Sacramento County
Biographies
JAMES FRANCIS GAFFNEY
JAMES
FRANCIS GAFFNEY.--Another distinguished representative of the Bar of
northern California is James Francis Gaffney, whose
offices are in the Ochsner Building,
in Sacramento. He came from the Prairie
State, which has given to the Pacific
Coast so many of its best citizens, having been
born at Quincy, Ill.,
on January 23, 1886. His father and
mother, James F. and Louise Gaffney, both natives of the same town of Quincy,
came to California in 1893. The elder Gaffney purchased a ranch near San
Bernardino, where he continued ranching a few years; but he was
soon drawn back into railroading, which he had followed for many years in the
East, again entering the employ of the Santa Fe Railroad with whom he had been
while in Chicago, Ill. He ran out of Los Angeles
as conductor, for many years, later becoming division superintendent for the
Southern Railway at Columbia, S.C.
James
Francis Gaffney, our subject, enjoyed the educational advantages of both the
grammar and the high schools of Los Angeles. After graduating from the high school, he
went to Needles for a short time, and thence to Chicago,
where he took a two years’ course in Bryant and Stratton’s Business
College. Thereafter, for a time, he was engaged as a
salesman in El Paso, Texas,
and in Old Mexico.
In
1912, Mr. Gaffney came north to San Francisco;
and on the 13th of June, of the following year, he was installed as
manager for the Holland & Funk Company, in one of a chain of their
stores. When this company went out of
business, Mr. Gaffney joined Lavenson’s Company, in Sacramento,
with whom he remained for three years.
Meantime, he was studying law privately, and on October 1, 1918, he took
the Bar examination and was admitted to practice in the courts of California. He has been practicing law for himself ever
since, and has been unusually successful.
Always public-spirited, he has sought to do what he could to improve
civic conditions, and has accomplished much in that direction. As a Republican, he has been a candidate for
the city council.
Mr.
Gaffney married Miss Helen Mary Sparr of Chicago, the
ceremony taking place at St. Louis, Mo.;
and the talented lady shares his popularity in the circles of the Elks, and of
the Chamber of Commerce and the County and State Bar Associations, of which
organizations he is a member. Mr.
Gaffney has also reached the fourth degree in the Knights of Columbus. Both he and his wife enjoy outdoor life, and
in this respect have found their residence in Sacramento
County particularly
delightful. They are loyal citizens of
the county, always eager to forward the interests of this favored portion of
the state.
Transcribed by Barbara Gaffney.
Source: Reed, G. Walter, History of Sacramento County, California With Biographical Sketches,
Pages 615-616. Historic Record Company, Los
Angeles, CA. 1923.
© 2007 Barbara Gaffney.