John Robert Thomas – Captain, United States Army Member of Congress

Courtesy of the Congress of the United States:

Representative from Illinois; born in Mount Vernon, Jefferson County, Illinois, October 11, 1846; he attended the common schools and Hunter Collegiate Institute, Princeton, Indiana; served in the Union Army during the Civil War, and rose from the rank of Private to that of Captain of Company D, One Hundred and Twentieth Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1869 and practiced; city attorney of Metropolis, Illinois, 1869 and 1870; served as State’s attorney 1871-1874; elected as a Republican to the Forty-sixth and to the four succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1879-March 3, 1889); chairman, Committee on Levees and Improvements of the Mississippi River (Forty-seventh Congress); was not a candidate for renomination in 1888; resumed the practice of law in Muskogee, Oklahoma; United States judge in the Indian Territory from June 30, 1897, to June 30, 1901; nominated for Judge of the Supreme Court by the first Republican State convention of Oklahoma, but declined the nomination; member of the Oklahoma State Code Commission 1908-1910; resumed the practice of law in Muskogee, Oklahoma; died in McAlester, Oklahoma, January 19, 1914; interment in Green Hill Cemetery, Muskogee, Oklahome; reinterment in Arlington National Cemetery.

THOMAS, JOHN R

• 2/LT CO D 120TH IND VOLS
• DATE OF DEATH: 01/19/1914
• BURIED AT: SECTION E  SITE 3495
• ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY

Michael Robert Patterson

Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.

Reviewed by: Michael Howard