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John Tracy Gaffey (November 1, 1860 – January 9, 1935) was a journalist, state and city official, real-estate speculator and investor at the turn of the 20th century in Los Angeles, California.
Personal
Gaffey was born on November 1, 1860[1] in Galway, Ireland, the son of Thomas Gaffey and Ann E. Tracy. His father died when the boy was 5 years old. His oldest brother, William, became wanted by the authorities for sedition because of his beliefs regarding Irish independence, and so and his family, headed by a widow with seven children, emigrated to California in 1866-67 via the Isthmus of Panama.[2] They pioneered near Santa Cruz on a cattle and sheep ranch, later moving to San Francisco, where Gaffey went to high school and then spent a year at the University of California, Berkeley.[3][4]
He was married in St. Vibiana's Cathedral on June 1, 1887, to Arcadia Bandini, who was the granddaughter of pioneer Juan Bandini. Her mother was Esperanza de Sepulveda. They had two children, John and Margaret (Mrs. John Mell).[3][4][5]
A Catholic, Gaffey was a founder of the California Club of Los Angeles and was a member of the Bohemian Club of San Francisco and the Tuna Club of Catalina Island.[3] He was a member of the Los Angeles County Democratic Central Committee, the Federated Tax Reduction Leagues of the county and the Free Harbor League.[6][7]
Around 1904 or 1905 he moved the family from Los Angeles to San Pedro, where he built a rustic ranch house in 1906, at 1131 West Third Street. He later moved that house across the street and on the first lot he built a three-story homet, which he named Hacienda La Rambla. It was razed in 1964 for the construction of a YMCA building.[4]
Gaffey died January 9, 1935, in his home. He was survived by a son, W. Casey Gaffey of San Pedro, and a daughter, Mrs. Margaret Kilroy of Santa Monica. Burial was slated for Valley Church in Watsonville, California.[8] He left an estate valued at $236,000.[9]
In San Pedro, Gaffey Street was named after him, and a plaque memorializes him in the Gaffey Building, where he had his office, 333 West Sixth Streety.[4]
^version states: "On a trip to Los Angeles in 1882 he met Dolores and Arcadia Bandini, daughters of Juan Batista Bandini, who was the grandson of pioneer Spanish California settler Jose Bandini." Sam Gnerre, "The Man Behind San Pedro's Gaffey Street," South Bay Daily Breeze, May 17, 2014