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Sunday’s Obituary – James Quigley (1846-1944)


I found the obituary for James Quigley and other Quigleys of Napa, California on Friday at the California State Library.  James Quigley was the father of my great-great-aunt, Ethel E. Sullivan’s husband, John Vir Quigley.  I found this obituary interesting because he was the last surviving Civil War veteran in Napa.  I am interested in finding out more about James Quigley’s service in the Civil War.

            Funeral Tomorrow for James Quigley, Napa's Last Veteran of the Civil War
Napa's last Civil War veteran is dead.
        Funeral services will be held at the Treadway Chapel at 10:30 o'clock tomorrow morning for James Quigley, 98, who accompanied General Sherman on his famous march through Georgia.  The aged veteran, who would have been 98 on November 9, died Tuesday at the Veteran's Home Hospital after a long period of failing health.
        Enlisting in the Civil War when little more than 16 years of age, Mr. Quigley served in Company B 11th Wisconsin Volunteers.  He was mustered out of service on September 4, 1865 after participating as a sharpshooter in the Battle of Bull Run, the battle of Chatanooga [sic] and other notable events of the war.
        Casting his first ballot as a voter for Abraham Lincoln, Mr. Quigley had voted in every presidential election since.  As a young man he lived in Kansas where he engaged in ranching.
        In the fall of 1888 he came West in a covered wagon with his family, settling in Walla Walla, Washington, after a 16 weeks' trip across the continent.  There he followed the vocation of contracting.  He came to California in 1921.
        His wife, Ellen Quigley, passed away in 1933.  He had since made his home with members of the family on Atlas Road.
        The deceased was born in Trumbell county, Ohio on November 9, 1846.
        He is survived by three children, George W. Quigley of San Francisco, Margaret Q Norwood and J.V. Quigley, both of Napa; two grandchildren, Doris E. Person of Maxville, Montana, and John James Quigley of the United States Navy; and by a grandniece, Mrs. Grace Huber of Napa.

This obituary was in Napa (California) Journal, 6 Oct 1944, p. 1. It is one of several Napa newspapers available on microfilm at the California State Library in Sacramento.

I learned a lot about James Quigley and have a list of future research I can do:
         ·         Military records on the Company B, 6th Wisconsin Volunteers
         ·         Civil War records for James Quigley
         ·         Voter registrations in California
         ·         Census records in Washington for 1900, 1910, and 1920
         ·         Census record in California for 1930
         ·         1850, 1860, 1870, & 1880 census records in Ohio, Wisconsin, & Kansas
         ·         Following his children: George W, Margaret, and J.W. Quigley

I also found the obituaries for his wife, Ellen, and two of his children, J.V. Quigley and Margaret Q. Norwood.

**Correction 1 Aug 2011: It was the 11th, not the 6th Wisconsin Volunteers 

Copyright © 2011 by Lisa Suzanne Gorrell, My Trails into the Past

Comments

  1. Do you have a copy of the John Vir Quigley obituary you mention in the James Quigley, Civil War vet, blog? Would be interested in a copy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's right there in the post. Right click on the image and save.

      Delete

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