Thomas Donahue- Why Did He Enlist in the U.S. Army? A Possible Pre-Military Scenario, But as so Often is the Case When Looking Back, It Is Only Conjecture-

I have debated for quite some time about taking the liberty of posting the following that really has no documentation to support it. It does occur to me though that this is an excellent place to at least present a possibility regarding some of the early activities of Thomas Donahue. The danger is that some in the future may accept this as fact. I do hope that I have made it clear that what I present here is not fact but to me personally it is a distinct possibility, no more, no less.

Ft. Knox, Maine, A Possible Scenario-
Just what brought Thomas Donahue to enlist in Maine? I have one theory and it suggests that Thomas did not enter Maine directly from Canada, but was even recruited in Boston to go north to work as a laborer. During the diplomatic negotiations with Britain in the years following the war of 1812 the U.S. decided it had to improve and increase its defenses along the Atlantic. This was a period of upgrading and new construction of fortifications to defend our harbors from Maine to Florida.

Fort Knox

Bucksport Narrows, Maine

Bangor, Maine, upriver to the right,

The Atlantic Ocean, downstream, to the left, perhaps ten miles

I suggest that Thomas Donahue may have been caught up in this period of military strengthening. There were diplomatic dust-ups with Britain at the time producing ever growing tensions between the two countries. Britain was afraid that the US was planning to take Canada by force, and the new country of the United States felt that Britain would attempt to gain back territory lost during the revolution. For just such reasons the U.S. Army always had a presence in Maine and other border states in order to be positioned to defend the border with Canada. Regardless of any theory about the travels of our Thomas, Maine was a likely destination for any new immigrant focused on joining the Military especially if he entered through Canada regardless of what year. As others have suggested he may have come through Quebec but that would have have more required overland travel to Maine. Even today, that is a tedious drive over many two lane highways if one wants to take the most direct and shortest route. Arriving through St. John, New Brunswick would have allowed for much easier access to Maine by ship or coastal packet.

What I am only speculating on in the following is all predicated on the one record of one Thomas Donahue traveling from New Brunswick to Boston in 1842, about three years before the Army enlistment of our ancestor, and but seven months after the birth of his first child Amelia Bridget in Ireland. Is this our man? We may never know. Was this enough time to travel between Ireland via Canada and then on to Boston? I must admit that during those times that may not have been enough time for the entire journey but entirely possible. It is most likely that he was in Ireland at the time of his daughter’s birth, but if perhaps he had departed home prior to the birth by a few months, then the scenario begins to become very possible in my opinion.

Amelia Bridget Donahue

1842-1921

First Child of Thomas Donahue Sr.

Born in Ireland, Assumedly County Galway

Married John Shimunok in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, August 1862

Four years after her Father brought her from Ireland

Any record of Thomas first landing in Canada corresponding to this timeline has not been found. Not necessarily a requirement but if records of his arrival from Ireland were found it would add some additional viability to what I am suggesting.

Obviously the Archives have somehow added other data to the actual record shown below. Therefore it would be necessary someday to see the actual microfilm to determine just how the date and the ports involved were determined.

The small port of St. George is inland to the west of St. John, a major Canadian immigration port, by approximately 50 miles. Why would someone arriving in St. John make the extra journey to another town to find transportation? Perhaps it was cost, perhaps it was expedient, but the record shows that the Donahue in question chose the Ship North America sailing from St. George to Boston as his method of choice to enter the U.S. I have to remind myself that nothing in this brief record states that the man was an Irish immigrant. This individual very well may have been a Canadian citizen or even an American citizen returning home following a business endeavor in Canada. Thus the record of a Thomas Donahue entering Canada shortly before the time suggested here might prove most helpful.


This period of our American history was the time of the boom in Canal and Railroad construction in the Eastern U.S. A specific need for young and energetic construction labor was the enlargement of the Erie Canal an ongoing project begun in 1836. All these endeavors required back breaking labor and the Irish fulfilled much of that need. There very well may have been a competition for labor to supply the workforces for the many projects in progress at the time and the Irish may have been recruited into labor gangs immediately upon stepping off the ship. If so, Boston would have been an active recruiting ground with immigrants arriving at a rapid rate. The Irish obviously welcomed the opportunities, for even being near the bottom of the social rung of American society, they found themselves in far better living conditions than what they had left in the old country. The coal mines of Pennsylvania employed many Irish as well. The speculation proposed here requires one to believe that our Thomas Donahue very well may have entered the US at Boston under these circumstances and that he was recruited and transported north as a laborer to work in construction gangs. There was need for labor in many large projects with Ft. Knox being but one of them.
Fort Knox again, is very near Bangor, Maine, the city where Thomas enlisted in the Army.

The fort is named after an early Revolutionary War General, who interestingly enough has a fort in Kentucky named after him as well. The fort was being constructed inland from the Maine coast, at Bucksport, to defend Bangor and the surrounding area, an area rich in timber resources. Again, if Thomas was involved in any of this, it is but a theory.

The period between his possible arrival in Boston and his enlistment in Bangor is roughly two years seven months. If he participated in the very beginning of the construction at Ft. Knox that commenced in mid 1844, then we have roughly twenty months of unknown activity, assuming that he did come through Boston. This leads me to speculate even further that he may have been part of an organized work gang that went from job to job. This would have given him ample time to wander north and eventually find himself employed in the Bangor area. I don’t see how we will ever be able to answer any of this.


Ft. Knox was and still remains a large and impressive granite fortress overlooking what is known as the Bucksport Narrows. It was intended to prevent the British from coming inland off the Atlantic and capture Bangor and the surrounding rich timber producing areas. The fort was being constructed under the supervision of the Army Engineers to be eventually transferred to the Artillery for manning upon completion. The first Battery, dug into the earth close to the river in front of the eventual completed stone structure, was completed in 1845. The fort continued under construction for many years as other Batteries were slowly added to a permanent fort until it was finally completed in 1869. It still stands today as a Maine State Park and is quite visible from US Highway 1, the scenic coastal route of Maine as one crosses the bridge at the narrows. Available Internet sources of the Fort’s history do not specify which Artillery unit manned the first Battery.
The 1^st US Artillery very well may have been already stationed in Maine or brought in from out of State to man the first and original defenses at Fort Knox. It is quite possible they were even involved in the day to day building tasks.


Bangor would have been the nearest large town or city at the time, a logical place for the military command to Headquarter early on in our history due to the vulnerability of the area around Penobscot Bay. Again, that is but conjecture, but certainly possible. Recruitment certainly was one of the duties of the military command regardless of their actual location. Oversight and supervision of the work site could surely have been easily conducted from Bangor. The fort itself was but twenty miles downstream from the town. Overland Telegraph was in it’s infancy during this period making it possible that Bangor may have provided access to a Telegraph line, a huge consideration for the establishment of a Military Headquarters. The stone material for the actual fort that began after the completion of the river battery was quarried along the Penobscot River closer to Bangor and transported downstream to the building site by river barge. Steamboat service along the river and bay had been established by the early 1840’s enabling travel accommodations between the fort construction site and the towns along the water. This meant that being part of a work crew 20 miles downriver from Bangor did not mean the men were totally isolated and surely if desired might spend their free time in Bangor, a larger town than Bucksport. All this combines to make me be less surprised that Thomas ended up enlisting in Bangor. If he were part of the fort construction effort then he had opportunity to be in Bangor on probably many occasions.


Thomas’s enlistment record states he was a laborer (as required in any construction effort) at the time of his joining the ranks of the 1^st US Artillery, Company “G”. If he was involved as a civilian in the construction of the fort he may have found himself temporarily out of work at the completion of the first Battery sometime in 1845. The Army was looking for men as the Mexican War was looming on the horizon and the Army may have been a promise of some kind of continued employment for Thomas.

In support of the other possibility that he landed in Canada first and went directly to Maine in order to enlist then he probably would have become aware of the opportunities for employment to the south in Maine immediately upon arrival in Canada. The U.S. Army was in a recruiting phase of some degree at the time and perhaps the promise of a secure Military life is what motivated Thomas to cross the border to the south and find his way to Bangor. No one will ever know if he set foot on North American soil and immediately decided to seek out a way to enlist in the U.S. Army. It was not uncommon for the Army to occasionally advertise for recruits in Irish newspapers in the home country as well in North America. Travel and shipping out of Canada to and from New England was primarily accomplished by small vessels making communication between coastal cities and towns quite easy. Travel to Bangor would have been much easier in this manner rather than traveling overland from inland New Brunswick or Quebec. An immigrant arriving on Canadian soil through St. John or Halifax would have found it easy to obtain passage south the U.S. Perhaps passage or Military records may be found someday to verify either of these scenarios.

I am sorry I cannot provide more facts and I offer only speculation, but I just want others to be aware of what may have been the case. This all took shape during my Canadian trip in 2007 when we passed over the Bucksport Narrows and saw the commanding view of Fort Knox as one crosses the bridge traveling south. It then occurred to me, yes something of that impressive size would have required many laborers and being in the vicinity of Bangor I just started poking around the internet to see what might be put together. Shortly after giving up on the possibility I was reminded by others of the Thomas Donahue entry found on Ancestry that I had looked at but a few months earlier and totally dismissed it until the reminder caused me to apply a little imagination to the situation. Unfortunately my only access to records is via the internet.

All I can provide so far is imagination and conjecture but be assured I will always be tuned into such a possibility. I am fully aware of large holes in all this. Imagination is not one of my strong traits but when the opportunity arises I attempt to go along for the ride since for me personally the opportunity does not come that often.