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The Arms of the Chief of the Name and 20th Clan Chief following the Interlocutor signed by Lord Lyon of March 2021. There has been a backlog of work for the Herald Painters team at Lyon Court with the Arms being finished in December 2024. Click on this link for further information: https://clanirving.com/the-chief/

I’ve been digging for a time on another veteran interred at the Rossville Cemetery. Finally, I located a significant document which provided the needed names and dates to allow us to be able to add him to the list on our web site so he can be honored this coming year on Wreaths Across America. We have more veterans being researched and as I can, I will publish an article on each and every individual. The common denominator with genealogical platforms is the posting by individuals on a tree without validating the provenance of the person. Then, other people in a hurry to populate their tree, copy and paste, propagating the misinformation. It is simply human nature, I guess, nothing malicious. In the Rossville Cemetery, with the efforts by a great gentleman cleaning the markers, the inscriptions are much easier to read now. There was one which intrigued me, and that was of Thomas Handmore, obviously a veteran based on his grave marker. Researching this name failed to find any information. The marker, which was supplied by the government, failed to record any dates which contributed to my puzzlement. So, taking a look at the location of the marker, the adjacent two graves are for Peter Hanmore and Hannah Hanmore. Apparently the government added a “d” to the surname. Could Peter and Hannah be Thomas’ parents? You betcha! Looking at various genealogical platforms and individual family trees, the birth and related dates for Thomas were a bit widespread. The next step was to locate records which would resolve this. Our military has, and continues to digitize and categorize their old records. Digging into them, I was able to locate a Widow’s Pension Application. These documents are a gold mine for details and, most were professionally prepared. These documents include the date and proof of death, widow’s name and information, and the information of all living dependent children. This a lengthy file and will available on the Rossville Cemetery Association’s website. Thomas married Ann Requa on November 19th, 1851. I need to mention her family figured prominently in the Revolutionary War, as did Thomas’. If you have time, take a look. Using the year of the wedding it does appear correct when viewing the birth dates of their children Further research into the military records I discovered one document where his name is listed both as Hanmore and Handmore, and when his widow, Ann Requa Hanmore, applied for a grave marker, the name was recorded as Handmore. Thomas enlisted on September 24th, 1861 for a period of three years and was mustered in on October 2nd, 1861 as a Private in Company H, 90th Regiment of the NY Volunteer Infantry. His age is listed as 30, which would have him being born c. 1831. This is confirmed on the 1850 Census. Yet, on the 1855 Census, his age is 32, giving him a birth year of 1823. This is a conundrum, and I’ve yet to locate birth record. He moved up in rank, being promoted to Corporal on July 26th, 1862, and to Sergeant on February 17th, 1863, before being transferred on April 1st, 1863, as Sgt. to Co. E, of the same battalion. He mustered out on July 19th, 1864. On September 14th, 1864, he was admitted to a hospital in Washington, DC. Later, he was transferred to one in Philadelphia. He returned to duty on June 16th, 1865, and was honorably discharged on August 31st, 1865. Sadly, while in the service of his country, he had contracted “chronic diarrhea”, which was the reason for his hospitalization. This was the term for dysentery in those days. It was commonly caused by a combination of damp weather, coupled with bacteria and parasites in the food and water. Medicines, such as turpentine, lead acetate, and aromatic sulfuric acid, tincture of opium, silver nitrate, belladonna, and calomel were used to treat the disease as the exact cause was unknown at that time. Clearly, none of these would cure the condition as we now know. In the spring of 1866, March 2nd, to be exact, seven months after his discharge, Thomas passed away. It appears he never fully recovered from this illness. He was buried next to his parents in the Rossville Cemetery. Thank you for your service, soldier.