John Fitzgerald

JOHN FITZGERALD, city marshal of Galena, is a son of James and Ellen Fritzgerald, old and esteemed residents of Wyandotte County, Kansas. He was born April 19, 1865, and is one of 10 children, eight sons and two daughters, all of whom are living.

James Fitzgerald has been a resident of Wyandotte County, Kansas, for many years. As early as 1850, he went to Kansas City on a steamboat on the Missouri River and when the Union Pacifie[sic] Railroad was built he engaged with that company in their shops. Several years later he purchase a farm six miles out from Kansas City and still resides there. Probably in no point has the march of civilization been more noticeable than in that city which he has seen develop from a struggling, little, river town into a thriving, bustling city whose commercial importance is recognized in every point of the globe.

John Fitzgerald was reared on a farm and followed that occupation during his early years, attending the public schools during the winter and farming in summer. This work, however, was not at all congenial to him and he tried railroading in the railroad yards at Argentine, Kansas. He also served as a member of the railroad police in Kansas City. Later he came to Cherokee County, Kansas, and 16 years were spent in mining here and in Joplin, Missouri. In this work he was successful and in the fall of 1899 he located in Galena, as a miner and prospecter, and has been a respected resident of the city since. Mr. Fitzgerald has taken an active interest in politics and his untiring efforts have been appreciated by the Democrats with whom he has labored so unselfishly and successfully. He has not been an office seeker, his work being done for love of party principles, and it was in accord with the general public sentiment that Mayor C. L. Sawyer appointed him marshal of Galena in 1903. Into this, as in all he undertakes, he puts his whole energy and has shown himself to be the right man in the right place, capable and efficient. He is a prominent Elk and a member of the Empire City Catholic Church.

History of Cherokee County Kansas and its representative citizens, ed. & comp. by Nathaniel Thompson Allison, 1904, transcribed by Crystal Frazier, student from USD 508, Baxter Springs Middle School, Baxter Springs, Kansas, 3/4/97