James (Jimmy) Walter Gallagher was born on December
2, 1898, in Somerset Township, Belmont County, Temperanceville,
Ohio. He was the son of John Thomas and Mary A. (Mosburg) Gallagher.
His ancestor, Edmund Gallagher, married Anna Dorsey and came from
County Meath, Ireland, to America in about 1799. Edmund aided
Lord Edward Fitzgerald and Robert Emmett, Irish citizens, in the
stormy days of 1798. He had to flee his native Ireland for fear
of religious persecution by the Protestant English.
Edmund settled in Chester County, Pennsylvania,
first in about 1799, married and had children. When he was about
50 years old, in 1818, he moved to Beaver Township, Guernsey County,
Ohio, which later became a part of Noble County. He later relocated
in Somerset Township, Belmont County, Temperanceville, Ohio, of
which his son Robert Gallagher was the founder. Robert and his
daughter disappeared when they traveled with a wagon train to
become 49ers in the gold rush. His son Edmund Gallagher, Jr. married
Nancy Hughes and they resided in Monroe County, Calais, Ohio,
where John Thomas Gallagher, the father of our subject Jimmy Gallagher,
was born in about 1850. Jimmy's great grandfather, Edmund, is
buried in St. Mary's Cemetery near Temperanceville, as are many
other family members. Jimmy's brother, evangelist Wellington Napoleon
Boniphas Gallagher, is buried in Quaker City, Ohio. It was his
brother who asked him to fill in for him and preach a Sunday evening
service at the church of Christ in Fairview, Ohio on September
19, 1925, at the age of 26.
Jimmy was reared on a 40-acre farm and, at the
age of seven years old his father died, leaving Jimmy's mother
with a child not yet born. Jimmy's parents had twelve children.
He was brought up in the Catholic Church as a youngster. Several
of his ancestors and relatives were priests or nuns.
After the death of his father, Jimmy's mother,
Mary Gallagher married Clem Carpenter of nearby Boston Church
of Christ. They had one child together, Hila Carpenter, of Barnesville,
a member of the Pisgah Church of Christ, west of Fairview and
a half brother to Jimmy Gallagher. Jimmy accepted Jesus Christ
as his Lord and Savior as a teenager and obeyed the gospel.
On December 23, 1922, Jimmy married Lucille L.
Harper (February 26, 1904July 21, 1965), the daughter of Ollie
H. and Nell (Long) Harper. She passed away of a heart attack.
Two children were born to them; they were Oleta Nola Gallagher
(September 25, 1923) and James J. Gallagher (June 15, 1925). Both
are members of the church of Christ. Oleta was married to Clarence
Garrett and resides in Ashland, Ohio and James lives in San Antonio,
Texas. Jimmy then married Leona Irene McCollum (September 17,
1917) on January 23, 1971, the daughter of Alonzo Isaac and Lily
Margaret (Kinney) McCollum. She is still living in Jerusalem,
Ohio, and attends the church of Christ there.
Jimmy preached more than 14,000 sermons and officiated
at more than 1,000 funerals during his lifetime. He had traveled
over the entire United States preaching the gospel message. He
said, "A preacher is bound to preach as long as he can and
it is his duty." Jimmy was located at East Main Street Church
of Christ in Barnesville, Ohio, at Belmont, Quaker City, Somerton,
Bates Hill, Bellaire, McConnelsville, and Jerusalem, Ohio. Jimmy
did not believe in taking a vacation; he said that his Bible was
his life. Gallagher said, "There is no time for a preacher
to loaf." He once preached 104 straight evenings in the pulpit.
He had the thrill of preaching at Mt. Zion, where Peter preached
the first gospel sermon ever preached to man, near Jerusalem in
the Bible lands. Gallagher said that he was happiest when he saw
people obeying the gospel.
Jimmy was called upon many times to perform marriages
and conduct funerals for those who lost loved ones. He was loved
by many and is sadly missed as a servant to many. His 70 years
of preaching the truth touched many lives and he will not be forgotten
soon. He married the writer's mother and father-in-law and his
sister and brother-in-law, and his wife's cousin, and many others.
He was a God-fearing Christian preacher who would do anything
he could for the cause of Christ.
Bret Gallagher, evangelist of the Oakwood Road
Church of Christ in Fairmont, WV, is a cousin to Jimmy. Henry
Gallagher, a recent mayor of Barnesville, OH., is also his cousin.
Jimmy was a member of the East Main Street Church
of Christ in Barnesville at the time of his death. He resided
in Jerusalem, Ohio. He passed away on June 22, 1997 at the Barnesville
Hospital in Belmont County, Warren Township, Barnesville, Ohio,
at the age of 98 1/2. His funeral services were held at 1 P.M.
on June 25th with evangelists Claude Davis and Jack Turner officiating.
Burial followed at Crestview Cemetery in Barnesville. 307 West
South St., Barnesville, OH 43713.