Biography

Thomas James Hogan

Birth Thomas was born on 28 May 1875 in St Louis, Missouri, USA.

Baptism He was baptized on 13 Jun 1875 at Sts Mary and Joseph Catholic Church, 6304 Minnesota Ave, St Louis, Missouri, USA. His godparents were James Egan and Mary Dunn.

Death He was murdered on 12 Oct 1899 in the Wabash Railroad yards in Brooklyn, St Clair, Illinois, USA. Everything that I know about his death is in a story below.

Burial He was buried in a pauper's grave in St Clair County, Illinois, USA. His body was exhumed so his brother John Edward Hogan could identify him. After his body was identified by his brother, he was brought home to St Louis, Missouri, USA . There was a funeral from Sts Mary and Joseph Catholic Church and he was reburied at Mt Olive Cemetery, 3906 Mt Olive Rd, St Louis, Missouri, USA. The location is not known and the grave is not marked. So far I have not been able to locate a burial certificate. The records of Sts Mary and Joseph Catholic Church show the record of the funeral and burial.

Residence He was on the 1880 U S Federal Census with his parents and siblings on 3rd Street, now Minnesota Ave, in Carondelet, St Louis, Missouri. In 1899 the St Louis City Directory has the remaining Dennis Hogan Family living on Third Street (now Minnesota Avenue) in Carondelet.

The Murder of Thomas James Hogan

Thomas was murdered in Brooklyn, St Clair, Illinois. I researched the newspaper articles about the murder. I made two trips to the St. Clair County Courthouse in Belleville, Illinois to read the transcripts of the trials.

On Thursday, October 12, 1899, about 4 p.m. Thomas Hogan climbed into a boxcar in the Wabash Railroad yards, half a mile south of Brooklyn, Illinois. He was trying to get a free ride to Chicago. Thomas was a bricklayer and hoped to find work in Chicago. The watchman, Russell Walker, ordered him out of the train car. A fight ensued and Thomas was shot. The bullet entered his back, severing his spine. Thomas ran east about 200 yards and fell face downward in a thick growth of high weeds. Railroad men found Thomas' body near the Chicago and Alton Railroad tracks at Brooklyn, Illinois about 1 p.m. on Friday, October 13, 1899.

His boss, William Kiel, identified his body. Mr. Kiel was called because Thomas possessed a bricklayer's union card signed by Mr. Kiel. He had no other identification. Mr. Kiel didn't know where Thomas lived or who were his next of kin. In those days, men like Thomas were day laborers. They would get paid each day for that day's work and there were no personnel records.

On Saturday afternoon, October 14, 1899, Thomas James Hogan was buried in a pauper's grave in East St. Louis, Illinois. Shortly after the interment, his brother John Edward Hogan and Jake Hoffmeister, a Carondelet undertaker, arrived at the morgue to positively identify the remains. John had read the newspaper stories concerning the death of a Thomas Hogan and came to East St. Louis, Illinois to see if this was his brother. He identified the clothing as Thomas'. He then had the body exhumed for identification. Thomas was brought back to Carondelet, St Louis, Missouri for a proper funeral. He was buried in Mt Olive Cemetery, the exact plot is not known.

On Tuesday morning, October 17, 1899, Russell Walker was arrested in the murder of Thomas James Hogan.

During the trial, Michael Kane, a railroad worker, testified that Russell "Red" Walker first hit Thomas with his fists and a club. Thomas turned his back on Walker and Walker shot him in the back. Thomas was unarmed. Charles Kurrus, the undertaker, testified that Thomas was shot in the back with the bullet exiting his stomach. The bullet severed his spine.

Charles Larson, the future husband of Thomas' sister Mary Ellen "Nellie" Hogan, testified that he had known Thomas Hogan all his life. He helped identify Thomas by a tattoo. He had tattooed himself and Thomas with identical tattoo marks. Dennis Hogan, brother of Thomas, identified Thomas' hat as a hat that Dennis himself had bought for Thomas at Keevil's Hat Company in St. Louis.

The first trial in the State of Illinois vs. Russell Walker was held in Belleville, Illinois on February 27, 1900. Russell Walker, watchman for the Wabash Railroad Company, was found guilty of murder. He appealed the verdict in April of 1900. In May of 1900, there was a motion for a new trial. The second trial was held on May 16, 1900. I have researched all the St. Louis newspapers and have twice read the transcripts of the trials, but I was never able to find out the final disposition of this second trial.

The transcripts of the two trials are on microfilm in the Circuit Clerk's Office in the St. Clair County Courthouse in Belleville, Illinois. The transcripts are very hard to read. I don't recall anyone testifying on behalf of Russell Walker. So I suppose that he was found guilty in the second trial also. I asked one of the clerks about not finding a disposition of the case. She told me that a lot of the old cases are like that. The microfilm of that case ends abruptly.

However, Russell Walker must have been found guilty because I found him on 12 Jun 1900 at the Southern Illinois Penitentiary (now the Menard Corrections Center) on the 1900 U S Federal Census of Chester, Randolph, Illinois, USA .

Sources

• Source: "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M6FT-37B : 16 August 2017), Thomas Hogan in household of Dennis Hogan, St Louis, St Louis, Missouri, United States; citing enumeration district ED 158, sheet 151A, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 0725; FHL microfilm 1,254,725.

• Source: 1899 St Louis City Directory - Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

• Source: The Circuit Clerk's Office of St Clair County, Illinois in Belleville, Illinois. St Clair County Courthouse, #10 Public Square, Belleville, Illinois, 62220. The Circuit Clerk's Office is on the 2nd Floor.