assassination

[Jim Woodall]

Thank you Susan for digging up that Loyalty oath so quickly. Did you have that saved off already or do you have a source of loyalty oaths that you consult readily?


More info on John Holohan:

National Republican 8 Aug 1861 pg 3 - more of a description of the testimony against John Holohan regarding Bull Run.

National Republican 10 Feb 1862 pg 1 - let go from Navy Yard during a purge of questionable characters. He was employed in the Quartermaster's Department.

Local Intelligence 10 Jun 1863 pg 3 - arrested for attempted garroting of a Mr. Resin Webster

Evening Star 7 Aug 1861 pg 3 - light description of investigation regarding Bull Run.

Evening Star 8 Aug 1861 pg 3 - two columns of trial and witnesses regarding Bull Run investigation.

It would appear that John T and perhaps his dad, John, worked on the extension of the Capitol for several years. At some point, perhaps John T had to take on other jobs, perhaps as early as 1850 when a John Holohan was a day watchman (perhaps at the English embassy? but this might be his father). Certainly, in the 1860's, he was catching what he could for work. Their are articles indicating bills for relief of John Holohan at several points in time, probably reflective of work done on the Capitol but delay in payment.

His dad died in 1857 being reportedly in the district since the 1810s and perhaps 80 years old (although that does not seem to match with the census record which seems to indicate about 1790 for his birth in Limerick, Ireland).

The father, John, in an indenture for debt dated 1824 is listed as living in Alexandria, then part of the district. His wife had to sign off on the note. Her name is given as Bridget. This info is from the note being presented for auction by the site, rareamericana.com, because the person signing it is Judge Richard Bland Lee, a former Virginia Congressman and friend of James Madison.

The father was in business with a James Holohan who I believe is a brother. The father was an orderly sergeant with the National Volunteers while James was the same for the District Artillery.

The father definitely kept running into cash flow issues because his properties were up for auction for taxes and for debts. This was usually house(s)/lots in original lot 4 of square 731. Even after his death, his heirs in 1886, esp. Mary Holohan, were requested to prove cause for it, once again, not to be sold for debt owed against St. Vincent Orphan Asylum. I would assume at this point, the property had passed to John T and his heirs. The father was even in debtor's prison in 1836. See article in Evening Star dated 24 Dec 1886 on page 1.

An interesting article, although it does not reference John T but only Holohan refers to J. M. Lloyd being maintained by the Washington Police force while Holohan was release from the Auxiliary Guard during a consolidation prior to the creation of the MPD. This newspaper article is in the National Republican dated 2 Aug 1861 on page 3.

As early as 1855, John T was a Jackson Democrat. See news article in Daily Union dated 25 Dec 1855 on page 2.

John T, a brother, and his father were stone cutters specializing in marble. Seems like it should have been a good job in the district.

A lot of the newspapers are up on Newspapers.com with most of the older references able to be found on GenealogyBank.com. Some may even be found at the LOC in the chronicling America section where they have digital newspapers (usually not too good with the older issues).