Lantry, Thomas H. 1837-1908

LANTRY, MCGLYNN

Posted By: Linda Ziemann, volunteer (email)
Date: 5/21/2012 at 16:32:21

Algona Courier
August 14, 1908
Page 4

THOS. H. LANTRY

The remains of the late Thos. H. Lantry reached Algona at 8 o’clock last
Saturday morning as planned by those who had the burial in charge. The
remains were accompanied from Spokane by Mrs. Lantry and her two sons, Harry
and Cleve, and daughters Mrs. W. R. Hutchinson of Sioux City and Mrs. B. W.
Haggard of Washington D.C. and from Minneapolis by the deceased’s brother,
J. H. Lantry and by Mr. and Mrs. Thos. Fitzgerald, the latter being Mr.
Lantry’s sister, and by A. D. Clarke. They were met at the depot here by
Mr. W. R. Hutchison of Sioux City, Mr. B. W. Haggard, Mr. and Mrs. Tom
Sherman of Milwaukee and Mr. and Mrs. C. D. Smith of Burt, the two ladies
being daughters of the deceased, and by a number of friends from neighboring
towns and a large number of Algona citizens. The remains were borne to the
church and there deposited until 10 o’clock, when a solemn requiem high mass
was celebrated for the repose of the soul of the deceased. The celebrant of
the mass was Father O’Brien of Eagle Grove, the deacon, Father Schemmel of
Bancroft, and the sub-deacon Father Halpin of Algona. After the mass,
Father Halpin spoke briefly of the character and virtues of the deceased,
being too overcome by his emotion to preach a full sermon. The church was
filled with sympathizing friends who were there to pay their last tribute of
respect to the deceased whom every citizen of Algona and every person in the
surrounding country as far as his acquaintance extended, held in high
esteem, which in many instances reached affection. The funeral procession
reached almost from the church to the cemetery, where was laid for their
eternal repose the remains of Thos. H. Lantry.

Mr. Lantry left Algona last spring with many contending emotions. He felt
that he could not live very long, and he found it painful to break the
associations of forty years and make his home among strangers. But he
wished, as did Mrs. Lantry most ardently, to join his sons who were
unmarried and to make them a home and cast about them the holy influence of
devoted parents. Their daughters were all married and all their children
had left Algona, and so they bravely disposed of their possessions here and
bid their friends a heartfelt adieu and went to Spokane. They bought there
a beautiful home, and every prospect was pleasing had not the hand of death
been laid upon the head of the household. The wife and sons did everything
possible to cheer the stricken husband and father, but to little effect.
The gayeties and life and commercial bustle of Spokane meant nothing to Tom
Lantry. His mind and his heart dwelt on other scenes. To meet any person
from Algona was an evident great pleasure to him. And when his mind
weakened as his bodily strength diminished, he lived over again the years of
his young manhood at Madison and Prairie du Chien, at Pike’s Peak and in the
army.

It was the intention of Mr. Lantry for many years past to be buried at
Madison, Wis., the burial place of his mother and brother and other members
of the Lantry family, but when he left Algona he found that his heart was
attracted back to it. The ties that bound him to Algona were stronger and
more numerous that those that bound him to Madison, and he willed that his
remains be brought here. He also drew plans and specifications of a vault
for his remains with all the style and precision of an architect, he having
been a carpenter in his youth. His grave is lined on all sides and the
bottom with brick and cement walls, and is covered with one solid stone slab
laid also in cement.

Thos. H. Lantry was born in St. Lawrence county, New York, July 24, 1837.
His death occurred on July 23, 1908, he lacking but one day of being 71
years of age. His family moved to Canada in his childhood, and while yet a
boy they moved to Madison, Wisconsin, where he attended school and grew to
manhood and where he learned the carpenter trade. He was there married on
Dec. 20, 1860, to Miss Kate McGlynn, who survives him, and who, during all
his subsequent life, was his guiding spirit and most devoted helpmate. The
young couple moved to Prairie du Chien in 1861 and he entered the employ of
the Milwaukee railroad. Soon afterward he enlisted in the army and marched
with Sherman from Atlanta to the sea.

After the war, he returned to Prairie du Chien and resumed his work for the
Milwaukee railroad, and as soon as passenger trains reached Algona in 1869
the young family came here and made Algona their home until last Spring. In
1883 Mr. Lantry was made station agent at Algona and served in that capacity
until 1885, when he was appointed postmaster by Grover Cleveland. In the
meantime, Mrs. Lantry ran a hotel at the depot and later here in town on the
site of the Rogers & Smith poultry office. The building was burned on
January 15, 1885, and then they went permanently out of the hotel business.

Mr. Lantry served as postmaster until after the election of President
Harrison, when he resigned, and that same year he was elected county
treasurer. At the expiration of his term he was re-elected, and served in
that capacity four years. Soon after he left the treasurer’s office, he
accepted the cashiership of the Algona State Bank, and served in that
capacity to the great benefit of the bank and the satisfaction of its
patrons until March 3rd, last, when on account of failing health he
resigned. The final cause of his death was Bright’s Disease and weakness of
the heart.

Mr. Lantry’s character was an ideal one. His dominant trait was honesty.
No thought of anything that was not honest and honorable found lodgment in
his mind. He was sincere and without guile. He was generous with his
money, contributing liberally to church and to charity, and was one of the
kindest and most affectionate of husbands and fathers. He was plain and
simple in his habits, having no use for ostentation of any kind. He
attended to his work always with fidelity and constancy, always more than
making good. He was a devout Catholic, and during the last years and
especially the last months of his life his thoughts were largely occupied
with religious meditation and the hereafter. Let us hope that his spirit
enjoys the peace due to a good and noble life.

Kossuth Obituaries maintained by Linda Ziemann.
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