James Gallier

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For the architect's son, also a prominent architect, see James Gallier Jr.

James Gallier
Portrait photograph of American architect James Gallier, Sr., ca. 1860.
Born
James Gallagher

24 July 1798
Ravensdale, Ireland
Died3 October 1866 (1866-10-04) (aged 68)
At sea, east of Tybee Island, Georgia
NationalityIrish-American
OccupationArchitect
BuildingsGallier Hall, the Leeds-Davis Building, the Second Christ Church Cathedral

James Gallier (24 July 1798[1]– 3 October 1866) was a prominent nineteenth-century Irish-born American architect, most famed for his buildings in New Orleans. Gallier Hall, which he designed and once served as New Orleans City Hall, is named after him.

Early life

Barton Academy in Mobile, Alabama, designed by James and Charles Dakin and James Gallier in 1836.

He was born in Ravensdale, County Louth, Ireland in 1798 as James Gallagher, the son of Thaddeus Gallagher, a builder who also trained James in the profession.[2][3][1]

Gallier was admitted to the "School of Fine Arts" in

Manchester during 1816 before returning home to Ireland, where he attended Samuel Nielson's school in Dundalk
, and with his younger brother John (b. 1800) engaged in building work at Mourne Park in 1818 and in Dundalk in 1821–22.

Early Career in Ireland, England, and New York

Gallier (then still known as Gallagher), returned to

the US in 1832.[3][5][1]

Arriving in the US in

James Dakin (1806–1852), who were then working for the prominent New York architects Ithiel Town and Alexander Jackson Davis. Town & Davis employed Gallier (then still called Gallagher) for four months in 1834 for the wage of $2.00 a day.[7] Town and Davis, and James Dakin on his own in 1834, were in the midst of designing some of the most distinguished Greek-revival buildings in the United States at the time, including the Bank of Louisville in Kentucky (1834), as well as the First Presbyterian Church in Troy, New York
(1835).

The American cities of the North were growing too crowded for many in the architectural profession, and in the 1810s, '20, and '30s many, including

Central Business District.[9]

Move to New Orleans

Greek revival structure had a 6-column projecting Corinthian portico, marble front steps, and huge dome, second only in size in the US to the cupola of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. The ballroom in the basement was octagonal in plan, 70 feet (21 m) in diameter and 20 feet (6.1 m) high, encircled by Ionic columns; above this sat the lower saloon with a height of 18 feet (5.5 m), into which the marble staircase led. The saloon contained a marble statue of George Washington. From there, a grand spiral staircase continued up to the dome, with a gallery level stretching around it on each of the upper stories. The cupola itself was 46 feet (14 m) in diameter and sat on an octagonal drum; it was capped by a light well of Corinthian columns. At the top of the spiral stairs at the base of the dome was a large 11-foot (3.4 m) wide gallery, which afforded views of the entire city at a height of 185 ft (56 m). The hotel cost an enormous sum of $600,000 to build ($19.9 million in 2021), plus $100,000 for the land. It remained quite possibly the city's most prominent building and rivaled all others in the US until it burned on 18 January 1851; it was rebuilt in modified form by Thomas Sully.[10][11][12]

During this period Gallier and the Dakins also designed

St. Patrick's Church, an ambitious effort in a rich Gothic style, supposedly modeled on York Minster. When difficulties occurred in its construction, Gallier was called in to revise the foundations and Dakin lost the contract in 1839. Ever afterward Gallier erroneously claimed it as one of his buildings.[13] Charles also established a branch of the firm in Mobile, Alabama, and there the Dakins and Gallier completed Barton Academy in 1836 and Government Street Presbyterian Church (1836), now a National Historic Landmark. A large fire in Mobile in 1839 destroyed much of the firm's unfinished work there; that same year Charles apparently became depressed after the collapse of a row of warehouses he designed and left for Texas to start over, but died later in 1839 in St. Gabriel, Louisiana
.

Mature career

Athens Acropolis.[4]

The Pontalba Buildings.

Gallier also became known for a number of private residences, including 824 (then 148) Canal Street, the home of the surgeon Dr. William Newton Mercer, who was also a plantation owner from Mississippi, which since 1844 has been home to The Boston Club.[16] Often Gallier is credited with designing Belle Grove Plantation in White Castle, Louisiana (1857), one of the largest antebellum mansions built in Louisiana and abandoned since 1920, but since it was constructed well after Gallier retired, his son James Gallier, Jr., is suspected to have carried out the design work.[17]

Another complex surely seen by nearly every visitor to New Orleans are the group of two nearly identical sets of townhouses (now apartments and commercial ground-level shops) flanking the north and south sides of

Baroness Micaela Almonester Pontalba and modelled on Parisian structures, the Pontalba Buildings' liberal use of large cast0iron balconies are reputedly the first such use of these elements in New Orleans, which have now become hallmarks of the district and other parts of the city.[18][19] Gallier completed the Pontalba Buildings in concert with Henry Howard, characteristic of much of his work during this period when he partnered with several other designers. The London-born architect John Turpin, for example, became a partner in Gallier, Turpin & Company in 1846, and remained partnered with Gallier's son, James, Jr. after Gallier himself retired in 1850, in part due to his poor health.[20]

Notably, Gallier was one of a group of architects who created the idea of architectural practice as division of labor separate from the job of construction: the architect would design the structure for the clients and manage those who had been hired to build them.[21]

Personal life and death

In 1823, while in England, he met and married Elizabeth Tyler. Their only surviving child was James Gallier Jr., who also became an architect. Elizabeth died in July 1844, in her mid-forties.

On 23 June 1850, in Charleston, South Carolina, he married Catherine Maria Robinson of Mobile, Alabama, who was born 18 November 1822, in Hardwick, Massachusetts, to Colonel Joseph Robinson and Ann Maria Ruggles Walton. She was 24 years his junior.

On 3 October 1866, James and Catherine Gallier were passengers on board the Evening Star, a paddle-wheel

hurricane about 175 miles east of Savannah, Georgia. There were only a half-dozen survivors out of approximately 250 people.[22]
Nearly a decade after Gallier's death, in November 1875, his son and Catherine's children from her previous marriage went to court to settle his estate. As Katrina Hornung recounts:

As he had married Catherine Robinson later in life, she already had children of her own from a previous marriage (known as the Robinsons) who thought they were entitled to his property against their step-siblings the Galliers. This case was brought before the court in November of 1875. Details of the case are as follows: James Gallier Sr. had written his will to give his estate to his wife. Because they both died in the same incident, she could not inherit the property, so the property would automatically go to James Gallier Jr., James Gallier’s next of kin. This action was brought to court by the Robinson children, who felt they were entitled to the property.

This is where it gets tricky – the court had to try to figure out who died first in the shipwreck.  If James Gallier died before his wife then the property would go to her and therefore her successors, but if Catharine died first then the property would stay with James Gallier and go to his next of kin – James Gallier Jr. As the plaintiffs in the case, the Robinsons had to prove that their mother had lived longer than their stepfather.

One of the main points considered was the health and age of the deceased. James Gallier was not only 24 years older than his wife at the time, but he had also been in poor health. It was assumed that with no other information that it was safe to presume that James had died first. But this wasn’t actual proof that he had died first. Many witnesses were called who were at the scene of the Evening Star’s sinking. Two witnesses claimed to have seen Mrs. Gallier without her husband after the boat sunk, but were unable to rescue her.

Before they made their decision, the Judge told the jury, “Your duty is simply to determine the question of survivorship. If Mrs. Gallier is shown to your satisfaction to have survived her husband, you will return a verdict for the plaintiffs; if you are not so convinced, you will return a verdict for the defendants” (ROBINSON v. GALLIER et al.) They decided for James Gallier Jr, the defendant.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Katrina Hornung (24 July 2015). "Happy Birthday James Gallier Sr (1798)". New Orleans Architecture Tours. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
  2. ^ Banks, William Nathaniel (1 April 1997). "The Galliers, New Orleans architects". The Magazine Antiques, republished in Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 30 January 2008.
  3. ^ a b Ann Martha Rowan. "Gallier, James". Dictionary of Irish Architects. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
  4. ^ a b Paul Goeldner, Gallier Hall, National Register of Historic Places Inventory – Nomination Form, 7 January 1974, p. 180 [1]
  5. ^ "The Architecture of the Estate: The Reign of the Cundys | British History Online". www.british-history.ac.uk.
  6. ^ "James Gallier (1798–1868)". Oxford Reference. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
  7. ^ Gallier in his Autobiography somewhat optimistically gives the figure as $4.00, but the firm accounts survive and are definite.
  8. ^ James Gallier, Autobiography of James Gallier, Architect (1864; New York: Da Capo Press, 1973).
  9. ^ a b Art Bueno (29 April 2015). "In Celebration of James Gallier, Legendary NOLA Architect". Curbed New Orleans. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
  10. ^ Coleman, W. H. (1885). Historical Sketch Book and Guide to New Orleans and Environs: With Map. Illustrated with Many Original Engravings; and Containing Exhaustive Accounts of the Traditions, Historical Legends, and Remarkable Localities of the Creole City (Public domain ed.). W. H. Coleman. p. 72.
  11. ^ Morrison, Andrew (1888). New Orleans and the New South (Public domain ed.). Graham. p. 78.
  12. ISBN 978-1-4556-0959-8
    .
  13. Anglo-Irish Gallier, met to render a finding. Several other panelists, who were Irish-American builders and contractors, joined with Gallier to dismiss Dakin; they subsequently gave the job to Gallier. Dakin appealed the resulting court case and won in the Louisiana Supreme Court, but by the time of the judgment the church, which was owned by its Irish parishioners, was bankrupt as a result of the panic of 1837
    . Dakin was forced to declare bankruptcy in 1841, partially as a result of the St. Patrick's Church matter.
  14. ^ Katrina Hornung (10 May 2016). "Gallier Hall Dedication Ceremony (1853)". New Orleans Architecture Tours. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
  15. ^ "How much is a dollar from the past worth today?" MeasuringWorth, 2022 [2] (Accessed 10 April 2022)
  16. ^ Samuel Wilson, Jr., A Guide to Architecture of New Orleans, 1699–1959 (New Orleans: Louisiana Landmarks Society, 1960), 47.
  17. ^ "Belle Grove Plantation Mansion, White Castle, Louisiana". Historic Structures.
  18. ^ "Pontalba Buildings". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on 8 March 2011. Retrieved 31 January 2008.
  19. ^ Paul Goeldner (11 January 1974). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory–Nomination: Pontalba Buildings" (pdf). National Park Service. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help) and Accompanying 8 photos, exterior, from 1968 (733 KB)
  20. ^ Samuel Wilson, Jr., A Guide to Architecture of New Orleans, 1699–1959 (New Orleans: Louisiana Landmarks Society, 1960), 39.
  21. ISBN 978-0-520-21494-1
  22. ^ New Orleans in 1867, (2008), Ned Hemard, New Orleans Bar Association, accessed 2009-10-31

Bibliography

  • Christovich, Mary Louise., Roulhac Toledano, Betsy Swanson, Pat Holden, Samuel Wilson, and Bernard Lemann. New Orleans Architecture, Volume II: The American Sector (Faubourg St. Mary) ; Howard Avenue to Iberville Street, Mississippi River to Claiborne Avenue (Gretna, LA: Pelican Publishing, 1972).
  • Colvin, Howard. A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600–1840, 3d ed. (London/New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995).
  • Gallier, James. Autobiography of James Gallier, Architect (New York: Da Capo, 1973 [1864]).
  • Pierson, William H., Jr. American Buildings and Their Architects, vol. 1: The Colonial and Neo-Classical Styles (New York: Anchor, 1976).
  • Wilson, Samuel Jr. A Guide to Architecture of New Orleans, 1699–1959 (New Orleans: Louisiana Landmarks Society, 1960).

External links

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