Joseph Cowles Mehaffey
| Joseph Cowles Mehaffey | |
|---|---|
Joseph Mehaffey, center, in 1948
|
|
| Born |
20 November 1889 Lima, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | 18 February 1963 (aged 73) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Allegiance |
 United States of America
|
| Service/branch |
 United States Army
|
| Years of service | 1911–1949 |
| Rank |
 Major General
|
| Commands held | Replacement Unit No. 6, American Expeditionary Forces; Fort DuPont; Panama Canal Zone |
| Awards | Legion of Merit, Army Distinguished Service Medal |
Joseph Cowles Mehaffey (November 20, 1889 – February 18, 1963) was a Major General in the United States Army. As a member of the Army Corps of Engineers, he was the consulting engineer on the Arlington Memorial Bridge in Washington, D.C.; helped renovate the White House; and served as a supervising engineer for the Works Progress Administration during the Great Depression. He was assigned in 1941 as an engineer on the Panama Canal, and was Governor of the Panama Canal Zone from 1944 to 1948.
Mehaffey was born in November 1889 in Lima, Ohio, to William R. and Mary Brooks (Stahl) Mehaffey. His grandfather was Robert Mehaffey, an Ulster Scot who emigrated from County Tyrone, Ireland (which at that time was part of the United Kingdom) in 1850 or 1851 at the age of 17. Settling in Lima, he established him in the grocery and then banking business, rising to the position of Vice President of the First National Bank of Lima. He later organized the Merchants National Bank and Metropolitan Bank. He was elected to two terms in the Ohio Senate, and owned a large amount of stock in the Allen County Democrat newspaper. Mehaffey's father worked in the Allen County Democrat beginning in 1885, then purchased the paper and merged it with the Daily Times to form the Lima Times Democrat (a newspaper which still exists in 2013). Joseph had an older brother, Robert Chisholm (born July 22, 1884), and an older sister, Eleanor Cowles (born October 10, 1885 and died in 1887). He also had a younger brother, William Kenneth (born August 23, 1889, and died in 1896). Mehaffey's mother died in March 1899, and his father in November 1907 married Mary E. Mount of Chatham-Kent, Ontario, Canada.
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