Thomas W. Dougherty

The Doughertys had nine children and the five who were living with them in 1900 were all boys. The only girl had just married and moved out. Because Tom was the next-to-youngest, he didn’t know the three siblings who died as children. However, it was two years later that one of his older brothers died of tuberculosis. Then another died in 1915. Then his mother died in 1914 and his father in early 1917. (He was a Civil War veteran and has his own “Notable” story here.)

Funeral arrangements were handled by brother Calvin, who was 47 and married when his father died. Tom was 31 and younger brother Bill was 29; both were single and worked as laborers. Three months later, Congress declared war on Germany. Tom was required to register for the draft in June, but instead he enlisted. Bill registered and was inducted eight months later. (His “Notable” story is found here.) Tom was assigned to Company K of the 9th Infantry in August. They shipped out for France, returning on June 25, 1918.

Military records didn’t specify what he did next, except he was still in the service when he became ill and died on October 19, at the height of the influenza pandemic. It is now known that the majority of deaths during that time were not caused by the influenza virus acting alone. Instead, most victims succumbed to bacterial pneumonia, as Tom did, following the viral infection. Contrary to this newspaper obituary, pneumonia was the official cause of death listed on his death certificate.

The date of death shown here is also incorrect. While he may have indeed been wounded, and perhaps he caught the flu virus while recovering in a hospital, the records to prove it have not been found.

Each of the brothers except Calvin joined their parents at the family plot in Section 202.