for the American Express Company and Mary lived at her in-laws. Mary and the baby had the southwest corner room with the French doors onto the veranda, John and Annie the northwest corner room facing the veranda, Bessie and Mary the southeast room, Maude and Minnie the northeast room, Matthew and Farrell the small east room between, and Sam and Bill had the back porch.

            William R. over the years worked at many different locations, but always in the field of baking or cooking, quite frequently for his brother John. He and his good wife had ten children, and his daughter, Barbara Gallacher Smith, writes that the children loved him dearly for his kindness and generosity. While they were young, they had one main residence, a brick home at 324 East 6^th South. When the match factory next door burned down, all their fruit trees and bushes were burned. William R. was not discouraged and planted Lucerne in place of these to feed his horse and chickens. He loved this home and wanted his children to love it and bring their friends home with them. Many an evening to the delight of the young folks, he would make cookies, biscuits, pies or cakes for their refreshment. For a time he had the Caledonian Bakery at their residence.

            In 1897, William R. decided to go to the mines at Fish Springs, Utah to cook and run the Boarding House for the miners. He was there off and on for 16 years and his good wife and some of his ten children were with him part of the time. He thought a lot of his brother John and when they didn’t see each other for over a year, the two brothers would embrace and tears came to their eyes, showing the love they had for each other since boyhood. When in the city, William would see his brothers James and Andrew every morning and kept in close touch with them, and the rest of the family for he loved them dearly.

            During this 16 year period his home residence changed several times; 1465 South 7^th East, 1890 South 8^th East, 1921 South 8^th East, corner of Long/Argyle, and 1847 Lake. Barbara says, “In 1912 he decided to retire and come home from Fish Springs to enjoy his home and family, but the good Lord had other things planned for him and he was called home to be with his father and mother on January 2, 1913 at the age of 60.”

            John’s daughter Minnie recalled when her brother, John James married Mary Reiser in the Salt Lake Temple in 1894; they held a reception for them at the large Gallacher home on Fifth East. Some of the guests were the Governor of the State, the President of the Church and his two counselors and all the friends and neighbors of John Gallacher and Henry Reiser. It was quite a social affair. John Sr. was at his prime as owner of the largest restaurant in the city and he wanted everyone to have a good share of the wedding supper. He dressed the waiters in tuxedos to serve at two long tables in the back parlor of the big house. They served oysters on the half shell, two kinds of salads, and a choice of baked ham or roast turkey, rolls and spices and Ice Cream and Wedding Cake. Uncle William R. Gallacher baked a magnificent cake seven tiers tall. (The top three theirs were put under domed glass cover and kept for months by the bride to serve later. The roses and candied decorations were often sneaked by Minnie and Farrell when they wanted a bit of sweets.)

            Greyhound dogs were an important part of the Gallacher family story. They raised champion dogs that won ribbons at shows and prizes at races. Family photos often show a dog in the picture with the wrought iron fence across the front of the yard and a new-fangled automobile passing by. Large trees shade the home. Electricity came to the average home in……but it was still years before indoor plumbing arrived.

            Among his Church, John served as First Counselor to Bishop L. G. Hardy of the 2^nd Ward. He held the office of Seventy and was later made a High Priest. John and Annie went on trips with the Tabernacle Choir while Annie was a member of the choir. While at Independence, Missouri they met Joseph Smith’s oldest son who was then President of the Reorganized Church.

            John was generous in helping others. He donated the money for the stain-glass windows that still add beauty to the 2^nd Ward Chapel on the corner of 5^th East and 7^th South. He also donated the Gallacher Corner’s property at the corner of 4^th East and 7^th South to the LDS Church where the Liberty Wells Gymnasium is built on the condition they build a facility where the youth could play and enjoy themselves.

            John was a wonderful husband and never left home without kissing his wife goodbye. One morning he was about a block away when he realized he had forgotten to do so, so he returned home. He would tell his granddaughters, “Never let the sun go down on a quarrel.” He was unselfish and always ready to put other’s needs before his own. Granddaughter Edna Prichard remembered watching him prepare very nice meals for company with very little. He would say to his wife, “Now Annie, you go and entertain them and I’ll fix a bite to eat.”

            In time, John was able to purchase quite a bit of property in the area by his home, in so much that they named 665 South & 500-527 East, a mid-block street, “Gallacher Place”. The many small homes were a great blessing to his children as they married and as their circumstances changed, sometimes due to their own doing, other times due to world events such as WWI in 1917 and then the depression in 1929. When daughter Mary G. Chases’ husband Abner died suddenly from nephritis in 1916 leaving her with four small children, John and Mary helped her with a place to live. Son John James’ home at 527 East 7^th South was a wedding gift from his parents. Their back yards adjoined and the grandchildren freely moved between the two homes and kitchens. On occasion John J. and Mary R. got ‘out of step’ with each other and John J. would find a place to stay until things righted themselves. One time or another, sometimes brief, sometimes long, each of the children had the benefit of living in one of the Gallacher homes along 5^th East, 7^th South, at Gallacher Place, or at the main house.

            In May 1902 John, Annie, and their two daughters, Maud and Minnie, took a special trip to the British Isles. There were a lot of feelings for John in going back to his old homeland that he left in 1868. They visited John’s uncles who were ministers in the Churches of England and Scotland. They also visited Annie’s relatives and renewed acquaintances. They visited with the missionaries and attended many street meetings while in London, Glasgow, and Edinburgh.

            They also witnessed the coronation of King Edward VII. Being unable to get genealogy information from the churches in England and Scotland, they searched out their ancestors in the old cemeteries. They found John could trace his genealogy back to Mary, Queen of Scots. Upon their return to Salt Lake they did the Temple work for all the names they were able to get.

            John officially retired from the restaurant business in 1913. He and Annie continued to give much thought to helping those around them. Granddaughter Marjorie G. Peterson remembered well as a little girl, being told she could put her little red chair in the carriage when they hitched up the horse and took various widows for a Sunday afternoon ride. John spent many of his remaining years as a set apart Temple Worker until his health became too poor in December 1923. His children in California frequently shipped him fresh vegetables and fruit in hopes that they would help him improve. On February 29, 1924, this very highly respected man both in business and church activity passed away at the age of 75.

            In the ten years that followed, Annie continued on as the wonderful matriarch of this large family. Many fun gatherings took place at the house and the grandchildren were best friends and looked forward to seeing each other there. Apparently, Annie had not learned to read or write and a problem developed because of it. One of the children had a problem with gambling. Annie learned how to write her name to try to deter the use of the accepted “X” for a name that others mistook as her signature on documents.

            After Annie passed away on March 3, 1934, many of her lovely oriental items were sold by a child. But saddest of all, there is even some question about the surprise and sudden death of Mary G. Chase on May 22, 1936. Upon her mysterious death, it was discovered that all her assets had been co-signed with another sibling and all the money went to that sibling, and Mary’s children received nothing even though it was during the depression and that money would have been a great blessing to them. This noble family began to pull back in public and did not discuss the problems they were seeing. It was a sad waste that even the wonderful family home was sold and torn down. For many years a scruffy vacant lot was all that remained.

            Gratefully we have the written histories and a few photos to help their descendants know about these amazing people.