Discharge of Thomas Donahue

May 19, 1850. Ft. Columbus , Governors Island, New York Harbor

The All Important Discharge Document-

Required for any Land Warrant Bounty Claim &

The De Facto Deed to 160 Acres of Free Land

Governors Island-

About the Time Thomas Donahue

And the 1st Division Artillery

Arrived From Mexico in the Late 1840's

The following web-page excerpt gives a brief history describing the important Military role of the island.

Governors Island, in the heart of New York Harbor, is only 800 yards from Lower Manhattan, and even closer to Brooklyn. It is a world unto itself, unique and full of promise.

For almost two centuries, Governors Island was a military base - home to the US Army and Coast Guard. Due to changing needs in operations, the Coast Guard closed and “mothballed” the Island in 1996. New York’s leaders recognized the Island’s potential, and in 2003 the federal government sold most of the Island to the people of New York for one dollar. Today, the Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation (GIPEC) oversees 150 acres of the Island, while the National Park Service manages the balance, the 22-acre Governors Island National Monument which includes two 1812-era forts.

The 172-acre Island is about 22 city-blocks long from tip to tip. The northern 92 acres of the Island are the Governors Island Historic District and are open to the public for picnics, tours, concerts, car-free biking, and more. The 80-acre non-historic South Island, full of decrepit barracks and warehouses, is currently closed, undergoing major demolition work and slated for redevelopment.

The Historical Portion is Outlined in Blue. The Remaining 100 acres is composed of fill material

Fort Columbus but a short Ferry ride from lower Manhatten and the historic Five Points area.

The Battery Section where Castle Garden, the predecesor of Ellis Island, on the southern tip of New York City is locatecd, was but a short distance to the district of choice for all arriving immigrants, from the earliest of times and even until today. New Yorks Chinatown is the area where the Irish, the Italians and other ethnic groups settled in to begin their new lives in America for over 150 years. During the mid 1800's it was known as the Five Points area consisting of mostly Irish immigrants at the time Thomas Donahue was stationed at Ft. Columbus awaiting his discharge. A recent movie "The Gangs of New York" presents a vivid picture of what the area surely looked like in the early 1860's ten years after Thomas and his new Bride left for the west. The scenery of the movie easily transports my imagination back to that period and allows me to appreciate even more what the Donahue's experienced in the way of suroundings. It was a crowded area even in 1850 for the newly arrived immigrants felt a certain comfort in their new land by being around those of a common background.

If ever I have the opportunity to tour New York City properly, Governors Island will be near the top of the list of historical sites to visit.

The posting of the 1st U.S. Artillery to New York Harbor became a very important event in the life of Thomas.