Peter Rooney: Irishman, soldier, and travelling man

Peter Rooney

I am so glad Peter Rooney lived briefly in Schaghticoke so I get to write about him. He was born in Ireland about 1840 and came to the U.S. about 1853. I cannot find him for sure in the 1860 US Census, but on August 16, 1861 he enlisted in Company D of the 18^th Indiana Infantry. A roster published by Indiana listed him as Peter Roney and said he lived in Osgood, Indiana.

The 18^th went to Missouri the day after it was mustered in, then to Arkansas for 1862. In 1863 it joined General Grant’s army and participated in the battles leading up to and then in the siege of Vicksburg. In 1864 the Regiment went home briefly, then back to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. In July it was transferred to Virginia and then the Washington, D.C. area, where it had high casualties in several battles, including Fisher Hill and Cedar Creek. Peter mustered out on August 16, 1864, when his three-year enlistment ended.

Photo of some of the 18^th Indiana from the Iron Brigade website

In 1865 Peter appeared on the census for Schaghticoke. He was listed as 21, born in Ireland, and lived with his mother, Catherine Rooney, a widow aged 60 who had had five children. His brother James, 17, lived with them, and they all lived in the same house as Richard and Bridget Barrett and their children. Presumably he had come “home” after his war service. Catherine was a widow living in Schaghticoke as early as the 1860 US Census, when she appeared in the Barrett family. Richard Barrett, 25, was a farm laborer, living with his wife Bridget, 18. I’m betting Bridget was Catherine’s daughter.

 Peter didn’t stay here though.  The next time I found him was in the 1890 Veterans Schedule in Glencoe, Oregon. He filed for a pension on September 30, 1890. There is a Peter Rooney in Washington, Oregon in the 1900 census. He was a widower, a farmer who owned his home. He gave his birth date as October 1842. I’m not sure that is the same Peter.

From here on in, Peter toured the country. I found him as a patient in five different National Soldiers and Sailors Homes from 1902-1917! He consistently reported his service in the 18^th Indiana, that he had been born in Ireland, and that he was 5’6” tall, with dark eyes and grey hair. He was literate, a Catholic, and a widower who had been a farmer. At four of the homes he gave his nearest relative as Mrs. Bridget Barrett of Valley Falls, N.Y. So Richard and Bridget had stayed in the area, and had kept in touch with Peter.  They had had ten children, according to the 1900 census. At one of the homes, he gave her eldest son, John, as his nearest relative.

Peter always gave one of his health problems as deafness, but he also complained of lumbago, catarrh, and heart problems. At the hospital in Marion, Indiana, he added that he had had a gunshot wound of the left leg and forehead! When he was first admitted in 1902, he was receiving a pension of $6 per month, which rose to $40 by the end. The homes were in Marion, Indiana; Johnson City, Tennessee; Hot Springs, South Dakota; and Leavenworth, Kansas. I would have to make a chart to figure out where Peter was on which month of which year, but all of the homes recorded repeated stays, up to a year, from 1902 to 1917. The Marion, Indiana location recorded the only admissions from 1912-1917. At that point, Peter would have been 77–years-old. I am betting he is buried in a National Cemetery, but I can’t find him.

Peter was certainly a world traveler- beginning in Ireland, joining the Army in Indiana, touring many southern states courtesy of Uncle Sam, heading West, then traveling among those different Soldiers Homes, yet keeping connection with his sister in Valley Falls, New York. For a man with so many health problems, he went a long way and lived a long time.