Noted in the bio of Joseph Hertogs.
According to James LEPORTE, James CALLAGHAN was a politician in Seattle and is noted in a book, the History Of Seattle. He had about 7 children with his first wife, Kate LYON, before his marriage to Josephine.
James J. Callaghan, charity commissioner of Seattle, which office he has filled since 1913. has devoted much of his life to the public service and the thoroughness and system which characterize all that he undertakes have been elements in making him a most capable and reliable official. He was born in San Francisco, California, July 13, 1861, and is descended in the paternal line from Irish ancestry, the family being founded in America by his grandfather, James Callaghan. His father, who also bore the name of James Callaghan, was a native of Massachusetts and in i860 went to California on his wedding journey by way of the Isthmus route, several months elapsing before they reached the end of their journey. He was connected with the United States government service in the work of fortfying the harbor of San Francisco and then became superintendent of a grain warehouse, in which capacity he acted for forty years under Isaac Freelander, the grain king of California. He was also very active in civic affairs in San Francisco and was prominent in other connections, standing at all times for progress and advancement. He married Elizabeth McPherson, a native of Massachusetts. The McPhersons were of Scotch lineage and the American branch of the family was established by her father. The death of Mrs. Callaghan occurred in San Francisco in 1896, when she was fifty-one years of age, and Mr. Callaghan passed away in San Francisco in 1910 at the age of seventy years. They were the parents of three children, but the two daughters have passed away.
James J. Callaghan, the only son, pursued his education in the public and high schools of San Francisco and in St. Ignatius' College, from which he was graduated with the Bachelor of Science degree in 1880. His father then assisted him to establish a retail grocery business, in which line of trade he continued successfully for five years. He was but twenty-one years of age when he was elected to the state legislature from the ninth senatorial district of San Francisco and served as a member of the general assembly during the sessions of 1883, 1885 and 1887, being the youngest member in the state legislature at that time. In 1885 he disposed of his grocery business and became associated with the state board of harbor commissioners, his position being designated as wharfinger. He remained in that connection until 1891 and on the 8th of March, 1892, he came to Seattle, where he accepted the position of manager with R. Sartori & Company. After a short association with that firm, however, he accepted the position of manager of the Pacific block, the McDonald block and several other large buildings of the city, so continuing until 1900. In 1903 he became connected with the office of prosecuting attorney as an investigator, serving in 1903 and 1904. He then occupied the position of deputy auditor for four years and in 1908 he entered the general contracting business, in which he operated successfully until 1913, when he accepted the position of charity commissioner and has since been active in that work, making a creditable record by the prompt, efficient and tactful manner in which he discharges the duties of the office. He has always been a republican, active and prominent in local political circles. He has served as secretary of the central committee of Seattle, as a member of the state central committee from King county and has done everything in his power to promote the party success and to uphold civic interests which look to the betterment of existing and of future conditions.
On the 13th of October, 1882, Mr. Callaghan was married, in San Francisco, California, to Miss Kate Lyon, a native of New York and a daughter of John Lyon, a representative of an old pioneer family of California, of English descent. Her mother bore the maiden name of Katherine Rogers. Mr. and Mrs. Callaghan have become the parents of seven children: Alfred, who was born in San Francisco in 1884; LeRoy, born in San Francisco in 1887; Joseph C, born in Seattle in 1889; Ruth, born in San Francisco in 1892; John, born in Seattle in 1896; Eugenia, born in Seattle in 1898; and Katherine, who was born in Seattle in 1902.
The family are pleasantly situated at No. 1124 Thirty-fifth street, in a home which Mr. Callaghan owns. Over the record of his official career there falls no shadow of wrong, for with a full realization of the duties and obligations that have devolved upon him he has put forth every effort to faithfully serve the public at large, shunning every act inimical to its best interests and working along lines which produce the best results in the fields of civic virtue and advancement. [History of Seattle From the Earliest Settlement to the Present Time, 1916]
In the 1910 King WA census he is found as Jim Callghan. With wife Josephine (HERTOGS) and chidren: Rith, Johnie, Daisey, Katie, & step sons Alfred Davis and Joe Davis.
