Sarah Muir Galloway is naturalist John Muir’s older sister, and was born on February 29, 1836 in East Lothian, Scotland. The first time Sarah sees the United States is when the Warren leaves Glasgow, Scotland and arrives in the New York harbor on April 10, 1849. Sarah and her family purchase a half section of land near the Fox River in Buffalo, about 12 miles from Portage, Wisconsin and remain there for eight years.
It would be in the year 1851 when her future husband arrives in the United States for the first time. David Millar Galloway was born on January 28, 1828 in Kinglassie, Fife, Scotland. After arriving in the United States in 1851, he visits with the Muir family. While visiting them, he purchases 80 acres for himself and land for his father a few miles north of Packwaukee Township.
Though he was nine years older than Sarah’s brother John, a quick friendship sprang between them. It was easy to see that within months, David was in love with Sarah.
In 1854, he returns to Scotland for one year to bring his entire family to Wisconsin. They leave Glasgow, Scotland on the Harmonia, and arrive in the New York harbor on September 26, 1855.
Returning to his property, his father’s property, and the love of his life, David marries Sarah on January 24, 1856.
The Galloways were farmers in Scotland and in the 1860 U.S. Census, we find David doing the same with 173 acres in Buffalo, WI. Between 1860 and 1870, Sarah and David moved to Fort Winnebago, Columbia County, Wisconsin. They are parents of Anna, George and Celia. In 1874 they had their fourth child, Gracie.
On September 4, 1870, Sarah writes to her brother, Daniel. “David is a good deal discouraged about his business affairs. He talks as though he had not made his living for some years back. I hope things may take a favorable turn for him. We get along about as usual here. David always finds something to keep himself very busy. Our wheat crop like that of others is rather poor but the corn is excellent. Our orchard has done very well too and we have lots of apples.”
Great sorrow occurs to the Galloways when on June 8, 1879, their son, George tragically dies on his 19th birthday. In the State Register, Portage, WI – June 14, 1879, it reads, “On Sunday last, about 8 p.m., George Galloway, a nineteen year-old son of Mr. D. M. Galloway, of Fort Winnebago, was bathing in the Fox River, near the bridge, when getting beyond his depth and being unable to swim, he was drowned. The day of his death was his 19th birthday. We hear him spoken of as a promising youth. His parents and family have the sympathy of their many friends in this their hour of great affliction.”
Sarah’s grief over her beloved son George is reflected in the 1880 U.S. Census as a “gentle disability” under the category for sickness.
In 1883, we find an article in the State Register that David is to be the General Superintendent of the Cattle Department at the Columbia County Fair. However, on September 28, 1884, Sarah is in grief for the second time. Her husband, David, dies and is buried in the United Presbyterian Cemetery in Anacker, Wisconsin, near their son George.
The executors of his estate are John Reid (brother-in-law) and David Muir (brother). John Reid is a stock dealer and David (brother) owns a dry goods store, both in Portage, Wisconsin. David’s (husband) Will and Testament is not heard until July of 1885.
It was only 3 months later that Sarah’s father, Daniel, dies while visiting her sister, Joanna, in Kansas City, Jackson County, Missouri. Her brother John had a fierce knowing that his father was going to pass and gathered up Sarah and the other siblings to visit him in Missouri before his passing.
We know that all records from the 1890 U.S. Census were destroyed. However, we found Sarah’s whereabouts from her daughter, Anna’s wedding announcement in the Portage Daily on September 4, 1890. “At 6:15 o’clock Tuesday (September 1) evening, at the home of the bride’s mother, S. M. Galloway, Howard Street, was solemnized the marriage of Miss Anna G. Galloway to Hiram C. Eastman of Ft. Winnebago (Wisconsin).”
On June 23, 1896, Sarah’s mother, Ann, passes in Portage, Wisconsin. After her mother’s death, Sarah decides to move to California and live with her Brother-in-Law John, and her sister, Margaret, in Alhambra Valley, Contra Costa County.
On June 12, 1901, Sarah’s daughter Grace is married to J. Frank Paulin in Chicago, Illinois and in the same year, her daughter Anna moves to California. What was to be a temporarily move for Anna becomes a permanent one.
Anna’s husband, Hiram, along with his father, had disposed of their property in Portage, Wisconsin with the intention of moving the family to Scappoose, Oregon. However, before that could happen, Hiram passes away in Chicago, Illinois on December 20, 1902. He was in Chicago for an operation to remove a severe infection from a spider bite he received eight years prior. However, during the operation, it was discovered he had cancer that had spread to his entire back. He died within hours after the operation.
In the 1910, 1920 and 1930 U.S. Censuses, Sarah is living with her daughter, Anna, in Pacific Grove, Monterey County, California. Sarah Muir Galloway died on April 11, 1932 in Martinez, California and is buried in the Alhambra Cemetery.
The original content of this post was taken from the previous website and updated for republishing in 2021.