Los Angeles County
Biographies
JOHN JOSEPH GILLIGAN
GILLIGAN, JOHN JOSEPH, Surety Bonds and Casualty and Liability Insurance, Los Angeles, California, was born in Brooklyn, New York, January 23, 1880, the son of Daniel Gilligan and Catherine (Cooney) Gilligan. He married Margaret A. Goodwin at Denver, Colorado, June 15, 1909, and to them there have been born two children, Joseph and Francis Gerald Gilligan.
Mr. Gilligan received his education in the schools of Irvington-on-Hudson, N. Y., being graduated from the high school there in the class of 1898. Upon leaving school he went to New York City and obtained employment in the office of a Wall Street broker. He remained in that position about a year and then entered the First National Bank of New York as a clerk. He served in that capacity for about a year and resigned to go into business with his father, a contractor in interior decorations, with offices in Irvington, N. Y.
He remained with his father about three years and in that time aided him in the designing and execution of numerous artistic decorations. In 1903, Mr. Gilligan parted company with his father and decided to move West. He first went to Kansas and there led a life in the open, working as a ranchman and cowboy for the better part of a year. Fascinated by the free life he had been leading, Mr. Gilligan made up his mind to settle in the country and accordingly took up a homestead of 160 acres. At the end of a few months, however, the longing for the city came upon him and he returned to New York.
For a year after his return Mr. Gilligan was in the employ of F. A. Foster & Co., one of the largest cotton goods and art drapery houses in the world. He worked as city salesman for the company for a year and then turned to the West again. He first went to Denver, Colorado, but remained there only a short time, joining the 1905 rush to Goldfield, Nevada. For another year he was engaged in mining and prospecting, but the yield was unsatisfactory and he gave it up.
Returning to Denver he became connected with the American Surety Company of New York and was appointed Assistant Manager for four States—Colorado, Wyoming, Arizona and New Mexico. He soon found that this was his proper field and determined to remain permanently in the surety business.
He managed the business of his company with great success for several years and in 1909, having been attracted by Los Angeles, resigned his position in order that he might make Southern California his home. He was appointed special agent there for the Fidelity and Casualty Company of New York. His work in the southern part of California so impressed his company that he was transferred to the larger field of which San Francisco was the center. He remained there only a short time, resigning his position in December 1910, to accept appointment as Casualty Manager, covering the State of California for the Fidelity and Deposit Company of Maryland.
This company, of which former Governor Warfield of Maryland is President, is one of the strongest of its kind in the world, and Mr. Gilligan’s work with them was rewarded in the early part of 1912 with his appointment as Southwestern Manager of the company’s interests. His territory includes all of Southern California, Arizona and New Mexico.
Mr. Gilligan has established himself as an expert in liability insurance and its allied branches and today occupies a responsible position in his line of activity.
Since locating in Southern California he has taken an active part in the life of the city and is also a participant in the affairs of the Knights of Columbus. He is a member of the American Institute of Banking, the Los Angeles Athletic Club, and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
Transcribed
by Joyce Rugeroni.
Source: Press
Reference Library, Western Edition Notables of the West, Vol. I, Page 536,
International News Service, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles,
Boston, Atlanta. 1913.
© 2010 Joyce
Rugeroni.
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BIOGRAPIES