FRIDAY FINDS~Obituary of my husband's great grandfather Thomas C. Hall, Civil War veteran (1845-1897)

How excited was I when I was looking on a website for one piece of information, and came across something else?

I was on the Fulton History website (over 51 million old newspapers are scanned and available on this free site) trying to locate information about my husband’s 2^nd great grandfather.  I came up empty on him.

Then I thought, why not see if there is anything for my husband’s great grandfather, Thomas C. Hall.

BINGO!!!!!

HIS OBITUARY!

This is a record I have looked for in the past, but never located.  Perhaps I never looked on this website or maybe it wasn’t yet available.  Either way, I have it now and here it is.

(Please click on any image to enlarge it)

Obituary published in the Albany Evening Journal, 20 Jan 1897, page 6

This particular obituary is a bonanza of genealogical information.

Here is my transcription.  The words I had difficulty reading are indicated with an underline.

Thomas Cornelius Hall whose sudden illness from apoplexy was reported yesterday, succumbed to the stroke ten hours later.  Mr. Hall never rallied. He was born in Elisabeth, N.J. and was 52 years of age. His father was the Rev. George Hall, a Congregational divine, whose parents were among the first settlers of Keene, N.H. Mr. Hall went to Saratoga in 1870 and has since resided there. He married Miss Cora E. Brown February 5, 1877, and is survived by her and one son, Charles S. Hall. He also leaves two sisters, Mrs. A. A. Smith of Irvington, Iowa and Miss Emma Griffing of Hampton, Miss. Mr. Hall was a veteran of the late war having served with Company C One Hundred and Second New York Volunteers. When he entered the service he was not old enough to enlist. Mr. Hall was employed by W.H. Granger as baggage express messenger. He was at the time connected with the _____Journal. He was a communicant of Bethesda Episcopal church and a member of it's choir.

Most of the information in this obituary are things I already knew about Thomas’ family.  However, this can be added as yet another source.  And, there were things I didn’t know such as which company he worked for and his church affiliation and singing in the church choir. 

I have sent the church an email asking what records they might have pertaining to Thomas & Cora Hall.

Obituaries are such incredible sources of information for us as family historians.  I’m saddened to think of future genealogists, as the tradition of families having obituaries published is fading from our society.

What obituaries have you located that have given you treasures of information.  I’d love to hear about them.

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST

CIVIL WAR PENSION FILE ~ Cora E. Hall widow of Thomas C. Hall ~ What gems does it contain?

CORA’S SCRAPBOOK ~ Episode 2 – Thomas C. Hall & Cora E. Brown marriage announcement, 1877

If you are related to or connected to anyone in this blog post, please get in touch.  Let’s exchange information.

Happy hunting,
Michigan Girl
Copyright ©  2010-2022   Diane Gould Hall
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION