Doctor James McGarry, Surgeon 1st NYV Engineers
From Ron McGarry
Dr McGarry taken by George T Lape from Jeff Lape.
Note from Dr Ron McGarry about his ancestor Dr James McGarry.
Thanks for you quick reply. Attached is a scan of a copy of a photo of James
McGarry. The original is a small tintype, but the detail on the copy is very
good. James was a Canadian born in Niagara Falls, Upper Canada (now Ontario) in
1835. He did his medical training at McGill University in Montreal, graduating
in 1858. He mustered into the Union army at Albany in December 1862 as Assistant
Surgeon and was promoted to Surgeon in early 1865 upon the death of Dr. A. Snow.
After the war, he returned to Niagara Falls, where he continued family practice
until his death in 1905. He brought his horse home from the war, said to be a
large black horse with a white star on the forehead. He apparently loved the
horse and when he had finished his house calls for the day, he would sleep in
the back of the buggy while his horse took him home. There have been four
generation of doctors in my family so far, starting with James and my son is
waiting to see if he will be accepted into medical school (his own choice, I
don't think I pressured him). Most people in the United States don't realize
that up to 50,000 Canadians served on both sides in the civil war. James was not
married before he went to war, so unfortunately we don't have any letters or
such to document his experiences. I know of a least one other photo of him
recently sold on EBay and identified by us. I also know that there is a photo in
existence of James McGarry and US Grant, signed by both and likely taken by
Brady. It was sold by an antique dealer in Niagara Falls in the late 70's so if
I can ever find it, I would dearly like a copy. If I can do anything else for
you, let me know. I hope this scan sends OK.