James Stephen Callaghan
No photos available
Birth: 24 Dec 1877, Empire, Dakota, Minnesota
Death: 1 Oct 1971, Los Angeles, California
Never married; no children.
James Stephen Callaghan was born on Christmas Eve, 1877. He was the ninth and final child of William Callaghan and Mary Condon. He was named after his father’s youngest brother.
James grew up on his parents’ farm in Empire township, Dakota county, with his two brothers and five sisters. He would have learned all the skills of a farmer, from sowing and reaping to milking cows. His parents also believed in formal education, so he and his siblings all attended school in a one-room school house in Empire. His sisters would all become teachers and, according to the 1900 US Census, so did James for a time. His WWI Draft Registration described him as 5’ 7.5”, of medium build, with blue eyes, and dark brown hair.
Teaching school did not seem to suit James as well as it had his sisters. Sometime around 1905, he moved to Portland, Oregon, where he became a laborer and lumberjack in a logging camp. It would remain his job for the next 25+ years. He lived in a boarding house at 204 Madison Street and worked for the Clarke County Timber Company that whole time. In 1924, his father died and the farm was sold, so James came into some money, but he remained living on the boarding house and working at the logging camp at least through 1930.
Like his siblings, almost nothing is known of his personal life. He never married and had no children. The only mention of a James Callaghan in the Portland newspapers that might be him was in an article in the Capital Journal, March 11, 1940. Three inmates at the Oregon State Hospital for the insane were strangled in their sleep. One of the six suspects was a Coos County transient named James Callaghan. A different inmate was found guilty. We have no idea if this was really our James, though.
By June of 1940, James was living with his sisters at Maggie’s house at 2140 ½ Vallejo Street, Los Angeles. He was 63, listed as unemployed and unable to work. Two years later, his WWII Draft Card listed his home as 1328 SW Washington St, Portland, and his contact as his sister Nellie, who was back in Farmington, Minnesota. According to Maggie's obituary in 1945, he was back in LA. By 1950, James was back in Los Angeles and living at the King Edward (Transient) Hotel—literally on Skid Row.
Skid Row is a neighborhood in downtown Los Angeles. It has been known for its condensed and stable homeless population since at least the 1930s. Its long history of police raids, targeted city initiatives, and homelessness advocacy make it one of the most notable districts in Los Angeles. The term “Skid Row” has its origin in the Seattle lumber industry, where “skid roads” were the places that loggers slid their cut timber to the ports for shipment. By the 1930’s, the term referred to the rundown areas of any cities, characterized by bars, brothels, and the like that originally attracted loggers (and their paychecks), and began to include the presence of homeless and other extremely low-income populations.
King Edward Hotel was and is at 121 – 5th Street. Built in 1906 in the Beaux-Arts architectural style, and a significant work of master architect John Parkinson, the 150-room hotel was very upscale in its day. On the first floor is the King Eddy Saloon, a bar and former speakeasy in continuous operation since the 1930s. Legend has it that the space was home to a piano store during Prohibition that served as a gateway to a hidden basement bar. In an online article at https://www.iamnotastalker.com/2019/05/15/the-king-edward-hotel-from-in-time/ which describes why the building was used as a location for movies, Lindsay (2019) says,
At some point, the hotel and surrounding neighborhood began to fall upon hard times. The King Edward eventually transitioned into SRO housing and for many years sat largely vacant. It was during that time that I stopped by. Though no longer upscale by any means, the building’s elegance still managed to shine through. And its lighting was like nothing I had ever encountered! The lobby’s ethereal glow (which per the Esotouric tour company is caused by an abundance of magnesium on the windows) was absolutely magical, making the space and all who entered appear frozen in a past era. The effect is evidenced in all of the interior photos I took that day.
King Edward Hotel was and is at 121 – 5th Street. Built in 1906 in the Beaux-Arts architectural style, and a significant work of master architect John Parkinson, the 150-room hotel was very upscale in its day. On the first floor is the King Eddy Saloon, a bar and former speakeasy in continuous operation since the 1930s. Legend has it that the space was home to a piano store during Prohibition that served as a gateway to a hidden basement bar. In an online article at https://www.iamnotastalker.com/2019/05/15/the-king-edward-hotel-from-in-time/ which describes why the building was used as a location for movies, Lindsay (2019) says,
At some point, the hotel and surrounding neighborhood began to fall upon hard times. The King Edward eventually transitioned into SRO housing and for many years sat largely vacant. It was during that time that I stopped by. Though no longer upscale by any means, the building’s elegance still managed to shine through. And its lighting was like nothing I had ever encountered! The lobby’s ethereal glow (which per the Esotouric tour company is caused by an abundance of magnesium on the windows) was absolutely magical, making the space and all who entered appear frozen in a past era. The effect is evidenced in all of the interior photos I took that day.
By the 1950s, it was fairly rundown and had become an SRO (single room occupancy hotel). The 1950 US Census actually listed it as a “nightly transient hotel.” In 2018, the King Edward was purchased, refurbished, and repurposed by AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) and the Healthy Housing Foundation for use as housing for the homeless and extremely low-income individuals. In 2020, the King Edward was designated as an official Historic-Cultural Monument by the LA City Council.
According to the California Death Index, James died on October 1, 1971. He was 3 months shy of his 94th birthday and had outlived his last sibling by nine years. There was no obituary and no grave has been found. He likely died indigent and alone. A sad but apt ending for this branch of a Ghost Family.
According to the California Death Index, James died on October 1, 1971. He was 3 months shy of his 94th birthday and had outlived his last sibling by nine years. There was no obituary and no grave has been found. He likely died indigent and alone. A sad but apt ending for this branch of a Ghost Family.
