Los
Angeles County
Biographies
JAMES T.
MCGINLEY
Devoting
the best efforts of his life to municipal work, James T. McGinley has served
the city of Los Angeles faithfully and well and in the steps of an orderly
progression has risen to the office of chief of the fire and police signal
department, with which he has been continuously connected for a quarter of a
century. Born in Cambridge,
Massachusetts, August 1, 1876, he was a lad of nine years when his parents, James
Daniel and Elizabeth (Mullen) McGinley, came with their family to the Pacific
coast, arriving in California in March, 1886.
They settled in Los Angeles, and in this city the father followed the
occupation of baker. His death occurred
in 1905 and the mother passed away in 1903. James
T. McGinley attended the public schools for only a few years, as he was forced
to seek a livelihood at an early age, but determined to secure an education and
studied at home when the day’s work was done.
He first carried messages for the old American District Telegraph
Company and afterward performed various kinds of labor. In 1900 he became a member of the fire
department of Los Angeles and was on duty at the Fourth and Hill streets
station for four years. On the
expiration of that period he resigned to enter the laundry business and was
thus engaged for two years. On the 27th
of July, 1908, he joined the workers in the Los Angeles fire alarm
department. The department comprised ten
men at that time, and the equipment was crude and inadequate. With the growth of the city police, signals
have been added and modern equipment has been installed. Industrious, adaptable and dependable, Mr.
McGinley steadily advanced and on December 13, 1927, was made chief of his
division, which he has thoroughly systematized, introducing innovations and
improvements which have made it a model of efficiency. He is a third degree Mason but has few
interests apart from his work, deriving that satisfaction which results from
the faithful performance of his daily tasks and the accomplishments of
something worthwhile, and his useful, active career affords an excellent
example of a well spent life.
Transcribed
by V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: California of the South
Vol. IV, by John Steven McGroarty, Pages 793-794,
Clarke Publ., Chicago, Los Angeles, Indianapolis. 1933.
© 2012 V.
Gerald Iaquinta.
GOLDEN NUGGET'S LOS ANGELES
BIOGRAPHIES