I received the following note from John & Linda Gleason,
dtd. April 15th, 2004. Many thanks for the info and correction.
I was looking at your photos and noticed an error in one of your captions. General Thomas grave
is in the Kellogg family plot on the Oakwood Cemerery in Troy NY not Rochester.
His wife Frances refused an offer from General Sherman to have him inured at West Point or in
New York City. as she planned to return to her home in Troy and wanted her husband to be near her. I think there was more
to it than that however as I am sure she knew the relationship between her Husband, Sherman and Grant. This was her way of
having the final say in her Husbands life and career. I wish some letters survived that would confirm this. I believe she
destroyed them all because throughout the war and all his mistreatment and humiliation he confided his deepest feelings to
her and as most of his detractors were still alive she did not want them falling into the wrong hands. She was as noble as
her Husband.
I would have loved to be on this small up State city just cross the river from Albany to see
the 10,000 mourners at the funeral. It would have been great to see President Grant and members of his cabinet climb the hill
to the receiving vault where Thomas was placed till the ground thawed enough to dig the grave.
I have been to the grave as it is only 2 hours from me. I try to help clean the site when I can
as this cemetery which contains the bodies of 9 Civil War generals along with Samuel Wilson (Uncle Sam) is very poor and only
has a small staff.
If you ever wish to go there please let me know
Sincerely Yours
John Gleason
