Grand Army of the Republic Records Ohio

[Michael ONeil]

Hi folks,

I'm trying to find out about the Civil War service of a Patrick F. O’Neil. He was born 28 Jan 1844 in Ireland and he died 17 Jun 1918 in Akron, Ohio. He lived in New York City prior to moving to Akron in 1880 so I suspect his service would have a New York connection. I've checked all the military files on Ancestry and Fold3.

His obit states: "When the Civil War broke out he and two brothers enlisted. The other two boys were killed during the great struggle but Patrick O'Neil fought all the way through, serving most of the time under General Thomas, and taking part in the battles around Nashville and the campaigns west of the mountains."

To me that seems to imply that the branch of service was the army?

He's buried at St Vincent's in Akron and the cemetery inscriptions info from there says US veteran marker is present but there's no more info. Someone suggested this might refer to a GAR marker but I can't find out anymore. I have an image of his headstone and there's nothing there either.

At Ancestry in the Ohio, Soldier Grave Registrations, 1804-1958 it says F. Company, St Vincent's Roster so I was wondering if anyone knows if there are any Ohio GAR records that might contain more info. I don't see anything here http://www.garrecords.org/.

Can anyone help me out with this?

Michael O'Neil, Liverpool, UK.

[ShaunJ]

it says F. Company, St Vincent's Roster

Not sure about that. St Vincents is the cemetery. These records are from index cards at the Summit County library. The original image shows no unit and no serial number: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89LS-Y36K?i=787&cc=1879059

[Michael ONeil]

Cheers Shaun - I know and that's the annoying thing. It says only F. Company, St Vincent's Roster but nothing about regimental Civil War info. As I said someone mentioned the info might refer to GAR hence my post.

[ShaunJ]

It says only F. Company, St Vincent's Roster

It doesn't say quite say that. As you can see from the image, there is no company given - there is just a dash against that question.

"F. St Vincents roster" at the bottom of the card is presumably the source of the information on the card. Looking at adjacent cards, they all have some similar annotation.

[oldohiohome]

comparing these two pages, it looks like Company F of the 19th Ohio Infantry fought in the same places as General Thomas. And came from Northern Ohio, I think.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Henry_Thomas

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/19th_Ohio_Infantry

I really don't know a regiment from a company from a battalion, etc., so you are on your own. But there is a lot of Civil War websites and you should eventually the right combination of search words to track down the unit Patrick fought in and where they fought.

Funny he didn't file for a pension?

and a tree at ancestry says, with no source, that he was born in Clonakilty, Cork.


he doesn't show up here
https://www.ogs.org/research/results_ohcwss.php

or here
https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-soldiers.htm#sort=score+desc&q=oneill

[ShaunJ]

The Official Roster of the Soldiers of the State of Ohio in the War of the Rebellion 1861-1865 might be a useful resource

https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000454243

https://archive.org/details/ohiowarroster03howerich/page/n5

[Michael ONeil]

Thanks Sean and OldOhio.

The tree at Ancestry could well be mine and he was born Cashelisky but baptised Clonakilty - that's 100% sure. I've used tons of CW sources and it's always been a case of too many Patrick O'Neils to rule out/in and none with any sort of crib that I could say yes for certain.

As I said in my original post, Patrick was New York City based until he moved to Akron in 1880 so I'm inclined to think that if he did serve then whatever branch of service would have a NY connection? I've gone through all the NY army rosters and checked as many navy files as available.

His brother John died June 1862 - 2nd class fireman aboard the USS Port Royal. I know for a fact that the obit is wrong in that only the one brother (John) perished - I have a full pension file for John - 120-odd pages of genealogical gold. As for who the other brother is who enlisted then so far my research points to a Peter though again I can't find anything certain for him. The brothers' father died in July 1865 in NYC and at the reading of the probate the rest of the family are listed with addresses given in NYC except Peter. His is given as Charleston but this has been crossed out and replaced with Undetermined. Possibly he was last known of as being in Charleston (possibly serving) and had not made it back to NYC yet? Given the rest of the family (Patrick and another brother Michael apart in 1880) never left NYC then I can't think of another reason why Peter would have been in Charleston.

Anyhow coming back to my original posting for info about Patrick, I've used Ohio records only post 1880 and have all the Summit County Veterans Schedule pages and he doesn't appear there either - this did surprise me. And no I couldn't find any pension application either so I kept hitting brick walls.

I had an earlier lead in the St Vincent's burial info which says a Civil War Marker is present. This info was taken from transcriptions made in 1959 and 2002 but there is nothing at the gravesite. The headstone is not an upright type, is not a Veterans headstone but is a simple one set into the floor - states simply name and year born/died. The soldier grave registrations at Ancestry appeared to give me a bit more info namely the F company St Vincent's roster lead and as I said someone suggested it could have been a GAR marker - a star in a spike I think they were. Anyhow I was hoping to find out if there were any Ohio GAR records that might have something about the St Vincent's roster that could lead me to an actual branch of service and/or a regiment.

[ShaunJ]

Sorry - I missed the bit about New York !

[Genealiza]

The O'Neils had a very successful department store in Akron.  I found the snippet of Patrick's obit which might provide more info, if someone has access to the Akron Beacon Journal:  17 Jun 1918, page 1

https://www.newspapers.com/search/#lnd=1&query=%22Patrick+O%27Neil%22&t=4267,4750,1357&p_place=OH

Sorry, missed the obit reference above.