Gannon, Thomas died 1886

GANNON

Posted By: Reid R. Johnson (email)
Date: 12/8/2022 at 00:38:46

Clayton County Journal, 03 Mar. 1886.

Died- At the Independence asylum, Sunday evening, Feb. 21st, '86, Mr. Thomas Gannon, aged 54 years.

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Added by S. Ferrall:

DIED - At the Asylum, at Independence, Iowa, February 21st, 1886, Thomas Gannon, aged 51 years, 5 months and 7 days.

The announcement of the death of Mr. Gannon was received by his family Monday morning, and the remains reached this city and his home in the evening, the funeral occurring yesterday, attended by a large concourse of citizens.

Poor Tom! For two or three years past he has been suffering from a combination of diseases, which deprived him of his reason, and compelled his confinement in the asylum at Independence, Iowa.

At one time he seemed to grow better and returned home with the hope that he was to regain his health and enjoy a quiet life within the bounds of the family circle, but again the malady returned, in a more serious form, and he went back to the asylum, gradually, yet surely his strong, sturdy frame, giving way to the masterslip, until finally the hour of dissolution arrived and the silken cord of life was snapped assunder.

Mr. Gannon was a laboring man; a quiet, industrous citizen; one against whom, we doubt if a real wrong was ever attributed. His home was his Paradise; the family his pride; within he idolized, without his labor was for their comfort and their good.

An honest man, upright and square in his dealings with his fellow men, a neighbor and friend worthy of the favored recognition he received duringhis long residence in McGregor.

We write, feelingly, of poor Tom. We knew him, not only as a neighbor and friend, but as one always apparently contented and happy. Beneath his rough exterior there was a child-like simplicity; in his plain, honest speaking Irish-brogue, there was an earnestness, tinged with genuine wit and humor, that commanded a most respectful attention.

If he was not "learned in the books," his manner and method of expression was evidence of a practical common-sense learning, which he had acquired in a rough and uneven life, tolling for his daily bread

Mr. Thomas Gannon was born in the county of Galaway, in Dunmore, Ireland. He came to America when 22 years of age, and to McGregor about thirty years ago. He leaves a wife and seven children Three brothers survive him two residing in Massillon, Ohio, and one in Franklin, Ohio. He was born and raised in the Catholic faith a devoted member true to its demand.

~North Iowa Times, Thursday, February 25, 1886; pg 3

Notes:
1870 US census, McGregor: Thomas Gannon, age 35, laborer, b. Ireland; wife Catharine, age 28, b. Ireland; children John (6), Mary (5), Thomas (3) & William (1) all born Iowa

1880 US census, McGregor: Thos Gannon (50), Catherine (40), John (20), Mary E. (15), Thos (13), Wm (11), Edward (9) & Kate (6)

-The 7th child was Harry O. Gannon, who for some reason was not included on the 1880 census although his obit gives his birth in 1877