Thomas CAHILL

<p>I believe THOMAS CAHILL is the older brother of my greatgrandfather RICHARD CAHILL.</p><p><p></p></p><p><p>Thomas immigrated from Ireland in 1855. He made his declaration of intent in 1856. He served three years in the Union army (Aug 1862- Aug 1865) in Company E of the 95th infantry volunteers. At the Battle of Lake Providence on June 9,1863 Thomas was wounded in the right knee. The ball remained lodged there for the rest of his life. It looks like he was the only Union casualty in that battle. This battle was part of the Confederate's attempt to loosen the Union's seize of Vicksburg.</p><p><p></p></p><p><p>He married Mary McCarthy in McHenry County in 1858.</p></p><p><p></p></p><p><p>The 1870 census finds Thomas and his family living in Coral Township, McHenry County, Illinois. He works for the railroad. The 1880 census finds Thomas and his family living in the town of LaSalle, Illinois. The 1880 census lists Thomas as a coal miner but this was an error. Information obtained laterindicates that he worked for the Illinois Central RR which had a large depot in LaSalle Illinois.</p><p><p></p></p><p><p>According to his daughter Mary's obituary the family moved to Ottawa, Kansas for a time before moving to Washington, Missouri.</p><p><p></p></p><p><p>In 1883 Thomas moved to Washington, Missouri, where he passed away in 1894. Thomas died of pneumonia. At the time of his death he was Roadmaster for the Missouri Pacific RR, responsible for the line from Pacific, Missouri west across several counties to the hub in Osage County. An 1889 local newspaper article referred to Thomas as the Senior Vice Commander of the GAR Post no. 332, a Union Army veterans organization.</p><p><p></p></p><p>We have a photograph of Thomas taken about 1890 accompanied by a little girl who may behis granddaughter Anny Cahill. The photo was found in my grandmother's papers and was labeled Uncle Tom. The photo is filed in my computer archive for 2013.

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