San
Joaquin County
Biographies
JOHN D. GALL
A native son of Stockton,
California, John D. Gall was actively identified with business activities of
this thriving city from young manhood and was a prominent factor in its
upbuilding and development along substantial and enduring lines. He was born in this city July 11, 1855, a son
of Alexander and Margaret (Stewart) Gall, both natives of Scotland. In 1850 the father left his native land in a
sailing vessel bound for San Francisco, and in 1852 settled in Stockton. He owned and operated the first bakery in
Stockton for many years, then retired when he was appointed superintendent of
streets and also had charge of the work of dredging the channel; he was also a
member of the city council and was a promoter of every measure and movement
calculated to advance the prosperity and growth of this city. He became the owner of valuable city
property. He passed away in 1874 and of
his children, four are now living:
Alexander C., Charles G., and Joe M., all residents of Stockton, and
Mrs. J. F. Petzinger, of San Francisco.
John D. Gall obtained his education
in the public schools of Stockton and St. Mary’s College in San Francisco and
assisted his father in the bakery until he was old enough to engage in business
for himself. He first ran a liquor store
with Frank P. Madden on East Weber Avenue near El Dorado Street; later he sold
out to his partner and ran the same kind of business in San Francisco for a
number of years; then he went into partnership with Edward Burns and they were
the first to develop the northern section of Stockton, by platting the North
Stockton addition. They opened up the
North Addition which is now built up with beautiful residences. Besides this, Mr. Gall erected a number of
houses in the southern part of Stockton; he purchased the Quinn property and
erected residences on same. When
Turlock, Stanislaus County, was a small town, he located there for a time and
erected a two-story business block and also built the first electric light
plant and the first building for the Commercial Telephone Company.
On April 30, 1882, Mr. Gall was
married to Miss Hattie Hannan, also a native of Stockton, one of a family of
four children born to John and Catherine (Conley) Hannan; both natives of
Ireland and both now deceased. John
Hannan was a ‘49er and mined at Sonora, Tuolumne County. He died in 1862 and subsequently Mrs. Hannan
was married to J. W. Maher. She lived to
be eighty-eight years of age. Mr. and
Mrs. Gall were the parents of one son, John.
Mr. Gall passed away April 21, 1915.
He took a prominent part in the political life of Stockton and was a
member of the old Volunteer Fire Department in early days, serving as chief
during 1882 and1883; later he was chief of police of Stockton. Fraternally he belonged to the Native Sons of
the Golden West. Since Mr. Gall’s death,
his son John has erected a modern two-story business block at a cost of $40,000
on the corner of East Main and Aurora streets; this was the first modern block
to be erected in this section for a number of years. When Mr. Gall passed away, Stockton lost one
of her most loyal citizens and he never lacked for enthusiasm when any measure
or movement was proposed for the advancement and prosperity of his beloved city
of Stockton.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Page
705. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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