The Sweet Sound of Music: Grace Galloway
Miss Galloway’s monument, located in the Lake View Cemetery in Jamestown, New York, has been the subject of much conversation and speculation over the years. In direct response to the many legends associated to the “Lady in the Glass Case”: Miss Galloway’s betrothed did not run off, she was not buried in her wedding dress, she did not die while on a prom date, and her body was never encased within her statue. In fact, there has never been any evidence that Grace Galloway ever had a love interest at all.
The monument of Barre granite, with its glass enclosed statue of Miss Galloway, is 10 feet high from Maltese cross to the ground and was completed on November 11, 1899 at a total cost of over $2,000. The actual statue is five feet six inches high, the model for the face being made in Pittsburgh and taken from portraits. The model and the Grecian-drape dress were sent to Italy where the finished Italian marble was executed. In the left hand is a lyre typifying music, which occupied so a large a part of Miss Galloway’s 27 years of life.
Grace Galloway was born to John and Sarah Calhoun Galloway Jr. Local records of John Galloway Jr. (born in Ontario, Canada) first surfaced in Jamestown, New York in 1879, where Galloway is listed as an Oil Producer. Galloway’s family appeared in the local registry in 1880. The registry included John Galloway Jr., wife Sarah (who was born in Michigan), son Fred, and daughter Grace. The Galloway family resided at 405 East Fifth Street in 1886, the current address of the Moose Club.
Grace was musically inclined and was celebrated for her extraordinary vocal abilities. She performed in several operas at the Chautauqua Institution. Sadly, Grace was forced to decline an invitation to perform with the New York City metropolitan Opera when she was denied permission by her father.
Miss Galloway had contracted TB (tuberculosis) while attending music school in Boston, Massachusetts, and had been at Saranac Lake. While in-route to Ashville, NC in an attempt to regain her health, Grace was forced to stop immediately and was unable to continue beyond Pittsburgh. Grace died in Ashville, NC on November 2, 1898. Miss Galloway’s father then brought his daughter home to Jamestown for her burial.
In addition to the remarkable statue that is centered in the Galloway family plot, Grace’s brother and his wife continued to show testimony of the Galloway family’s love for Grace. Fred Galloway donated a pipe organ to the First Baptist Church in memory of his sister in 1914. The organ was completely renovated in 1938, this renovation was paid for solely by the wife of Fred Galloway. Fred’s wife made an additional remarkable contribution of $30,000 to First Baptist Church to have the organ rebuilt in 1958.
