James Hanley

James Hanley (1847–1916) was a railway man who became a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and of the Los Angeles Common Council, the governing body of that city, in the late 19th century. He was the engineer on the first Southern Pacific transcontinental passenger train leaving from Los Angeles. Personal Hanley was born April 14, 1847, in Ireland. He moved with his family to Australia when he was 10, where he later learned the railway business. At age 19 he took ship for San Francisco, California, and settled in Sacramento, where he joined Southern Pacific. After becoming an engineer, he was transferred to Los Angeles, and he "helped establish the first transcontinental passenger route to and from the West Coast." He retired after twenty years to go into real estate. In 1915, as war was raging in Europe, Hanley publicly proclaimed that he wanted to reaffirm the oath of allegiance he had taken to the United States when he became a citizen. "I would like to reaffirm my allegiance every ten years just as a voluntary expression of constant and sustained loyalty," he said.