Information is wanted of Thomas McNamara, of Glandree,

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Jimbo
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Re: Information is wanted of Thomas McNamara, of Glandree,

Post by Jimbo » Wed May 11, 2022 3:55 am

Hi Sheila,

Thanks for that feedback. Last item first, regarding Thomas Hogan the police constable from Feakle who was arrested, escaped, and later turned himself in. "Peasants into Patriots" by Caroline Maguire repeats a common newspaper mistake that there were two constables, Thomas Halloran and Thomas Hogan:
While the RIC's interest in local political campaigns and episodes was certainly not as marked as that of the priests, there were signs of a rising interest in political concerns in the police force. . . This link with insurrectionary nationalism resurfaced in 1860 and a handful of instances revealed that some members of the constabulary were sympathetic to Fenianism, including sub Constable Thomas Hogan (a figure who, still recalled some seventy years later) used to 'go out drilling the boys' (footnote 42). In Caher, near Scariff, East Clare, two constabulary men were responsible for facilitating Thomas Halloran, a suspected Fenian and also an ex-constable, in his escape from prison, . . .
When the constable Thomas Hogan was arrested and escaped in Feakle in early March 1866, about 50% of the Irish newspapers reported his name as "Thomas Halloran", in error, including the Clare Journal of 12 March 1866 which you had previously transcribed on the Fenian thread. Other newspapers, such as the Limerick Chronicle of 6 March 1866 (see my posting from 4th of May), correctly reported the escaped prisoner as "Thomas Hogan". Many newspaper articles of this time period reported their news verbatim from other newspapers, so easy for errors to get repeated across Ireland and Great Britain. The Dúchas story you provided was accurate in reporting the escaped prisoner as "Thomas Hogan".

Regarding the headstone for John Maguire, I amazed myself that I was able to transcribe so many words as wouldn't have succeeded one year ago. Recently, I've been playing the new on-line game Wordle which requires guesswork in selecting words when only a few letters are known. Sheila, I was going to describe Wordle to you further, but from a quick google search, I see that it is very popular in Ireland. Fortunately, the John Maguire headstone and Wordle used the same exact font and are both written in "all caps", so this made the transcription easier. After another look at the headstone, I've completed the 5th line to end with "AND PATRIOTIC SPIRIT". The last word of the 6th line is a seven or eight letter word that ends in "ATED". I'm fairly certain this would be "ANIMATED" ("full of life or excitement; lively"), but am open to a better suggestion.

THIS MEMORIAL
HAS BEEN ERECTED
BY HIS FRIENDS FELLOW TOWNSMEN
AS A PROOF OF THEIR ESTEEM
FOR THE MANLY AND PATRIOTIC SPIRIT
WHICH ANIMATED
THROUGHOUT HIS CAREER

When the 58 year old John Maguire, who I believe was the uncle of the young Fenian patriot John Maguire, died two months later in 1872, he was reported as "married". In the Bassett's Directory for Ennis in 1875, listed as an "Ironmonger" was "McGuire, Catherine, Mill Street"; most likely the widow of John Maguire. Her later whereabouts are unknown; she was not reported in the same directory for 1881. Living in Ennis in the 1901 census, there was just one Thomas McGuire (age 28) at an Ennis hospital, and one Maguire born in County Meath. Could not find a death record for Catherine Maguire.

https://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/cocla ... ongers.htm

Sheila, thanks for pointing out that the "material" witness who had absconded was specifically noted to be Joseph Brady. This was the reported reason to delay the trial of John Maguire, John Byrnes, and the two military prisoners in July 1867. Odd that the Crown didn't want to go to trial based upon the testimony of the two informers, Simon Nevin and Michael Ryan, as they identified the men as having been at Drumcliffe. Perhaps at the special investigation in late March 1867, they were found to be not so credible? James Hynes, who represented some of the accused prisoners, did an excellent job at the special investigation in attacking the credibility and character of Simon Nevin:
Cross-examined by Mr. Hynes—I am a tinker, but never worked at my trade; I do not spend my nights out, and days in bed; but often spent a night at a dance, or other places; I never attempted to rob a man or child; my father and mother are living at Corovorin; they got £20 from my sister in New Zealand; my father had £6 in the box; two of them were lost although the box was locked; my father did not charge me with robbing him; my mother did not say so; they were not obliged to give over the money to Mr. James Bourke, of Carrahan, or his son; I know a boy who rides into town on a grey pony; I don't remember ever laying hands on him; I will swear I did not; I never got my hands into his pockets; I was committed and sent to jail for a criminal assault on a girl; old James Sullivan and a cousin of my own were my bails; I have sworn against Sullivan's sons; I can't tell you how old I am I think about twenty-one; I think Kelly is older than I am; I will swear he is; we were going to school together; I know the two Sullivans and him as long as I know anybody; I have not betrayed every one of my companions; . . .

Cork Examiner, 27 March 1867, page 3
Simon Nevin (≈1793 - 1873) and Margaret McNamara (≈1806 - 1882) were the parents of two children reported in the Ennis baptism register: Bridget "Nivian" (born 1842) and Simon Nevin (born 1845). The family appears to have been very poor. At a meeting of the Ennis Union on 24 October 1866, a "Nuisance Inspector's Report" stated that on the 19th, the inspector had "visited Coravaran as far as Newpark, and found a slight nuisance existing at Widow O'Connor's and Simon Nevin's and their houses not whitewashed" (Clare Journal, 25 October 1866). Simon Nevin, age 80, tinker, married, died at Ennis workhouse on 19 November 1873. Margaret Nevin, age 76, laborer, widow, of Currovoran, died at Ennis workhouse on 26 April 1882.

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/ ... 254953.pdf
https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/ ... 837490.pdf

The following incident was brought up by the defense counsel, James Hynes. In January 1866, "Simon Nevin, described as a tinker, living at Curravaran, was found guilty" for having assaulted a young woman from Newpark on 7 November 1865, and sentenced to six months' imprisonment with hard labour. He had been acquitted on a charge of attempt to commit a rape (Clare Freeman and Ennis Gazette, 6 January 1866).

Bridget Nevin, born in 1842, must have been the sister who sent the family money from New Zealand. A Bridget Nevin married Patrick Wickham in 1867 (per NZ Marriage Index, 1840-1937). Bridget Nevin Wickham died in Wellington in 1890:

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/191 ... Y4MDUuMA..

Sheila, your assumption that "approvers" would generally be required to change their name and emigrate is likely correct, but I'm not so sure with Simon Nevin.

There was a Simon Nevin, a tinker by occupation, who had a child in Ennis in 1868 with a Mary McNamara, who I initially thought would prove that he had actually remained. I was able to trace this couple back to a marriage of Simon Nevin to Mary McNamara in Kilrush on 16 August 1866. "McNamara" was not clear in the marriage record, but was consistently so in later baptism records of three children (Judith "Navan" in 1868 in Ennis; Honor in 1873 in Ennis; James "Neaven" in 1876). Unknown civil marriage record in 1866. However, this Simon Nevin becomes a widower and remarries in Kilrush in 1878 to a widow Mary McNamara Boulton, daughter of John McNamara, where Simon was identified as the son of Hugh Nevin (who was also reported as a father in the Ennis baptism records of 1855 as living in Corovoran). This Simon Nevin married to Mary McNamara (two times) was most likely a cousin of the informer Simon Nevin, who during his testimony in March 1867 did not appear to be married. When Irish names are fairly uncommon in a location, such as Simon Nevin, it is very easy to make incorrect assumptions. An ancestry family tree with Bridget Nevin of New Zealand, daughter of Simon Nevin and Margaret McNamara, born in 1842, have as her sister (and only sibling) the Honor Nevin, daughter of Simon Nevin and Mary McNamara, born in 1873. Thus, if the informer Simon Nevin did leave Ireland, I doubt he joined his sister living in New Zealand.

Very likely, had there been an actual trial of the accused Fenians, a jury would have found Simon Nevin's testimony not very credible. But for John Maguire and John Byrnes there never was a trial; they were held in Mountjoy Prison under the Habeas Corpus Act until they both agreed to leave Ireland and go to America.

The Irishman and Flag of Ireland newspapers both included more moving coverage of the death of John Maguire on 13 May 1872 compared to the brief report in the Clare Journal from my last posting.
DEATH OF A PATRIOT
Ennis, May 13, 1872

SIR—It is with extreme sorrow I have to communicate to you the death of Mr. John Maguire, of Ennis, which took place on yesterday, from consumption, to the inexpressible regret of a numerous circle of friends and relatives. But for a short time ago he was in the full bloom of vigour and manhood, a fine specimen of humanity, and a general favourite in this town. His illness was borne with Christian resignation, and in his dying moments he had all the consolation that religion can afford. Much heartfelt sympathy is felt for his friends in their sad bereavement, and the announcement of his death cast a melancholy gloom over the town. The deceased was quite a young man, and a true patriot in every sense of the word. He suffered a long incarceration in Ennis Gaol, having been arrested in March, '67, with several others, on suspicion of being concerned in Fenianism, and was subsequently transferred to Mountjoy Prison, from which he was discharged on consenting to go to America, from which he returned in a delicate state of health, but was gradually recovering until the malady set in to which he succumbed, and which he doubtless contracted during imprisonment.
Requiescat in pace.

The tear that we shed,
Though in silence it rolls,
Shall long keep his memory
Green in our souls.

The Irishman, 18 May 1872
THE FUNERAL OF A PATRIOT AND MARTYR IN ENNIS

On Tuesday evening, the 14th instant, the funeral of John Maguire, who was both a patriot and a martyr for the cause of Ireland, was carried out of Ennis in a most solemn and respectable form. He was a young man that had as good worldly prospects before him as any other of his class in this town, but his young heart always burned with an ardent love for his country, and in her cause he nobly sacrificed all with his life. He was arrested in March, 1867, with several others, accused of taking a leading part in the rising, and the following summer he was confronted in the dock with forty others of his brother patriots in chains before Judge Keogh. The prosecution was given up, but he and John O'Bryne were kept in jail under the Habeas Corpus Act. After being confined in Ennis jail for eighteen months [in fact, about six months], he was transferred with O'Bryne to Mount Misery in Dublin, where, after seven months, the tender mercy of Gladstone was extended to him to transport him to America in bad health from long confinement. He returned to Ennis about twelve months ago with a broken-down constitution, where he lingered until last Monday at three o'clock, when he resigned his pure spirit in the hands of the Redeemer at the age of twenty-nine [age 24 per death record and headstone], fortified with all the consolations of his holy religion. At six o'clock on Tuesday evening the congregated trades, with their usual spirit of nationality, mustered at the Mechanics' Institute, all wearing white linen scarfs tastefully tied with ribbons. When all was orderly arranged, they were conducted to the house of the uncle of the deceased, where his remains lay, by the secretary, Mr. [Michael] G. Considine, where there were several of his friends and associates draped in black, with a large number of the stalwart sons of toil, the Labourers' Association. Those wearing black fell to the rear, and the secretary placed the trades in front of the coffin—the hearse and white plumes, with several carriages, proceeding a long way in front. The entire Catholic clergy of the town were in attendance. The Very Rev. Dean Kenny, P.P.; Rev. Robert Fitzgerald; Rev. John Fogarty; Very Rev. Francis McLaughlan, O.S.F.; Rev. Mr. Cahill, O.S.F.; Rev. Mr. Casey, O.S.F. The funeral passed in solemn silence through the several streets. As soon as the funeral reached Drumclift, the place of his interment, a distance of three miles, the coffin being borne on the shoulders of his countrymen the entire way, the secretary halted the trades at the entrance, where they opened line while the coffin was borne through the centre. During the time all were uncovered as a mark of solemn respect for the remains of the martyr who lived and died so young for Ireland. The burial service of the Church having been read by the Rev. Mr. Fogarty, assisted by the Rev. Mr. Cahill, his remains was consigned, amidst the tears of hundreds, to an Irish grave in the land he loved so faithfully in life. After the funeral several of the most respectable young men of the town formed a committee, and a large sum of money has been subscribed on the spot to erect over his grave a suitable monument. The Trades secretary [Michael G. Considine] will receive subscriptions for the noble object and forward them to the committee.
FIDEA. ["faith" in Latin]

Flag of Ireland, Saturday, 25 May 1872, page three
In an amazing coincidence, this Friday, 13 May 2022, will be the 150th anniversary of the death of the Irish Fenian and patriot John Maguire. From the census reports there do not appear to be any relatives of John Maguire who remained in Ennis. John Maguire gets a brief mention in "The Irish Republican Brotherhood in Clare 1858 - 1871" by Eva Ó Cathaoir and Mathúin Mac Fheorais, but his death in 1872 and burial at Drumcliff cemetery were not mentioned. Similarly, John Maguire's headstone was included with the transcriptions for Drumcliff Old Graveyard by the Clare Roots Society, but there is no mention of him being a Fenian prisoner and Irish patriot.

In the United States, the last Monday in May is the Memorial Day national holiday to honor the U.S. military personnel who have died while serving in the armed forces. There is an American tradition that on the Saturday of the three-day weekend, Boy Scout troops, and maybe a few Girl Scouts, will visit their local national military cemetery and place an American flag in front of each headstone. Standing to attention, they will say out loud the military service member's name and unit, and then give a military salute. In the background, you might hear a Boy Scout playing "Taps" on their bugle.

This might sound like over-the-top patriotism to Irish people and perhaps not an annual tradition they would want to adopt (unlike Wordle, which already has an Irish language version). But this Friday is the 150th anniversary of the death of Fenian John Maguire. The Irish post office failed to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Fenian Rising of 1867, so I reckon it would be fitting if there was at least some memorial for the Irish patriot John Maguire. Is there not a Boy Scout or Girl Scout troop in Ennis that could pay their respects at Drumcliff cemetery on Friday? Probably bring some garden tools and tidy up around his headstone? Maybe buy a small Irish flag from an Ennis souvenir shop to place in front of his headstone? Say a few words and let John Maguire, who died so young for Ireland, know that his great efforts were not in vain?

Boy Scout troop at Los Angeles National Cemetery on Saturday, 26 May 2018 (AP News).jpg
Boy Scout troop at Los Angeles National Cemetery on Saturday, 26 May 2018 (AP News).jpg (133.25 KiB) Viewed 19893 times

Sduddy
Posts: 1826
Joined: Sun Sep 26, 2010 10:07 am

Re: Information is wanted of Thomas McNamara, of Glandree,

Post by Sduddy » Wed May 11, 2022 10:36 am

Hi Jimbo

Thank you again. Like you, I will put last things first: I notice that the cemetery in the photo is a lawn cemetery – so very much safer than most graveyards in Ireland where every grave is surrounded by a kerbstone, making it necessary to watch your step every minute. For that reason I think it would be not at all advisable to bring a group of children to Drumcliffe old graveyard. Apart from the fear of tripping and falling, there is also the fear that somebody would walk on a grave: walking on a grave is considered by some people to be deliberate insult to the family of the person buried there.
Although poor John Maguire suffered a lot as a result of his being “out” that night in March 1867, I really don’t think he died for Ireland; I think that it is quite likely that he had contracted Phthisis (later called Tuberculosis or TB) before ever he joined the Brotherhood.
I think it is really, really good that you have brought his grave to light, but I’m not sure that very many people are interested. It seems that even Stephen J. Meany’s grave is forgotten and not known to many people (I, for one, have never visited it). In his book, In the Tracks of the West Clare Railway, Edmund Lenihan says,
He [Stephen Meany] returned to America after his release, but visited Ireland several times after, including Clare, to report on the Irish problem for American newspapers. Again in 1882 he was arrested in Ennis and had the mortification of not being recognized in his home town. But some amends were made after his death in February 1888, for the occasion was used by the National League as a showpiece of solidarity against the authorities. The Ennis branch issued a notice: “Irishmen! Assemble on Sunday next and pay the last tribute of respect and honour to the remains of one who risked everything in the cause of Irish liberty. Come in your thousands, and march in processional order to Drumcliff churchyard. If you admire Irish patriotism in the purest form stand shoulder to shoulder with our friends. God save Ireland".
The crowds did assemble on 11 March but not in as large numbers as the organizers had hoped for. This was blamed on the very bad weather that day. Yet a special train from Miltown Malbay was hired to bring a contingent from the west, and a similar arrangement was made with the Waterford & Limerick Railway – though the company displayed a certain mistrust of the whole proceedings by demanding £10 payment in advance, a condition which was promptly met.
Today the grass grows around the S.J. Meaney monument, and he has been largely forgotten, one more casualty to time, but no doubt he would be pleased to know that scarcely half a mile away from where he lies the men he championed in his writings all those years ago are still recalled in the name ‘The Fenian Grove’, a conspicuous group of trees on a hill overlooking Ballyallia Lake. It is said that they once secretly drilled there. (In the Tracks of the West Clare Railway, by Edmund Lenihan, pp 46-7: https://books.google.ie/books/about/In_ ... &q&f=false)
Like you, I found no record of the death of Catherine Maguire, of Mill Street. But so many deaths went unreported and unrecorded. I also looked for the death of Mary Meany, the mother of Stephen J. Meany, without success. She seems to have died about 1885-6. Caroline Maguire says Meany and Clune travelled from America to visit their mothers:
Frequent visits home by Clare Fenians, such as John Clune and Stephen Joseph Meany to their mothers (often at times of illness), suggest that the bonds they forged at childhood were not so easily broken. Footnote No.133 CI, 9 May 1885; MN, 1 December 1886; CJ, 2 December 1886. (Peasants into Patriots, by Caroline Maguire (page 192))
Good work finding that Thomas Hogan was called Thomas Halloran in some newspaper reports. One report that I transcribed and which I posted on the topic of "Six Co. Clare Fenians (I.R.B.) remembered by John Devoy”, gives him as Thomas Halloran. It is the report published in the Clare Journal on Mon 12 Mar 1866 regarding the magisterial investigation held in the Court-house of Tulla. You found the same event reported in the Freeman’s Journal of 16 Mar 1866, but giving his name as Thomas Hogan, of Cahir. I will have to edit my posting to show that Thomas “Halloran” was actually Thomas Hogan.

And good work using Wordle to decipher the inscription on the headstone!

Sheila

Sduddy
Posts: 1826
Joined: Sun Sep 26, 2010 10:07 am

Re: Information is wanted of Thomas McNamara, of Glandree,

Post by Sduddy » Thu May 12, 2022 10:06 am

Hi Jimbo

This morning I located the assembly place of the Fenians in Drumcliff Townland. It was the mention of Ballyallia lake in Edmund Lenihan’s piece that prompted me. It led me to look again at that article by Eva Ó Cathaoir and Mathún Mac Fheoris in Clare History and Society, and I noted this description of the place:
Fenian contingents had been instructed to reach designated assembly points, where weapons would be distributed. In the Ennis region, this was Drumcliff, where the IRB drilled near the home of Martin Flannery, a prominent member, in a place still known as Fenian Grove. (The Irish Republican Brotherhood in Clare 1858-1871, by Eva Ó Cathaoir and Mathún Mac Fheoiris).
So I looked at Griffith’s Valuation and saw that Martin Flannery had Lots 7, 8 and 9 in Drumcliff townland. The accompanying map shows these lots at the northern end of the townland, with lots 8 and 9 bordering Ballyallia lake. That map, made in 1842, does not show the graveyard, but if you go to National and Historical Map Viewer: https://geohive.maps.arcgis.com/apps/we ... 7088a100c4, and, having accepted terms and conditions, select the later 25 inch map (from “Basemap Gallery”), you will see a much changed townland. You will see the railway going through it in the direction of Corofin. To the north east of the railway you will see Drumcliff Cemetery and you will see a new road going to the north east passing by Temple Vaughan and Ryan Hill and then meeting the Ennis to Gort road at Ballycorey, a place mentioned a couple of times during the investigation. I tend to associate “Drumcliff” with Ennis town, but the townland of Drumcliff is quite a bit away from the town. One way to locate Drumcliff townland on the 25” map is to start at the railway station just east of Ennis town and follow the railway northwards until it splits into (1) West Clare and (2) Waterford & Limerick*. Then follow the West Clare railway past the Lunatic Asylum and continue until Drumcliff Cemetery comes into view. Now go to Basemap Gallery again and select “Aerial 2005-2012” and you will see the wood that I think must be “Fenian Grove.”
*The Waterford & Limerick railway continued from Ennis to Athenry in Co. Galway.

Major O’Brien, it seems, decided that they were not strong enough to take Ennis Barracks and decided to go to Corofin instead, in the expectation of meeting another group in the street there, but they found nobody. It was at that point that Major O’Brien melted away. Some of those lads, who walked to Corofin, had started from Ennis hours earlier and must have been very weary. We know that they were cold as the account given to the investigation (below) says that at one point they put down a fire to warm themselves. Of course, there was no West Clare railway in 1867, so they did not follow the railway to get to Corofin. I don’t know what route they would have taken.
See topic “Six Co. Clare Fenians (I.R.B.) remembered by John Devoy”: http://www.ourlibrary.ca/phpbb2/viewtop ... 7&start=15. On page 2 is my transcription of the Clare Journal report published Mon 25 Mar 1867, headed “Important investigation at the County Jail.” The following is just an excerpt from it, which mentions Ballycoree and Corofin:
…in consequence of what Lott Halloran said I went to the Ballycoree bridge; John Maguire met us before we went to Ballycoree; from the timber bridge of Ballycoree we went back to the village of Ballycoree; Maguire said there were more of the Ballycoree men there, and to go back for them; Burns and Maguire knocked at the doors of the houses; they knocked at Michael Macnamara and told the people to get up and dress themselves; they asked for arms; we then went near Martin Flannery; three or four went with us who were not with us before; I only knew two of them – John Bunce and Michael Macnamara; we then went towards Drumcliff church; Martin Flannery showed us the way to the church; did not meet Martin Flannery until we met him between his house and Drumcliff church; he told us he would show us the way; identifies him; we followed him; we met some other persons on the road near Mr Sheehan’s house; we met about fifty; we went towards Mr Fetherstone’s gate two deep; the man they called Major O’Brien told us to march two deep; I think it was after ten o’clock then; Major O’Brien was with the fifty men; about ten or twelve joined us at the gate; the party with the Major had weapons; the greater part of them had weapons, guns and pikes; there were then up to about a hundred present; about sixty had weapons; the men were counted by O’Brien; in the field in front of Featherstone’s gate the men were counted; Ned McInerney was the only one that joined us in the field; he spoke to the Major who asked him where were his men, and he said they would not come with him; we all came out two deep on the road, the Major and the soldier of the 9th ordered us to march out; we then went towards the burial ground of Drumcliffe; the Major placed George Dickson, James Crowe, John Miller, and myself in front; Quin, the 74th man, and Miller were in front; we went to a house, I believe Kearse’s; we got nothing there; I went in myself and ten or twelve others; Crowe, Dickson, and the two soldiers went in with us; we asked for arms, but got none; we then went towards Ballygriffey to Mr Jeremiah Kelly’s house; I went into the house along with Geo Dickson and James Crowe. Mr Kelly was upstairs, and spoke down to us. We got a gun and I took it away myself. We then returned to the cross near Ballygriffy. Pat Donovan, Charley O’Brien, and John Walsh joined us there. We then marched to Corofin. We stopped at this side of Corofin. Major O’Brien told us to stop. We went into a house, nine or ten of us. We then put down a fire to warm ourselves. We were going in and out. Don’t know the name of the man of the house. Would know the soldier of the 9th again. At Featherstones’s gate I also met Tom Pinder, Patrick Hickey, John Malone, Edward McInerny, John Walsh, Pat Donovan, Charles O’Brien, Pat Mungovan, Corney Sullivan, the stone-cutter, James Sullivan, Cornelius Sullivan, who is here present, Stephen Slattery, Pat Kelly, Michael Crohan, John Maguire, John Burns, Stephen Hehir, Richard Fitzgibbon, Thomas Moran, John McInerney, Michael Hassett, a man named Rochford, John Cunningham, Michael Cunningham, Pat Hagarty, Thomas Walsh, James O’Halloran, Lot Halloran, a man named Nelson, Michael Ryan, John Tuohy, John O’Neill, John McMahon, Michael McMahon, James Macnamara and Thomas Hanrahan. I don’t remember any other person. Mixed with others, Martin Flannery walked in front, and said he would show them the way. Saw no weapon in his hand anytime that night. He did not go to the place. We halted at Corofin. He left us at Mr Sheehan’s. I heard him say nothing before he left us. Nelson, Doyle, and Molony were with me to Corofin. [cross-examination of Nevin, by Mr C B Molony and by Mr James Hynes, here]
Saturday. At eleven o’clock the investigation was resumed at the jail. On the motion of Edmond Blake, Esq, R M, seconded by Marcus Keane, Esq, J P, the chair was taken by Thomas Greene, Esq, J P. The magistrates present were Edmond Blake R M; the Hon Theobald Butler, Marcus Keane, F N Keane, Charles G Mahon, Dr P Maxwell Cullinan, Alexander Bannatyne, Thomas Keane, Michael Kerin, Thomas Studdert, James F V Fitzgerald, D L, and Pierce O’Brien, Esqrs.
[Some further cross examination of Nevin here.] Some discussion arose as to how Nevin had named and identified the prisoners, after which Michael Ryan, the second approver, was next introduced, when he was examined by Mr Morphy – I left Cahircalla, where my residence is, on Shrove Tuesday evening, about 9 o’clock; James Doyle, of Drumbiggle, was with me. He had a pike. I saw him that evening in my house at 7 o’clock. We went to Cahircalla cross, where we met three others, John Nihil, Pat Crean, and Richard Wall. Nihil had a pike, Wall had a pike, Crean had no weapon. I also met James Madigan. We went towards Drumcliffe. Before we came to Drumcliffe we turned in at Featherstone’s gate to a field. We met a great number of persons. I knew Charles O’Brien. I saw the man called Major O’Brien. Richard Fitzgibbon, Stephen Hehir, Lot Halloran, a soldier of the 9th, Cornelius Sullivan, stonecutter, another Cornelius Sullivan, Stephen Slattery, John Molony, John Walsh, Martin Flannery. There were about one hundred present. About forty armed, twenty with pikes and twenty with guns. They went up to the rear of the burial ground of Dromcliffe. We marched two deep like soldiers, by order of O’Brien. We went towards Corofin two deep. A good many went home from Featherstone’s gate. Some of our party went to take guns. We halted near village of Corofin. I did not know any one which went to take arms but Simon Nevin of Corrovoran (This was the other approver.) We went into a house near Corofin. About six or eight went in to take a drink of water and get lights for our pipes. This was far into the night. John Burns went into the house with me. There was a candle lighted. Burns was distributing ammunition to some of the parties who were inside. The men were going in and out of the house. We went within a hundred yards of the village of Corofin. The major was with us. The party did not appear to take orders from anyone. The major told us to come down from the cross of Corofin. It was the major who ordered us to stop at the cross. Saw no one in command but the major. I don’t know that anyone gave orders to take arms. Some of our party went into Corofin. The major ordered them in. They returned and told him there was no one on the street. The major and three others left us, two of them were soldiers. The major told us if we heard a shot fired in Corofin to rush in. The major went in to bring a proper account if anyone were on the streets. He said we would take the police barrack. At Drumcliffe the major said as we were not strong enough to take the police barrack at Ennis to go to take the barrack of Corofin. We did not attack the barrack at Corofin. The major after going into Corofin, returned no more for us. I then went home. I met two boys near the cross of Dysert, O’Brien and Shannon. They had two double barrelled guns. There were eight or nine with me at the time. They wanted us to go back and take the barrack of Corofin, and they would help us. The witness here identified the prisoners named by him, of whom all were present except nine, namely, John Nihil, Lot Halloran, Charles O’Brien, Major O’Brien, the soldier of the 9th, Corneilus Sullivan, stonecutter, John Walsh, and O’Brien and Shannon, who were met on the road near Dysert. [Cross examination of Ryan here.] Dr Cullinan called on Mr Murphy and said that as far as he could see, the evidence did not appear to him to involve the prisoners beyond the charge of misdemeanour. He wished to know if Mr Murphy intended to define the particular charge on which he relied for information.
That account includes the words "We halted at Corofin. He left us at Mr. Sheehan's." I wonder if this Mr. Sheehan was the uncle of Stephen J. Meany, who had raised him (Meany).

In his History of Clare and the Dalcassian Clans of Tipperary, Limerick and Galway, Patrick White gives just a couple pages to the Fenian Movement: pages 370-371: https://archive.org/details/historyofcl ... ew=theater

Sheila

smcarberry
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Re: Information is wanted of Thomas McNamara, of Glandree,

Post by smcarberry » Sat May 14, 2022 8:06 am

Just winding up a subthread in which I posted Feb 27th (screen 35) that I had lost track of a handwritten note on Thomas Mack. That note has now resurfaced, although it doesn't change or add much beyond what I had said on Feb. 27th about the 32 NY Inf being a dead end, currently. My handwritten note is a partial sheet of paper without a source citation on it, but it was clipped to a regular full sheet of paper clearly labeled "Ancestry.com NY Town Clerks' Registers" with notes on 5 other soldiers of much the same type, contents varying but always listing an army unit & enlistment date plus usually a civilian occupation. Here is exactly all that the note states:

Army Regis - b. Clare 1828 ?
McNamara, Thomas S. 37 bookkeeping, [physical description] grey-black-dark 5'6"
Rondout NY 19 Sep 1865 14 Inf, 32nd Inf Co. I ?
discharged 11 Oct 1868 Wilmington Cal. [now a Los Angeles suburb]

Since the note doesn't state the 32nd to be a NY unit and with the 32 NY roster not showing a suitable Mack or McNamara, it may be that some other 32nd Infantry unit is involved, as well as also the 14th Inf. I am moving house this next week, so I must stick to other priorities for the next several weeks and can't follow up on this. Just glad I didn't truly lose the note.

Sduddy
Posts: 1826
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Re: Information is wanted of Thomas McNamara, of Glandree,

Post by Sduddy » Mon May 16, 2022 11:45 am

Hi Sharon

Thank you for keeping Thomas McNamara in mind while going through the very tiresome business of moving house, and for posting that extra information you found.

Hi Jimbo

Thanks to your discovery of Michael W. Stackpool in San Francisco and your subsequent postings, I have been prompted to learn more about the Fenian movement. And I blush now when I think of how quickly I dismissed your suggestion that William Perrill and Michael McGrath were caught up in the Fenian Rising of 1867 – see “News items on Mealy/O’Malley of Tulla Parish" – page 2: http://www.ourlibrary.ca/phpbb2/viewtop ... l&start=15. In your post on Sat Aug 25, 2018, you said,
In conclusion, for both William Perrill and Michael McGrath to have received U.S. citizenship in October 1872, would theoretically mean that they had arrived in the United States by September 1867. Perhaps the two men got caught up in the Fenian Rising of 1867 and were forced to leave Ireland?
and I came back with
I don’t know about Michael, but I would say that emigration was simply a necessity of life for William. The Fenian rising in 1867 happened mainly in the Dublin hills and was a complete failure, for various reasons, one of which was that the organization was riddled with spies, so the authorities knew more about the plans than the members themselves did. Here is what F.S.L. Lyons says: “Yet an attempt was made in the end. It was made on the night of the 5-6 March 1867, which, with the ill-luck that so often seemed to dog Irish rebellions, chanced to be a night of bitter cold and heavy snow. There was no coherent plan of operations, nor perhaps any policy other than the desperate hope that the insurgents might hold out long enough to be accorded belligerent rights by the USA and thus precipitate that long cherished Anglo-American war which had become embedded in Fenian mythology. Groups of brave, unorganized, miserably armed men turned out in Dublin, Cork, Tipperary and Limerick, and to a lesser extent, Clare, Waterford and Louth. In Dublin, going against the normal revolutionary grain, the insurgents moved out of the city, instead of striking from within. The police and troops were glad to let them go, rounding them up at leisure as they floundered in the snowdrifts of the Dublin hills. In the Dublin area it is possible that as many as two thousand men were involved in this hopeless endeavour, with perhaps twice that number in Cork, and some hundreds elsewhere"
In August 2018, that was the sum total of my knowledge of the 1867 rising. I was still quite ignorant of all the many lesser risings throughout the country. Now I am better informed and I can see that many young men took the precaution of emigrating while others were being rounded up. Even though the number rounded up in Clare was about 50, there were probably as many more who quickly left the country. John Maguire was one who did not escape. After some months in Mountjoy prison, he was released to America and was not supposed to return to Ireland, but did return to Ennis afterwards. That makes me wonder if some other people, who had left of their own accord, also returned. There was much more traffic between Ireland and America in the mid-1860s than I had imagined. Maybe we should think again about Michael W. Stackpool and allow that he might have escaped from Cork in 1867, then, shortly afterwards, reviewed his position and returned to join the Amnesty Movement.

Sheila

Jimbo
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Re: Information is wanted of Thomas McNamara, of Glandree,

Post by Jimbo » Wed May 18, 2022 9:20 am

Peter O'Connor, a native of Ireland, aged 59 years, while engaged in digging a well on a lot near the corner of Geary and Devisadero streets, on Thanksgiving-day, was completely buried by the earth caving in upon him. He died before the earth could be removed.

At a meeting of the "Hibernia Rifles," held at their armory on Wednesday, November 23rd, the following officers were elected M.W. Stackpool, Captain; John J. White, First Lieutenant; John Lennon, Second-Lieutenant; Cornelius Crowley, Orderly Sergeant; Joseph Monoghan, Secretary.

The San Francisco Examiner, 26 November 1870, page 3
When researching Michael W. Stackpool in the newspaper archives, directly above an article about Stackpool which I posted back in March, was the story about another Irishman who died while digging in San Francisco. The corner of Geary and Divisadero streets is only 0.7 miles, a short 13 minute walk, from the corner of California and Cemetery streets where, less than a year later, Thomas S. McNamara died while doing construction work and a bank of earth came crashing down upon him.

Two Irishmen died in a short period while digging in San Francisco? It was such a spooky coincidence that it made me rethink my earlier conclusion that it would be "impossible to ever know" who was the mysterious Thomas S. McNamara who died in San Francisco. Was this a sign that I had given up too quickly on researching Thomas S. McNamara ?

Sharon, thanks very much for your last posting (and I hope your new home has better internet). In subsequent research I came upon the same military enlistment document of Thomas S. McNamara. However, I failed to make the connection to your initial posting about a "Thomas Mack" as your focus was on the 32nd NY Infantry and a soldier who fought in the Civil War; my focus was on the 14th Infantry and post-Civil War period. I had planned to get back to Thomas S. McNamara after the Michael W. Stackpool story, but with your latest posting, now is a better time to do so.

The Thomas S. McNamara, age 37, a bookkeeper, born in Clare, Ireland, who enlisted at Rondout, New York, on 19 September 1865, is most definitely the same Thomas S. McNamara, age 39, a bookkeeper, born in Ireland, who was living in San Francisco in the 1870 census. When Thomas was discharged on 11 October 1868 at Wilmington, the Los Angeles harbor area, he wisely chose to leave Los Angeles, then a small sleepy town, and go to San Francisco. This would be consistent with his first appearance in the 1870 census and 1871 San Francisco city directory (there is no directory available for the census year 1870). The 14th Infantry Regiment was initially based at the Presidio in San Francisco, so it would have been a city that Thomas S. McNamara knew quite well and had a much larger Irish population than Los Angeles.

The Register of Enlistments (1864 - 1865) was for the federal U.S. Army, and not for New York or the other state infantry units. Pre-Civil War, there were 10 Regiments at the federal level, consisting of one Battalion, made up of 10 companies (A through K; they skip "J" as it looks too much like "I" ). In 1861, President Lincoln created an additional 9 Regiments, including the 14th Infantry Regiment, each consisting of three Battalions, made up of eight companies (A through H).

Following the Civil War, the Army was reorganized by Congress in July 1866, and the 14th was divided into three regiments, each battalion receiving two additional companies and being organized along traditional lines. The 1st Battalion retained the designation of the 14th Infantry, while the 2nd Battalion became the 23rd Infantry and the 3rd Battalion the 32nd Infantry.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/14th_Infa ... ed_States)

The Record of Enlistments states for Thomas S. McNamara his regiment as: 14 Inf 32 Inf "D D". McNamara enlisted on 19 September 1865 with the 14th Infantry, which then became the 32nd Infantry in July 1866. His company was the same for both the 14th and 32nd, it is not very clear but I'm certain that it is "D". Since the original 14th Infantry had only eight companies, it must be between A through H, so could not be "I".

The 14th Infantry Regiment would be shipped off to the Presidio military base in San Francisco and later fight in the "Indian Wars" of Arizona. Why would a bookkeeper sign up for the Army as he would have likely known that his regiment was headed to the Arizona Territory to fight the Apaches? John B. Walsh, the released Fenian prisoner from Australia who arrived in San Francisco in January 1870, wrote to John Boyle O'Reilly in March 1870, that "Were it not for the money we got in Australia we would be 'hard up;' some of us would be off soldiering for Uncle Sam; perhaps down in Arizona" (see letter on page 35). His comment would indicate a level of desperation and lack of opportunity for those who enlisted to fight in the Arizona Territory.

I thought perhaps Thomas S. McNamara had previously fought in the Civil War and grown accustomed to military life? But the Record of Enlistments for each enlistee stated the number of prior enlistments, and when applicable these men all had the occupation of "soldier". McNamara was a bookkeeper with no prior enlistments (thus, not the missing Civil War soldier from Glandree). Had Thomas S. McNamara grown tired of debits and credits, and approaching 40 years old and a possible mid-life crisis, sought out a life of adventure in the American West?

"The [14th infantry] regiment was sent to the Presidio of San Francisco following the Civil War and from there, line companies were posted to locations in Arizona, California, Oregon, and Washington" per their wikipedia page. There was a strong need for fresh enlistments since the current soldiers in Arizona would soon be discharged with their three year term expiring. Thomas S. McNamara would arrive in San Francisco by December 1865 by a steamship of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company via Panama. The reverse trip was advertised in San Francisco newspapers with weekly departures of the Pacific Mail Steamship's steamers Sacramento or Constitution to the Pacific coast of Panama, with the subsequent journey described as "Passengers will be conveyed from Panama to Aspinwall (now Colón) by the Panama Railroad Company, and from Aspinwall to New York by the Atlantic and Pacific Steamship Company".

The citizens of San Francisco appear not to have been very supportive of the 14th Infantry stationed in their city:
MANY DESERTERS.—Many of the soldiers of the Fourteenth Infantry, recently arrived here from New York, are deserting. The mines seem to be a great attraction for them. They will speedily find that soldiering pays better than mining, as a general thing.
The San Francisco Examiner, 15 September 1865
Patrick Mooney and Henry O'Brien, members of Company B, Fourteenth Infantry, were arrested last evening for stabbing a brother soldier through the neck with a bayonet and then robbing him, out in the sand-hills on Post street.
Daily Evening Herald, Stockton, 22 September 1865
Of the three battalions (totaling 24 companies) of the original 14th Regiment, the Second Battalion left San Francisco first for assignments in Northern California, Oregon, and Washington, including Camp Warner in Oregon. The wikipedia entry for Camp Warner (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_Warner) stating, "In the spring of 1867, the 14th Infantry was replaced by a company of the 23rd Infantry Regiment", was incorrect as the Second Battalion of the 14th Regiment was renamed the 23rd Infantry Regiment. "All gone North" in the below article was true only for the Second Battalion:
GOOD.—The [Second Battalion of the] 14th Infantry Regiment have all gone North, and the pimps, prostitutes and short card thieves of Pacific street are in mourning. They reaped a rich harvest from the boys of the 14th.
The San Francisco Examiner, 29 September 1865
The three battalions of the 14th Infantry would arrive from New York, and perhaps had "bronzed faces" from their journey crossing at Panama, but not from being "where the battle raged":
ARRIVAL OF TROOPS.—Another battalion of the Fourteenth Regular Infantry arrived here, yesterday, on the steamer Constitution, and marched through the city to the Presidio. They presented the appearance of men who had been where the battle raged, for their bronzed faces indicated unmistakably that they have not belonged to that gallant corps—the Home Guard.
The San Francisco Examiner, 13 November 1865
The prior report stated that the prostitutes of Pacific street were "in mourning" when the 14th Infantry departed, but here when additional troops left they were in "an ecstasy of delight"?
GONE FROM OUR GATE.—The thieving Fourteenth Infantry has gone to Arizona. The police lift up their hands in thankfulness, and Pacific street is reveling in an ecstasy of delight.
The San Francisco Examiner, 11 December 1865
ON IT.—Alex Adams, one of the patriots of the 14th Infantry, was arrested a few days since for drawing a bowie knife in an alley off Jackson street, and threatening to slash all men to sausage meat who dared say aught against the 14th Regiment. He was fined $100 to-day in the Police Court, with the alternative of going to jail for fifty days.
The San Francisco Examiner, 12 December 1865
BAD SOLDIERS.—John Dillon, a member of the 14th Infantry, was on guard in the city yesterday. He got drunk last night while on duty, and tried to run a citizen through with his bayonet. . . It is an outrage on the citizens of San Francisco that such drunken brutes are allowed to stand guard in this city. Why are they not sent down to Arizona where they are needed? The Commanding General certainly shows a criminal negligence in allowing such things to be of daily and nightly occurrence of our most public thoroughfares.
The San Francisco Examiner, 13 December 1865
MORE SOLDIER OUTRAGES.—The members of the Fourteenth Infantry seem to have things their own way in San Francisco. They ride children down in the street—get drunk and howl through the city—steal wherever opportunity offers, and do just about as they please. . .
The San Francisco Examiner, 15 December 1865
Thomas S. McNamara was a member of the Third Battalion of the 14th Infantry; it appears that the soldiers were not given a substantial Christmas Day dinner:
A row, which came near resulting in bloodshed, occurred between members of the First and Third Battalions, Fourteenth Infantry, near the Presidio, Monday [Christmas Day]. Loaded muskets were brought out on both sides but the disturbance was quelled before shots were fired, though a number were severely beaten. They complain greatly of short rations.
Daily Evening Herald, Stockton, Wednesday, 27 December 1865
WARRIOR ON THE RAMPAGE.—John Kellner, a drunken warrior belonging to that gallant 14th Infantry, got on the rampage last night up town and charged bayonets on a lot of children returning from school. He was captured, carried to prison and convicted of misdemeanor in the Police Court to-day. It is not General Halleck, but the 14th Infantry that rules this town.
The San Francisco Examiner, 13 January 1866
THE FOURTEENTH REGULARS.
The San Francisco papers gave this regiment, some sixteen companies [the First and Third Battalions] of which are now in Arizona, such a hard name that our people were prepared for lively, if not dangerous times, but thus far, we believe, the men have conducted themselves with propriety, and those of our citizens who were with the company from Fort Whipple on the recent scout towards the Verde, say they will make excellent Indian fighters. . .
Arizona Miner, Fort Whipple, Arizona, 28 March 1866
Thomas S. McNamara and the other new recruits of the Third Battalion of the 14th Infantry (32nd Infantry starting July 1866) were very lucky that the Apache leader Cochise would spend most of 1866 across the border in Mexico which gave them time to get acclimated to their surroundings. But in 1867 the hostilities escalated. Very ironic that in March of 1867, when John Maguire and Michael W. Stackpool of County Clare were involved in the Fenian Rising to fight for Irish independence, other Irishmen were in the Arizona Territory fighting in a brutal conflict against the Apaches who were resisting American intrusion into their homeland.
INDIAN WAR IN ARIZONA.—a dispatch from Los Angeles says that a general war of extermination is being waged against the Indians in Arizona, who are unusually active and hostile in all parts of the interior. General Gregg has returned to Prescott from the expedition into the Black Mountains, in which the troops, sixty in number, under Captain Williams and Lieutenants Hobart and Techet, of the Eighth Cavalry, and Owens, of the Thirty-second Infantry, killed fifty-four Indians and wounded a number more, in three fights, about forty miles from Prescott, and destroyed large amounts of provisions and stores. The troops moved thence down the Rio Verde in pursuit of other bands.
The Daily Bee, Sacramento, 7 May 1867
This incident was likely exaggerated, if not completely false, as typically the soldiers were not able to get anywhere near the Apaches, let alone kill 54 of them. Plus, this "dispatch" was not reported by other California or Arizona newspapers. But even if partially true, revenge was quick.
TWO SOLDIERS of Co. B 32nd Infantry under command of Major Mills, were lately killed while on a scout for Indians. They stopped by the Verde to fish and were surrounded by the savages and riddled with balls and arrows. Corporal [James] Harrington was not so much mutilated as private [Norman] Duval, towards whom the Indians at Camp Grant, where he was stationed, had always been friendly. Over 20 arrows were found in his body, within a space that could be covered by the hand. . .
Arizona Miner, 27 July 1867

But in 1867 where was Thomas S. McNamara of Company D garrisoned in the Arizona Territory?

To be continued,

Edit: Resolved mystery whether Private McNamara arrived in San Francisco in 1865 via Panama or around Cape Horn; revised above.
Last edited by Jimbo on Sat May 21, 2022 5:32 am, edited 1 time in total.

smcarberry
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Location: USA

Re: Information is wanted of Thomas McNamara, of Glandree,

Post by smcarberry » Thu May 19, 2022 12:12 pm

Re: Jimbo's musing: "Had Thomas S. McNamara grown tired of debits and credits, and approaching 40 years old and a possible mid-life crisis, sought out a life of adventure in the American West?"

I have documented history of a similarly-situated Kingston NY resident who likewise left a secure, mundane occupation to spend his bachelor's life in the army, although the time period is one generation later. John Jerson was b.1865 in Kingston to a milk dealer with a stable business into which he was ushered as the heir apparent/first son. Both parents came from stable immigrant families, his mother being Luxembourg-born in the year that a treaty turned their village into a Belgian territory. Her family stuck it out for 4 more years before departing for Brooklyn where John's grandfather became a milk dealer. John, however, showed signs in the 1890s of wanting something different, as the Kingston city directories of that decade show him first as a milk dealer, later a restaurant employee, and then a "gentleman." He joined the army to serve in the Spanish-American War (1898) and stayed enlisted until heart disease took him during his service time in France 1918, as a saddler. He was his family's sole surviving son and the only candidate to create a new Jerson generation. He remained resolutely single and a soldier. Nonetheless his hometown was proud to claim him as a native son.

Hope this provides an authentic although very small insight into trends of those times in NY. I am finding your exposition of the San Francisco citizenry's perspective on its army experiences absolutely fascinating. Waiting for Part 2. Great job !
Jerson death KDF 14 Aug 1918.jpg
Jerson death KDF 14 Aug 1918.jpg (30.74 KiB) Viewed 19639 times
Jerson's star on flag KDF 26 Aug 1918.jpg
Jerson's star on flag KDF 26 Aug 1918.jpg (25.69 KiB) Viewed 19639 times

Jimbo
Posts: 591
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Re: Information is wanted of Thomas McNamara, of Glandree,

Post by Jimbo » Sat May 21, 2022 6:04 am

THE MASSACRE AT FORT GOODWIN

The rumor of the massacre of 124 Regular United States soldiers of Fort Goodwin, Arizona, published in the ALTA yesterday morning, does not come in such a manner to command implicit confidence. The soldier who brought the report heard a noise as if of a battle, and from a distance saw the buildings burning, and got the impression that the Fort had been taken by 2,000 Apaches, who murdered all the troops. While the story may be exaggerated, there is still reason to fear that a serious calamity has occurred. It is time that the Administration should wake up to the necessity of fighting the Apaches in earnest. While there are some differences of opinion about the efficiency of the Regulars, and about the fitness of many of the officers for the service, it is admitted by all that the Government has not furnished enough troops and supplies, and has not comprehended the importance of keeping up a constant and vigorous campaign. Although some little successes have been gained at intervals, the war on our part has in general been a failure, and somebody is to blame. We trust that the Secretary of War will soon send an additional 5,000 soldiers to Arizona, and take care that not one wastes his time in idleness while an Apache remains on the war-path.

Daily Alta California, 7 May 1866
A week later the Daily Alta repeated the same rumor of the massacre at Fort Goodwin quoting a letter from "a very reliable source" that the "garrison consisted of two companies of Regulars, of Third Battalion, Fourteenth Regiment, consisting of about one hundred men, of which only seven of the troops escaped; the remainder were murdered and scalped."

Private Thomas S. McNamara of the Third Battalion, Fourteenth Regiment, Company D was at Fort Goodwin in May 1866, but the "massacre" was all a hoax.
THE FORT GOODWIN SCARE.

For a part of last month San Francisco was much excited over a report that some thousands of Indians had massacred the garrison at Fort Goodwin, in this Territory. Colonel Cany and others, lately from here, wrote to the papers exposing the improbability of the affair, but it was not until General Mason was heard from that the public mind was satisfied that it had been most egregiously hoaxed.

. . . [the hoaxer should be hung from the nearest tree; the Apaches would typically not attack in a group of 2,000 warriors, parties of greater than 100 are very rare; nor would they attack a well defended fort] . . .

At Fort Goodwin, which is far up on the Gila, and in proximity to the worst Apaches, a very doubtful policy has been pursued for some months past. If we are correctly informed the barbarians have been freely admitted to the fort or to its immediate vicinity, and regularly fed without any attempt to detain them. If the design has been to get them upon a reservation it has been strangely carried out. To feed an Apache and let him return to his people is to strengthen him for fresh treachery. Every Apache fed should have been made to know that he was to remain upon the reservation.

. . . [more of the same opinion] . . .

Arizona Miner, Fort Whipple, Arizona, 13 June 1866, page 2
Determining what fort in Arizona that Private Thomas S. McNamara was stationed during his three years of service was not possible by simply searching for his name in the military records. Every fort in Arizona had a monthly "Post Return" ("U.S. Returns from Military Posts, 1806-1916" on ancestry) which included the names of the captain and lieutenants, but not the names of the privates. The "Post Return" was a complicated spreadsheet of data, but only had a tally of soldiers reported under various categories, with even more sub-categories, under 50 column headings (present, absent, sick, under arrest, on detached service etc). A private would only be reported in its "Record of Events" if something terrible happened such as being killed by Indians etc.

Fortunately, a newspaper report provided the location of each of the 36 regimental companies located in the Arizona Territory as of May 1869, including "At Fort Bowie, Co. D, 32nd Infantry, Captain Homer J. Ripley". Tracing backwards from the monthly "Post Return" for Fort Bowie, I was able to determine that Company D of the 3rd Battalion, 14th Infantry (future 32nd Infantry) first arrived in Arizona at Fort Goodwin on 1st of May 1866 with a total enlisted count of 63 soldiers; there were a total of three companies of the 14th Infantry by the end of May 1866.

Fort Goodwin received a positive report from a land / mineral prospector visiting the area in 1867 for future opportunities (once the Apaches were removed and put on reservations).
Fort Goodwin is very beautifully situated on a small stream called Tularoso, which rises in a range of mountains close to and east of the post. It was garrisoned by three companies of the Fourteenth Infantry; is kept very clean, and, for a new fort, looked tolerably comfortable. The garrison is watered by acequias or ditches from the Tularoso. The officers' houses are shaded by large mesquite trees, which look very beautiful. A stream of water runs through the parade ground. The soldiers do scarcely any scouting. They are principally engaged in making adobes and escorting trains of provisions for the Coyotero Apaches. As a boarding house [not a reservation?] for these Indians, this post has a wide-spread reputation. They camp close by, and as high as 900 of them, I was told, receive rations.
Arizona Miner, Fort Whipple, 26 January 1867
This description of Fort Goodwin, also called Camp Goodwin, was perhaps a little too romantic, as the stream also ran through a stagnant marsh full of malaria carrying mosquitoes. For health reasons the camp was abandoned in March 1871. Thomas S. McNamara of Co. D would spend about 21 months at Fort Goodwin. With only limited scouting, Fort Goodwin appears not to have been nearly as dangerous as Fort Grant, where the two 32nd Infantry soldiers of Company B were killed in 1867. Their providing food to the local Indians, a decision out of the Presidio in San Francisco, was not supported by the white inhabitants of Arizona Territory:
CAMP GOODWIN.—It is said that this military camp, which is on the Gila river in this Territory, will be abandoned, for sanitary reasons. We hope so, for the sake of citizens and soldiers. It is one of the sickliest places in the Territory, and has been more service to Indians than whites. It protects nothing or nobody, and the force there might as well be in Africa, for all the good they do the white inhabitants of the Territory.
Arizona Miner, Fort Whipple, 28 March 1868

From the Post Report of Fort Goodwin of February 1868:
Capt. H.J. Ripley and 2nd Lieut. E.B. Hubbard, 32nd Infantry, with 1st Detachment of Co. D. comprising 51 enlisted men, left the post, Feby 13, for Camp Bowie, A.T. [Arizona Territory], in compliance with S.O. No. 8, Headquarters. . Tucson, Feby 2, 1868.

From the Post Report of Fort Bowie of February 1868:
Feby 16, 1868. Capt. H.J. Ripley, 2nd Lieut. E.B. Hubbard, & 51 enlisted men of Co. D. 32nd Infantry, arrived at post from Camp Goodwin, A.T.

Fort Bowie frequently went by "Apache Pass" in newspaper accounts as the famous mountain pass is nearby:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apache_Pass

Thomas S. McNamara in his short time at Fort Bowie, only about eight months, would see much more action than at Fort Goodwin. These events are detailed in newspaper accounts as well as the history "Fort Bowie, Arizona: Combat Post of the Southwest, 1858-1894" by Douglas C. McChristian (University of Oklahoma Press, 2005). The 32nd Infantry was involved in constructing new buildings for Fort Bowie, located 500 yards east of its original location, and are the ruins which remain today. The Apache leader Cochise paid a visit to Camp Bowie shortly after noon on May 13, 1868,
leading a party of approximately fifty warriors, he swept down on the herd grazing a mile to two from the post. However, he was unaware that the two soldiers were no longer armed with muzzle-loading rifle muskets. Two years earlier, Congress approved the conversion of twenty-five thousand Civil War muskets into single-shot breechloaders firing a powerful .50-caliber metallic cartridge. The new arms, which had only recently reached the Thirty-second Infantry increased the soldier's firepower considerably—from a maximum of three shots per minute with a musket to more than a dozen rounds with the breech-loading rifle.

At the sound of the first shots, a detachment of infantry sprinted off from the post to assist the dozen soldiers comprising the herd guard. . . . Cochise and his men retreated, satisfied to leave the soldiers alone for the moment. The troops suffered no casualties in the skirmish and Indian losses, if any, were not determined.

It was not long after this "rude rebuff" that the Apaches had an opportunity to acquire a couple of the new rifles for themselves. Two weeks after the frustrated raid on the fort, members of Cochise's band still hovering in the area laid a trap for the eastbound mail coach. After making its usual stop at the Camp Bowie post office on May 26 [1868], the coach rolled out of the mountains toward Barney's Station. Aboard were driver Charles "Tennessee" Hadsell, teamster John Brownley, and an escort of two infantrymen, Privates Robert King and George Knowles. As the stage reached the ambush site near the road, Hadsell reacted quickly to turn the coach and whip the mules into a run back toward Camp Bowie, as the other men returned fire. During the flight, Brownley was shot through the heart and collapsed within the stage. The Apaches gave chase for five miles, eventually surrounding the coach and capturing the remaining three men, who would have been better off had they heeded the frontier creed of not being taken alive. . .

"Fort Bowie, Arizona" by Douglas McChristian, pages 100-101
The westbound stage arrived at Barney's Station, the designated transfer point. When Hadsell's coach failed to appear, it continued to Fort Bowie to sound the alarm. After initial failures, a search party two days later led by Lieutenant E.B. Hubbard, and thirty men, the post surgeon Widney, and two civilian guides made the gruesome discovery. The two soldiers were located on "a huge flat rock upon which the men had been tortured and suffered such a death as only an Apache Indian can invent." Thomas S. McNamara was fairly likely a member of the 30 man search party. And what would likely haunt him for the remainder of his short life, Doctor Widney, before burying the remains, made the members of the search party view the bodies, admonishing the soldiers, "That is what you may expect if you ever surrender; so fight to the last, and make them kill you."

Thomas S. McNamara would have known both the soldiers who were killed for over 2½ years since they all served with Company D of the 14th Infantry, later 32nd Infantry. Robert King was born in County Galway and had enlisted with the 14th Infantry on 22 September 1865 in New York at the age of 30 years old. George Knowles was born in London, England and had enlisted with the 14th Infantry on 11 September 1865 in Rochester, NY, at the age of 20 years old. For both men, the "remarks" on their enlistment, stated "Killed May 28, '68 by Indians at Camp Bowie, A.T." (Source: U.S. Army Register of Enlistments, 1798 - 1914).

There is no mention in the "Post Reports", but Thomas S. McNamara likely left Fort Bowie in September or October 1868 for Los Angeles, where he was mustered out at Wilmington on 11 October 1868.

The following year, his regiment, the 32nd Infantry regiment was consolidated with the 21st Infantry regiment, and Captain Ripley left Fort Bowie. Congress had passed an act on 8 March 1869 requiring a reduction in military appropriations in the wake of the Civil War which reduced the 45 infantry regiments, mandated only three years earlier, down to 25 regiments.

From the Post Report of Fort Bowie of July 1869:
"Dropped by Consolidating": Homer J. Ripley, Captain, late 32nd Infantry, "Left post July 18, 1869 per Post Order No. 36 . . ."

Fort Bowie is now a National Historic Site administered by the National Park Service. There is a 1½-mile hike to the ruins of the second fort that the 32nd Infantry built in 1868 as well as a NPS museum.

https://www.nps.gov/fobo/index.htm
excellent 10 minute video by Sidetrack Adventures: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epFJb4JKoh0

In Western movies, such as The Battle at Apache Pass, I suspect that the number of soldiers with Irish accents, if any, were greatly under-represented compared to the actual number of Irish-born who fought in the Old West.

The Battle at Apache Pass (1952 movie poster).jpg
The Battle at Apache Pass (1952 movie poster).jpg (30.17 KiB) Viewed 19607 times

According to the NPS website, after Fort Bowie was decommissioned, in "March 1895, the army moved all the [remains buried at the fort cemetery of] officers, enlisted men, military dependents and unknowns to the National Cemetery in San Francisco", located in the Presidio military base. This was indeed the case for Privates George Knowles and Robert King of Company D of the 32nd Infantry who were killed in 1868, as well as those buried at other Arizona forts, such as Private Norman Duval and Corporal James Harrington of Company B of the 32nd Infantry, who were killed in July 1867:
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/353 ... ge-knowles
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/191 ... obert-king
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/352 ... rman-duval
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/352 ... harrington

The "Peter O'Connor" who died on Thanksgiving in November 1870, while digging a well near the corner of Geary and Divisadero streets, was misreported by the San Francisco Examiner. He was actually "Peter O'Connell" and according to the mortuary record for the city of San Francisco was buried in Calvary cemetery. Peter O'Connell would later be disinterred from Calvary cemetery in the city of San Francisco to Holy Cross cemetery in San Mateo County. Since there appears to be no headstone at the findagrave website, I suspect that Peter O'Connell was reburied at the communal grave site at Holy Cross.

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:HGCC-36PZ
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/105 ... -o'connell

The fact that Peter O'Connell was buried at the Catholic Calvary cemetery, would likely indicate that he had family in San Francisco who could make these funeral arrangements. Unlike Thomas S. McNamara, who was buried at the City Cemetery, which was the final burial place for the indigent, and thus an indicator that he had no family in San Francisco. The fact that Thomas S. McNamara was a veteran of the 32nd Infantry, with a period of three years of service, including the Indian Wars of Arizona, did not guarantee that upon his death, he would be buried in a cemetery with a classic military headstone. If Thomas S. McNamara had died while in military service, such as his fellow soldiers George Knowles and Robert King; or died at a national veteran's home for the sick or aged, such as Civil War veteran Thomas Mack of the 150th NY Infantry Regiment (see page 1); or had a family member who could apply for a military headstone, such as WWI veteran James McNamara of the 40th Infantry Regiment (see page 31); then his funeral arrangements might have been different. In any case, when McNamara died in 1871, San Francisco National Cemetery located in the Presidio was not an option since it was created in 1884.

Thomas S. McNamara's burial site at City Cemetery is now Lincoln Park golf course located in Lincoln Park in the northwest corner of the SF Peninsula that overlooks the Pacific Ocean. His grave was not relocated, any grave marker was simply removed. It is a very beautiful location and I initially considered that, for Thomas S. McNamara, his burial at City Cemetery/Lincoln Park ended up preferable than if he had been buried at Calvary Cemetery (such as Peter O'Connell) as he would have later been disinterred to Holy Cross in San Mateo county in a common grave. But now with Sheila's latest comment on Drumcliff cemetery in County Clare that Irish people believe that walking on a grave is a deliberate insult, I'm not so sure. Golfers are likely walking on Thomas S. McNamara's grave on a fairly regular basis depending on their golf shots. It's very troubling, but there is not much that can be done about it.

The fact that Thomas S. McNamara enlisted for the 14th Infantry on 19 September 1865 at Rondout on the Hudson River in Ulster County, New York, with a stated birthplace of County Clare, is an important clue. His occupation as a bookkeeper is also significant. If Thomas S. was a Thomas Sheedy McNamara this might also narrow down the possibilities for his parents and what townland he came from.

Edit: put the discharge of Private McNamara in October 1868 in chronological order in relation to the consolidation of the 32nd Infantry Regiment in 1869 into the 21st Infantry Regiment.
Last edited by Jimbo on Tue May 24, 2022 8:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Sduddy
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Re: Information is wanted of Thomas McNamara, of Glandree,

Post by Sduddy » Sat May 21, 2022 9:59 am

Hi Jimbo

Don’t be troubled! Remember I said some people consider it an insult - not everybody by any means – certainly not – maybe not even most people – it’s just something I’m conscious of when I’m in a graveyard.

Your post is very interesting. I don’t think I ever saw The Battle at Apache Pass. It’s not as well known as Fort Apache (1948), shown here from time to time on TG4 - it was on again this March. One of the songs featured is "The Girl I Left Behind", which I referred to in “Surnames in Irish in 1911” – page 1, as having same melody as "An Spailpín Fánac" (Some people who gave their names in Irish in the 1911 census gave their occupation as “Spailpín” (= Labourer)): http://www.ourlibrary.ca/phpbb2/viewtop ... f=1&t=7311
"The Girl I Left Behind Me" in Fort Apache (at the 4.1 mark): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xAKY-Wn4hs
This excerpt, “Is there any man here from Tipperary?, ” shows Sgt. Festus Mulcahy as a right bully: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oSfapdksB8, but maybe in 1948 it was considered light relief.

Thank you for including the video of the walk to Fort Bowie. I enjoyed it very much. The narrator gives just enough information, so I did not feel smothered by it.
Never having seen The Battle at Apache Pass (as far as I know), I don’t know how true it is to what actually happened, so it was good to get the history. It was also interesting to get the Fort Goodwin story as the newspapers gave it at the time - thank you for taking so much trouble. And thank you for showing Thomas S. McNamara’s part in it all. After watching the video, I was imagining him living in Fort Bowie in the midst of terrain so different from Ireland. I have a lovely book, The West: an Illustrated History, by Geoffrey C. Ward, bought solely for the wonderful pictures in it. Some day I should read it!

What might the “S” stand for? I think many Irish people in America put an initial after the first name just to distinguish themselves from others of the same name. So the “S” might be Sheedy. But there is another branch of McNamaras called the Síl Aoidh (pronounced Shillay), which means The Seed of Aodh (Hugh). When I was young I thought “Shillay” was a nickname and was careful not to use it, but now I realize that it was probably held with some pride. Then again, Thomas’s father might have been Seán McNamara and the “S” might be for him.

Sheila

Edited to erase a line giving my opinion (mistaken) that second names were not given to most children in 19th century. See next posting by smcarberry and my reply.
Last edited by Sduddy on Tue May 24, 2022 9:32 am, edited 1 time in total.

Sduddy
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Re: Information is wanted of Thomas McNamara, of Glandree,

Post by Sduddy » Sun May 22, 2022 9:54 am

Hi Jimbo, again

Writing about the visit of Cochise to Camp Bowie on May 13, 1868, you quote from the account given by Douglas C. McChristian (2005):
leading a party of approximately fifty warriors, he swept down on the herd grazing a mile or two from the post. However, he was unaware that the soldiers were no longer armed with muzzle-loading rifle muskets. Two years earlier, Congress approved the conversion of twenty-five thousand Civil War muskets into single-shot breechloaders firing a powerful .50-caliber metallic cartridge. The new arms, which had only recently reached the Thirty-second infantry increased the soldier’s firepower considerably – from a maximum of three shots per minute with a musket to more than a dozen rounds with the breech-loading rifle.
That reminded me of a Clare Journal newspaper report I transcribed and posted on 24 Feb 2021: “400 Snider Rifles for County Clare, 1868”: http://www.ourlibrary.ca/phpbb2/viewtop ... f=1&t=7166.
Snider rifles, according to this Wikipedia piece, were engineered by an American, Jacob Snider: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snider–Enfield. I wonder if the rifles distributed to the constabulary in Clare used the same kind of firearm action as those rifles provided to the soldiers in Camp Bowie.

Sheila

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Re: Information is wanted of Thomas McNamara, of Glandree,

Post by smcarberry » Sun May 22, 2022 10:39 am

What might the “S” stand for? All I can say is that second names were not generally given to children born before 1850, or even for a long time afterwards (if baptism records are anything to go by), and I think many Irish people in America put an initial after the first name just to distinguish themselves from others of the same name.
Sheila, with your long experience with Clare RC parish registers and my brief such experience, added to the 47 baptisms-marriage-burial listings of a Montreal RC parish 1847-1859 made by a Fr. Lawrence McInernery for his parishioners noted as b. Clare, I agree that RC parish records lack any notation of middle names for Irish people born in the mid-1800s and earlier. However, the Irish-born of that era had middle names from birth, judging from what I found for my family in their Philadelphia records:

(a) Catherine Donnellan Carberry maintained a residence at 4444 Baker Street for about 20 years in the late 1800s. She was listed in the city directory at that address for all that time, usually as Catherine Carberry, except for a 3-year span of listings soon after her son married a Katherine. Her listing during that time was as Ellen Carberry at that exact address. With no one else possibly available to be Ellen, I have concluded that Catherine tried using her middle name to avoid being confused with the new Mrs. Katherine Carberry. It apparently didn't do much good to help relations with the new wife. Catherine discontinued that effort and was later placed in an old-age home run by the Little Sisters of the Poor, whose meticulous records show that her birth year was 1826 (Co. Clare).

(b) Catherine's son Patrick had his baptism record in 1855 made by Fr. McInerney in that Montreal parish (Lachine) where only his first name is listed. My Carberry family has always referred to Patrick as PJ, short for Patrick Joseph, which is familiar to so many of us with a Patrick in their families of that era. Not long after Catherine and PJ arrived in Philadelphia about 1868, there was already a Patrick Joseph Carberry who had been baptised 1848 in Figlash, Tipperary, a U.S. resident since 1857 and by 1870 in the pharmacy profession that would eventually result in his being called a doctor. As that upward mobility occurred, the city directories, news items, and his Friendly Sons of St. Patrick membership records show that he consistently used his full name to distinguish himself from my family's PJ:
Patrick Joseph Louis Carberry, often shortened to just P.J.L. Carberry. While Dr. Carberry may have acquired his confirmation name in the U.S., I have to believe that both of these men had their middle name of Joseph from birth.

Sduddy
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Re: Information is wanted of Thomas McNamara, of Glandree,

Post by Sduddy » Mon May 23, 2022 9:38 am

Hi Sharon

Thank you. Those examples show that priests may have considered it sufficient to record just one name, which is interesting, plus it puts the kibosh on my notion that the baptism records show that most children were not given second names. Whenever I looked at the baptism records, I noticed that some children were given second names. In rural places this was just a sprinkling; in urban places it was more than a sprinkling. I thought that if some children were recorded as having a second name, then the other children must have just one name. I see now that I was mistaken in that. So the “S” may be for Stephen, or Sinan – less likely to be Sylvester, Simon, or Samuel.

The West, An Illustrated History has very little on Arizona, and, although there is a photo of Cochise’s son, Nachez (p. 379), there’s only one mention of Cochise himself and no photo. But I read an interesting piece, “A Tough Bunch” (inset in Chapter 6, p. 308), that describes the life of a soldier and includes a reason for joining the army, which I thought might explain Thomas S. McNamara’s enlisting, i.e. escaping a bad marriage:
"But even though army pay was low – just thirteen dollars a month – steady jobs were scarce during the economic slump that followed the Civil War, and army ranks were soon filled with immigrants, some of whom could speak almost no English. There were drifters, too: men with assumed names; men escaping bad marriages - or the law. “Some recruits ,” one recalled, “had no doubt served in some penitentiary before enlisting, and I shouldn’t wonder that some went back to their old prisons as a haven of rest and decent treatment.”
Promotions were rare, and riddled with politics. Discipline was severe; men were flogged for minor infractions, locked up in log stockades, suspended by their thumbs, made to sit for hours on a wooden horse.
The climate added to the soldiers’ woes, “Everything dries,” one man wrote during a tour of duty at Fort Yuma in Arizona Territory. “Men dry, chickens dry; there is not juice left in anything, living or dead, by the close of summer … Chickens hatched at this season, as old Fort Yumers say, come out of the shell already cooked.”…
Disease was the worst killer. In one two-year period, the Seventh Cavalry lost thirty-six men to Indians – and fifty-one to cholera. And desertion rates were understandably high." (The West, An Illustrated History, by Geoffrey C. Ward).

That “Tough Bunch” article includes an 1870 photo of Old Camp Grant, which is the same as the one shown in the Wikipedia article on Camp Grant. There’s no mention of Fort Bowie.

Sheila

Sduddy
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Re: Information is wanted of Thomas McNamara, of Glandree,

Post by Sduddy » Tue May 24, 2022 9:33 am

Hi Sharon
I’ve edited out my opinion on second names (above), but you can leave the quote as it is – otherwise your posting and my reply will not make sense.
Sheila

Jimbo
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Re: Information is wanted of Thomas McNamara, of Glandree,

Post by Jimbo » Tue May 24, 2022 8:53 pm

The O'Siodas, Anglice [in plain English] Sheedy and Silk are descended from Cormac Cas, King of Munster, in which province they were subordinate chiefs at the period of the English invasions. They were possessed of lands in the vicinity of Gort in the fifteenth century. A branch of this family settled in the county Cork in or about 1404.

Catholic Telegraph, Dublin, 5 November 1859
Above was a different origin story for the use of Sheedy from the newspaper archives. But Sheila, your prior research using Edward MacLysaght’s The Surnames of Ireland* was able to quickly dismiss this origin from having any connection to the McNamara's of East Clare. From page 8 of this thread, you wrote:
*Edward MacLysaght says: “(Mac) Sheedy. A branch of the Macnamaras – the two names have sometimes been used synonymously. It is never translated as Silke as Ó Síoda is”.

**You may remember that I discovered (upon reading an article, by Martin Breen and Risteard Ua Croinin, in this year’s The Other Clare) that the descendants of Maccon of Síoda Cam McNamara formed a branch of the family which was distinguished from other branches by the name Sheedy (anglicisation of Síoda), and that I noticed, in Griffith’s Valuation, that one of the Andrew McNamaras in Glendree is called Aw. McNamara (Bawn), while another Andrew McNamara is called Andrew McNamara (Sheedy).
While Andrew Sheedy McNamara married to Margaret Clanchy appears at different times in the Tulla baptism register as both a "McNamara" and a "Sheedy"; the surname "Silk" never appears in the Tulla registers.

Regarding middle names, I was surprised that a few McNamara men in America used their mother's maiden name as their own middle name. For example, William H. McNamara (born 1873), of Chicago, son of Michael McNamara (≈1825 - 1889) and Margaret Halpin (1832 - 1884), in both his U.S. naturalization and WWI registration, provided his full name as "William Halpin McNamara". I cannot prove, but highly suspect, that his elder brother Michael (born 1867), also of Chicago, who went by either "Michael H. McNamara" or "M.H. McNamara" in various records and newspaper articles, was a "Michael Halpin McNamara". "Henry" or "Hugh" was rarely, if ever, used by the McNamara's of Tulla parish. The Halpin's of Kiltannon were quite prominent in Tulla parish, and a few of their McNamara descendants appear keen to hang on to this surname or perhaps it was just to distinguish themselves from other McNamara's.

Sheila, regarding the breechloader rifles, I don't know if the 32nd Infantry in Arizona had adopted the Snider-Enfield rifle in 1868, as there appear to have been other breechloader rifles available. "During the American Civil War, at least nineteen types of breech-loaders were fielded" according to wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breechloader

Sheila, not too surprised that Arizona doesn't get much of a mention in The West, An Illustrated History.

The Apache Wars by Paul Andrew Hutton (2016) also had very little information on the time period (1866 to 1868) that Thomas S. McNamara was in Arizona. Fort Bowie is mentioned, but mostly after 1870. The Fourteenth Infantry Regiment, 32nd Infantry Regiment, Fort/ Camp Goodwin are not mentioned specifically, but are referred to vaguely below:
The United States Army returned in the summer of 1865 to the orphaned territory it had abandoned in 1861 [start of Civil War] and began to establish a series of new military posts. Old Fort Breckinridge was reactivated as Camp Grant, and a new post, Camp McDowell, was built on the Verde River near its confluence with the Salt River. Thus began a messy quilt of federal installations that were constructed and then abandoned in response to the fluid Apache threat [such as Fort/Camp Goodwin]. By 1867, there were eight troops (as cavalry companies were then called) of the First and Eighth Cavalry, as well as twenty infantry companies [14th Infantry & 32nd Infantry; 10 companies each]. By 1869, reinforcements raised the total number of federal soldiers to nearly two thousand men.

Commanding general William Tecumseh Sherman had little patience with the problem of Arizona, for the territory was busting his budget. "The cost of the military establishment in Arizona," he declared in 1868, "is out of all proportion to its value as part of the public domain." The enchantment of the desert Southwest was lost on the blunt general. "We had one war with Mexico to take Arizona," Sherman famously carped, "and we should have another to make her take it back."

The Apache Wars by Paul Andrew Hutton (2016, Crown), pgs 117-118
The Apache Wars lasted between 1849 and 1886, and it appears that Thomas S. McNamara's period of service in the Arizona Territory between 1866 and 1868, was fairly quiet. Except, of course, for the May 1868 attempt by Cochise to steal cattle grazing outside of Fort Bowie, and then the killing of the four men on the mail stage coach departing Fort Bowie, including the two privates Robert King and George Knowles.

I suspect most days at Fort Goodwin and later Fort Bowie were exceedingly boring for Thomas S. McNamara, especially compared to San Francisco. And upon further research, Thomas S. McNamara was not a member of the 30 man search party who went in search of the missing mail stage coach and their two fellow soldiers. In addition to the very detailed "Post Return", there was a very detailed monthly "Return by Infantry Regiment" (32nd Infantry Regiment, 1866-1869, 102 pages). For the 32nd Infantry Regiment this would summarize the activities of each of the 10 companies in pretty much the same format as the "Post Return", but in greater detail. For Company D, under "Absent Enlisted Men" on 30 May 1868 were one sergeant, two corporals, and 33 privates, including 28 privates who were listed as "Scout since May 30th 1868" (pg 57 of 102), obviously in search of the missing men and mail coach. Thomas S. McNamara was not listed and appears to have remained behind to hold down the fort.

For the month of September 1868, forty-three soldiers from Company D were listed on the 32nd Infantry Return (pg 73 of 102) as having been discharged for "expiration term of service", including Thomas S. McNamara (#31 below), on 19 Sept 1868, his rank was private, and location as "unknown":

32nd Infantry Return for September 1868, listing of discharged soldiers (ancestry).jpg
32nd Infantry Return for September 1868, listing of discharged soldiers (ancestry).jpg (173.14 KiB) Viewed 19485 times

The actual discharge date reported on the remarks section of the Register of Enlistment stated 11 October 1868 and discharge location was at Wilmington, California.

Thomas S. McNamara Enlistment: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VRQ8-HSK

In Company D, besides Thomas S. McNamara there was at least one fellow soldier from County Clare. Michael McMahon, age 20, laborer, born in County Clare, registered at Philadelphia, PA, on 19 September 1865 for the same regiment. They were discharged from both Fort Bowie, Arizona and Wilmington, California on the same days; Michael McMahon had been promoted to sergeant during his service (see soldier #4 on discharge listing above).

Michael McMahon Enlistment: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VRQ8-HFG

Sheila, regarding the Drumcliff cemetery in Ennis being too dangerous for Irish Boy Scouts, here is a 10 minute video taken by two visitors to Drumcliff in 2007 (this is the 2nd of 2 videos which Paddy Casey had provided a link to many years back). The conversation at the 5 minute mark with regards to the Irish Civil War shows how educational a visit to a cemetery can be for both adults and children. Regarding the discussed monument, more information on "their Ennis exiled comrades of New York City" who paid for its erection, will likely be known when additional years of the Irish-American newspapers of New York become available on-line, such as The Irish World (now only to 1905) and The Irish American (only to 1914).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wVojJeY-H4

After watching this video and a few others on-line, I reckon the Irish Boy Scouts would be perfectly okay visiting the grave at Drumcliff cemetery of the Fenian John Maguire who died 150 years ago. American Boy Scouts go on over-night camping and hiking trips in the national parks and forests all the time and have to be concerned about poisonous rattlesnakes and the like. At least that wouldn't be a concern for the Irish Boy Scouts visiting Drumcliff as I recall reading somewhere that Ireland has no snakes.

Jimbo
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Re: Information is wanted of Thomas McNamara, of Glandree,

Post by Jimbo » Tue Jun 07, 2022 7:01 am

Upon further research, the experience of Thomas S. McNamara of Company D of the 32nd Infantry in the Arizona Territory was not as "exceedingly boring" as I had anticipated. Also, Thomas S. McNamara was much more well traveled than I would have ever anticipated.

The 32nd Infantry Return for December 1866 (page 9 of 102) under "Absent Enlisted Men" stated that Sergeant Major M. Meagher was "on Court Martial duty at Camp Cameron, A.T., since Dec. 12, 1866." From Company D, Sergeant John Simmons, Corporal Peter Kain, Private Edward Kane, Private Matthew B McCurly, and Private T McNamara were similarly reported "on Court Martial duty at Camp Cameron, A.T., since Dec. 12, 1866."

Camp Cameron was a temporary U.S. Army camp located in Madera Canyon in Arizona Territory at the base of the Santa Rita mountains between 1 October 1866 and 7 March 1867.

While Sergeant Simmons and Corporal Kain from Company D were reported as witnesses for the Court Martial, and Privates Kane and McCurly were escorts, unfortunately Private Thomas McNamara of Company D was reported as a "Prisoner to be tried by Court Martial", one of seven soldiers of the 32nd Infantry to be tried at Camp Cameron.

Camp Cameron Return for December 1866; enlisted men casually at post (pg 45 of 240).jpg
Camp Cameron Return for December 1866; enlisted men casually at post (pg 45 of 240).jpg (101.88 KiB) Viewed 19172 times

According to the Post Return for Camp Goodwin, where Thomas S. McNamara of Company D was stationed, there were no soldiers tallied in November 1866 as present "in arrest or confinement" or absent "in arrest or confinement". However, in December 1866, there were two soldiers from Co. D reported at Camp Goodwin as present "in arrest or confinement"; and one absent "in arrest or confinement", who must have been Thomas S. McNamara at Camp Cameron. By the January 1867 Post Return for Camp Goodwin, there was a tally of three soldiers reported as present at the camp "in arrest or confinement" — most likely the increase due to the return of Thomas S. McNamara from Camp Cameron. By February 1867, there were only two soldiers "in arrest or confinement", and by April 1867, there were none.

As mentioned in a prior posting, the 32nd Infantry would be consolidated in 1869 into the 21st Infantry Regiment which would relocate to the West from Virginia. According to the 21st Infantry Post Return for March 1869, a Thomas McNamara joined Company E at Petersburg, Virginia on 14 January 1869:

21st Infantry Return for March 1869; Comp E at Petersburg, Virginia (pg 163 of 277).jpg
21st Infantry Return for March 1869; Comp E at Petersburg, Virginia (pg 163 of 277).jpg (93.09 KiB) Viewed 19172 times

According to the 21st Infantry Post Return for May 1869, with the regiment now based at the Presidio in San Francisco, Thomas S. McNamara of Company E was reported as a "Loss" under the sub-heading "By Order", with the date 16 May 1869, location of San Francisco, with the remark "per S.O. M 89 A.G.O. April 16, 1869":

21st Infantry Return for May 1869; Comp E at Presidio, San Francisco; Losses By Order (pg 140 of 277).jpg
21st Infantry Return for May 1869; Comp E at Presidio, San Francisco; Losses By Order (pg 140 of 277).jpg (80.58 KiB) Viewed 19172 times

McNamara is a common surname. Were there now two different men named Thomas S. McNamara living in San Francisco in 1869? Thomas S. McNamara discharged from the 32nd Infantry at Wilmington, California on 11 October 1868; and Thomas S. McNamara booted "by order" from the 21st Infantry at San Francisco on 16 May 1869? I was no longer certain of the identity of the Thomas S. McNamara who died on 7 September 1871 while digging at the corner of Cemetery Avenue and California Street in San Francisco (see newspaper articles on page 35).

However, upon further research, another explanation solved this mystery. When Thomas S. McNamara was discharged at Wilmington (Los Angeles) in 1868, he did not travel north to San Francisco, as I had assumed, but he returned to the East Coast, most surely via Panama as the transcontinental railroad had not yet been completed.

The Thomas S. McNamara who enlisted with the 21st Infantry at Petersburg, Virginia, on 14 January 1869 was born in Clare, Ireland, at the reported age of 37 years, occupation bookkeeper, grey eyes, black hair, dark complexion, height of 5 feet six inches. Obviously, the same Thomas S. McNamara who had enlisted at Rondout, New York, on 19 September 1865. The occupation and physical characteristics are identical, but so was the reported age of 37 years. Thomas S. appears to have lied about his age when enlisting in 1869; this was possibly the reason for the remark on his enlistment which stated "Discharged May 16, 1869, S.O. 89 A.G.O. 1869, at San Francisco, Calif, a private":

https://www.familysearch.org/search/ark ... :QJDR-9ZGG

Initially, I suspected that the James Farrell who was dishonorably discharged at the same date as Thomas S. McNamara, but in Richmond, Virginia, was the same James Farrell of the 32nd Infantry who arrived in Camp Cameron in Arizona Territory on 12 December 1866 to be tried by court martial along with Thomas S. McNamara and five other soldiers. However, James Farrell is a very common name, and this James Farrell had been "in confinement at the Penitentiary, State of Virginia, since Dec. 22nd 1866 serving sentence by civil authority for eight years", according to the May 1869 post return for the 21st Infantry.

Quite surprised that Thomas S. McNamara would go to Virginia after being discharged from the 32nd Infantry in Wilmington, California. If traveling via Panama, he would have arrived sometime in November 1868, and had already reenlisted with the U.S. army on 14 January 1869. Did he reenlist in Virginia because that was where the 21st Infantry was then located? Or was there another reason to be in Virginia? And given this new information, it is interesting to revisit the question why did Thomas S. McNamara enlist in 1865 to fight in the Arizona Territory at the age of 37 years? It seemed like an odd decision, and my original theory that Thomas S. McNamara had previously fought in the Civil War and grown accustomed to military life, upon further consideration, might be accurate.

But did Thomas S. McNamara fight on the side of the Union or the Confederacy?

A Thomas S. McNamara enlisted on 25 April 1861 at Richmond, Virginia with the First Virginia Artillery, Company I, under Captain Henry Coalter Cabell. His unit was known as Richmond Fayette Artillery and later the 38th Virginia Light Artillery Battalion. They fought at the Battle of Sharpsburg (Antietam) and the Battle of Fredericksburg in 1862; the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863; and the Battle of Cold Harbor in 1864; and the Siege of Petersburg. Thomas S. McNamara was reported on the company muster roll each month until February 1865, but was likely with his unit when they disbanded in mid April 1865.

https://civilwarintheeast.com/confedera ... artillery/
https://stonesentinels.com/cold-harbor/ ... battalion/

Another Thomas McNamara enlisted as a private on 4 June, 1863 at Washington County, Virginia with Company B of the 30th Battalion, Virginia Sharpshooters, as a substitute for William H. McCormick. Place of birth was not reported, but since McNamara had enlisted as a "substitute" he was likely both poor and foreign born. On a company roll sheet, Thomas was reported "near Cold Harbor" on 4 May 1864 with the remark "seriously in leg". He was admitted to Stuart Hospital in Richmond on 4 June 1864 with disease of "vulrius sclopet" (a gunshot wound). On 27 June 1864, Thomas was transferred to Chimborazo Hospital in Richmond with "v s left leg". He was returned to duty on 29 July 1864. A private "T McNamary" of Company B, 30th Battalion was captured at Fisher's Hill by Union troops on 22 September 1864 and sent to the Union prisoner of war camp at Point Lookout, Maryland, on 1 October 1864. A "Roll of Prisoners of War" at Point Lookout stated that "Thos Macnamara" of Company B, 30th Battalion, was captured at Fisher's Hill on 22 September 1864 and was released on 15 October 1864, "on joining the United States service". Included in his "file" was a note summarizing Thomas McNamara's service (excluding his capture and subsequent release) with the 30th Battalion and stating "Report made to Pension Office, June 8, 1900".

https://www.mycivilwar.com/pow/md-point-lookout.html

A Thomas McNamara "enlisted" as a private on 12 October 1864 at Richmond, Virginia with Company B of Tucker's Regiment, Confederate Infantry by Lt. Colonel J. G. Tucker. He was a "galvanized Yankee". "Tucker's Confederate Regiment was recruited from prisoners at Florence, South Carolina; Salisbury, North Carolina; and Richmond, Virginia. It was organized on October 16, 1864, as the 1st Foreign Battalion. It was later increased to regimental size and renamed the 1st Foreign Legion, and finally renamed Tucker's Confederate Regiment on February 28, 1865" according to the National Archives description of "Rolls of Federal Prisoners of War Who Enlisted in the Confederate Army, 1862 - 1905". Tucker's Regiment was known in Virginia as the "First Foreign Legion", so this Thomas McNamara was very likely Irish born. It would have been interesting to know what Union regiment he had originally enlisted, but no other information was provided.

https://catalog.archives.gov/id/615175

Civil War prison of war camps, run by both the Union and Confederacy, had a bad reputation and high death rate, so not too surprising that a prisoner of war might enlist to fight for the other side. Especially, if the soldier was foreign born. However, it is a truly remarkable coincidence that two privates named Thomas McNamara, one each from the North and South, both likely Irish born, would switch sides in the Civil War during the same week of October 1864.

While a Confederate veteran or widow was not eligible for a federal U.S. pension, the Commonwealth of Virginia had their own pension program for Civil War veterans from their state. The fact that the Thomas McNamara of the 30th Battalion, Virginia Sharpshooters, had a note in his file dated 1900 from the pension office would likely exclude him from being the Thomas S. McNamara who had enlisted with the 14th / 32nd Infantry Regiment and fought in the Arizona Territory.

The Thomas S. McNamara who had enlisted at Richmond, Virginia and fought with the Richmond Fayette Light Artillery, I reckon, has a very good chance to be the Thomas S. McNamara who later enlisted with the 14th / 32nd Infantry Regiment. Richmond was in shambles at the end of the Civil War, and it would be reasonable that any Irish born veteran or resident of Richmond would go North looking for work. A veteran of the Confederacy, who was only a private, could enlist with the U.S. army at the end of the Civil War as long as the regiment fought west of the Mississippi. Such was the case for New York enlistees of the 14th Regiment in late 1865 who were being sent to the Presidio in San Francisco.

If the 14th Regiment had many Confederate veterans this might explain the internal fighting just outside the Presidio between the 1st and 3rd Battalions on Christmas Day 1865 (see newspaper article a few postings back). The court martial records from Camp Cameron, Arizona Territory, for Thomas S. McNamara, which include witness testimony, could possibly provide evidence for my theory if the root cause of the court martial was a dispute between Union and Confederate veterans while at Camp Goodwin. Unlikely, but the court martial case files are fairly easy to obtain from the National Archives:

https://catalog.archives.gov/id/591699

The Family History Library has court martial case files for the period 1861 through 1866, available on-line, but only for those soldiers who were executed, including an Irish born Patrick McNamara of Company K of the 32nd NY Volunteers (roll 4, pages 393 to 420):

https://www.familysearch.org/search/cat ... %20Library

For all other court martial cases, the Family History Library has "Registers of the records of the proceedings of the U.S. Army General courts-martial, 1809-1890" which are available on-line. Thomas McNamara, of Company D of the 14th Infantry, is included in the register (index #2076) which confirms that his original court martial proceedings are indeed located at the National Archives in Washington DC.

https://www.familysearch.org/search/cat ... %20Library

Registry of Trials by General Courts Martial, Vol. 13 OO, 1862-1868 Vol. 14 (A-Z).jpg
Registry of Trials by General Courts Martial, Vol. 13 OO, 1862-1868 Vol. 14 (A-Z).jpg (112.24 KiB) Viewed 19172 times

Another explanation for why Thomas S. McNamara was in Virginia after being discharged in October 1868 from the 32nd Infantry in California, was possibly to visit relatives living in Petersburg. In the 1870 census for Petersburg there was a John McNamara, born in Ireland, age 35 (≈ 1835), with his wife, Mary McNamara, and two children.

https://www.familysearch.org/search/ark ... 1:MFL5-PZY

On 20 May 1866, John McNamara, age 25 (≈ 1841), born in County Clare, son of Mathew and Mary McNamara, had married Mary Wixtod, age 22, born in County Limerick, daughter of John and Ann Wixtod (in Ireland, more likely Wixtead, Wixted, or Wickstead) at Norfolk, Virginia. Source: Virginia marriages, 1785 - 1940; the original record provided respective birthplaces in Clare and Limerick, unlike this index:

https://www.familysearch.org/search/ark ... 1:XRKY-69N

The widow, Mary A. McNamara, applied for a confederate pension from the state of Virginia in 1900; her husband John McNamara had died in Petersburg on 20 May 1892. John McNamara had enlisted on 10 May 1861 at Covington, Virginia, with Company D of the First Battalion, Virginia Infantry Volunteers, also known as "The Irish Battalion".

https://civilwarintheeast.com/confedera ... battalion/

Other than both being in Petersburg, Virginia in 1869, there is really no connection between the Thomas S. McNamara, who enlisted with the 14th Infantry in New York, and then later the 21st Infantry in Petersburg, and John McNamara, the Confederate veteran of the First Battalion, Virginia Infantry. The fact that both men were born in County Clare, given the surname McNamara, doesn't provide much of a family link between the two men.

The fact that both Thomas S. McNamara of the 14th/32nd Infantry Regiment and Thomas S. McNamara of the Richmond Fayette Light Artillery (38th Battalion) were both diligent in using their middle initial "S" is not a conclusive link, but could be an important clue. And this theory would explain why a 37 year old Thomas S. McNamara would volunteer to fight in the Arizona Territory. The court martial proceedings for Thomas S. McNamara at his January 1867 trial at Camp Cameron might prove very interesting.

The Fenian patriot John Maguire (≈1848 - 1872) and Thomas S. McNamara (≈1832 - 1871) of the 14th/32nd Infantry led very different lives, but both men had one thing in common. They were both held in confinement during the year 1867, albeit, most surely for vastly different reasons.

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