John Wilmer Galbreath (August 10, 1897 – July 20, 1988) was an American

building contractor A general contractor, main contractor or prime contractor is responsible for the day-to-day oversight of a construction site, management of vendors and trades, and the communication of information to all involved parties throughout the course of ...

and sportsman. Born in

Derby, Ohio Derby is a census-designated place in central Darby Township, Pickaway County, Ohio, United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily locate ...

, he grew up in

Mount Sterling, Ohio Mount Sterling is a village in Madison County, Ohio, United States. The population was 1,782 at the 2010 census. It is a part of the Columbus, Ohio Metropolitan Statistical Area. Geography Mount Sterling is located at (39.719528, -83.267999). ...

, where he graduated from high school. He then graduated from

Ohio University Ohio University is a Public university, public research university in Athens, Ohio. The first university chartered by an Act of Congress and the first to be chartered in Ohio, the university was chartered in 1787 by the Congress of the Confeder ...

in 1922 and was a member of the Beta chapter of

Delta Tau Delta Delta Tau Delta () is a United States-based international Greek letter college fraternity. Delta Tau Delta was founded at Bethany College, Bethany, Virginia, (now West Virginia) in 1858. The fraternity currently has around 130 collegiate chapters ...

International Fraternity. The non-denominational Galbreath Memorial Chapel on the Ohio University College Green was donated by Galbreath in memory of his first wife, Helen Mauck, who died in 1946. In 1955, he married Dorothy Bryan Firestone, widow of Russell Allen Firestone of the

Firestone Tire and Rubber Company Firestone Tire and Rubber Company is a tire company founded by Harvey Firestone (1868–1938) in 1900 initially to supply solid rubber side-wire tires for fire apparatus, and later, pneumatic tires for wagons, buggies, and other forms of wheeled ...

Pittsburgh Pirates

John Galbreath made a fortune in commercial

property development Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of developed land or parcels to others. R ...

, building

skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ris ...

s in the United States and abroad. However, he may be best known for his role as owner of the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

. He initially held a 20 percent stake in majority owner

Frank E. McKinney Frank Edward McKinney Sr. (June 16, 1904 – January 9, 1974) was the chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 1951 through 1952. He was hand-picked for the post by then-President Harry S Truman. Born in Indianapolis, Indiana, McKinney ...

's four-man syndicate when it purchased the Pirates on August 8, 1946. Galbreath's partners also included entertainer

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...

and Pittsburgh attorney

Thomas P. Johnson Thomas Phillips Johnson (June 8, 1914 – May 23, 2000) was an American Lawyer, attorney, businessman, philanthropist, Republican Party (United States), Republican Party activist, and sportsman. He was probably best known for being a minority ow ...

. Not quite four years later, when McKinney sold his 50 percent stake, Galbreath acquired majority control on July 18, 1950. He was the Pirates' principal owner through 1985, during which the Pirates won three world championships — in

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

, and

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

. Galbreath was the first owner to break the so-called "Million Dollar Mark" when he signed

Dave Parker David Gene Parker (born June 9, 1951), nicknamed "The Cobra," is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a right fielder from 1973 to 1991. A seven-time All-Star, Parker won two National League bat ...

to a multi-year contract in

. During his tenure, the Pirates also drafted

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

player

Roberto Clemente Roberto Enrique Clemente Walker (; August 18, 1934 – December 31, 1972) was a Puerto Rican professional baseball right fielder who played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates. After his early death, he was pos ...

from the

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association (19th century), American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the ...

in the 1954 Rule 5 draft.

Thoroughbred horse racing

In 1935 John W. Galbreath founded

Darby Dan Farm Darby Dan Farm is a produce, livestock, and thoroughbred horse breeding and training farm founded in 1935 near the Darby Creek in Galloway, Ohio by businessman John W. Galbreath. Named for the creek and for Galbreath's son, Daniel M. Galbreath (19 ...

near the Darby Creek in

Galloway, Ohio Galloway is an unincorporated community west of the city of Columbus in southern Prairie Township, Franklin County, Ohio, United States. The 43119 ZIP Code, however (which carries a Galloway mailing address) covers a significant portion of rural ...

. In 1949 he purchased the core property of

Idle Hour Stock Farm Idle Hour Stock Farm was a 400-acre (1.6 km2) thoroughbred horse breeding and training farm near Lexington, Kentucky, United States established in 1906 by Colonel Edward R. Bradley. Beginning with the sire, Black Toney, and a roster of qualit ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

and renamed it Darby Dan Farm. Galbreath met his second wife Dorothy through

thoroughbred racing Thoroughbred racing is a sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter known as National Hunt racing i ...

. She had been involved in the sport with her first husband and would be very active with Darby Dan breeding and racing. The Darby Dan Farm raced several champion horses. John Galbreath is one of only four men to have raced both a Kentucky Derby winner and an Epsom Derby winner. The others are

Paul Mellon Paul Mellon (June 11, 1907 – February 1, 1999) was an American philanthropist and an owner/breeder of thoroughbred racehorses. He is one of only five people ever designated an "Exemplar of Racing" by the National Museum of Racing and Hall ...

Michael Tabor Michael Barry Tabor (born 28 October 1941) is a British businessman, bookmaker, gambler and owner of thoroughbred racehorses. Tabor regularly appears on the ''Sunday Times Rich List'' of the richest people in Britain. In 2012 his fortune w ...

, and Prince Ahmed bin Salman. In the early 1950s, he served as chairman of the Greater New York Association. During his time, he oversaw the construction of the new

Aqueduct Racetrack Aqueduct Racetrack is a Thoroughbred horse racing facility and casino in the South Ozone Park, Queens, South Ozone Park and Jamaica, Queens, Jamaica neighborhoods of Queens, New York City, United States. Aqueduct is the only racetrack locate ...

and the extensive rebuilding of

Belmont Park Belmont Park is a major thoroughbred horse racing facility in the northeastern United States, located in Elmont, New York, just east of the New York City limits. It was opened on May 4, 1905. It is operated by the non-profit New York Racin ...

. John Galbreath was voted the 1972

Big Sport of Turfdom Award The Big Sport of Turfdom Award has been given annually by the Turf Publicists of America since 1966 to a person or group who enhances coverage of Thoroughbred racing through cooperation with the media and Thoroughbred racing publicists. The Turf Pu ...

by the Turf Publicists of America and in 1974 he won the

Eclipse Award for Outstanding Breeder Eclipse Award for Outstanding Breeder is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor for breeders. Created in 1971, it is part of the Eclipse Awards program and is awarded annually. Its Canadian counterpart is the Sovereign Award for Outstanding ...

. In 2018, Galbreath was voted into the

National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American Thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers. In 1955, the museum moved to its current location on Union Av ...

as one of its esteemed Pillars of the Turf. Galbreath died in

, three weeks prior to his 91st birthday. Galbreath's death occurred five and a half weeks prior to the passing of

Art Rooney Arthur Joseph Rooney Sr. (January 27, 1901 – August 25, 1988), often referred to as "The Chief", was the founding owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, an American football franchise in the National Football League (NFL), from 1933 until his death. ...

, who founded the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

in 1933 and owned the franchise for 55 years.

Awards and honors

* Golden Plate Award of the

American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a non-profit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest achieving individuals in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet o ...

(1961) * Columbus Award (1964) *

(1972) *

(1974) * National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, Pillar of the Turf (2018)

External links

1963 Newspaper article on his baseball and horse racing interests

References

* Bowen, Edward L. '' Legacies of the Turf: A Century of Great Thoroughbred Breeders'' (2003)

Eclipse Press Blood-Horse Publications is an American multimedia publishing house focused on horse-related magazines headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky. It began in 1916 through its flagship magazine, ''The Blood-Horse''. From 1961 to 2015, Blood-Horse Publica ...

June 1, 1959 ''Sports Illustrated'' article titled ''The Man, The Horse And The Deal That Made History''

1988 ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'' obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Galbreath, John Wilmer 1897 births 1988 deaths American racehorse owners and breeders Eclipse Award winners Owners of Epsom Derby winners United States Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame inductees Major League Baseball owners People from Madison County, Ohio Pittsburgh Pirates owners Ohio University alumni People from Franklin County, Ohio 20th-century American philanthropists