Page:California Historical Society Quarterly vol 22.djvu/197



Neivs of the Society 1 87

In flDemoriam

John D. Galloway 1869- 1943

Major John Debo Galloway, one of America's outstanding civil engi- neers, passed away in Berkeley, California, on March 10.

He was born in San Jose, California, on March 1 3, 1869, the son of James and Emily Hoover Galloway. Shortly after his birth the family removed to Virginia City, Nevada. This was in the midst of exciting times on the Com- stock Lode. After his mother's death eight years later, he returned to Cali- fornia. From an early age, left largely to his own resources, he developed the self-reliance which was a marked characteristic.

Graduated from the Rose Polytechnic Institute in Terre Haute, Indiana, in 1889, he soon thereafter made his headquarters in San Francisco, though his engineering work often took him far afield. In the next fifty years he had a part in most of the major engineering projects of northern California, including such projects as the San Mateo Bridge, Shasta Dam, Coyote Dam, and the Stanislaus, Las Plumas and Moccasin hydro-electric plants.

He was a pioneer in the design of earthquake-proof structures, as well as in the field of hydroelectric plant construction. Irrigation development, water supply works, bridges, and dams were among the projects in which he specialized.

Following the San Francisco fire and earthquake of 1906, his firm designed and supervised the construction of many of the new city's important struc- tures, and he revised the San Francisco building code.

From 1906 to 1908 he was associated with John Galen Howard in the architectural and engineering firm of Howard and Galloway, and from 1909 to 191 7 he was a member of the engineering firm of Galloway and Markwart.

In the first World War, he was chairman of an organization of seven hun- dred engineers for the study of war work. He was commissioned major of engineers in the United States Army, in G-2 section of the general staff at the headquarters of the American Expeditionary Force, Chaumont, France, receiving for this service a citation from General Pershing. He remained in the Army till January 19 19.

On his return to San Francisco, the partnership with A. H. Markwart was revived and existed until the end of 1920. From then on Major Galloway maintained a consulting practice in San Francisco. He was on the first com- mission for the location of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.

A resident of Berkeley for many years, Major Galloway was prominent in civic affairs. Up to the time of his last illness, he was serving as Berkeley's transportation administrator.