(21 Aug 1842 – 07 Jan 1915. Died at Mount
Carmel, Wabash County, Illinois.)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
COMRADE
THOS. F. BLAND, WELL KNOWN SOLDIER ENDS LIFE’S BATTLES.
------------
DEATH
DUE TO PNEUMONIA, AFTER BUT BRIEF ILLNESS
----------
BODY
WILL BE TAKEN BACK TO OLD HOME AT SULLIVAN, IND., FOR BURIAL
----------
Taps have sounded for another of the
rapidly diminishing host that followed the stars and stripes on the
battlefields of the south from ’61 to ’65, and Comrade
Thomas F. Bland has answered the call.
Comrade Bland died at 3:00 o’clock this (Thursday) morning at the family residence, 123
east Second street, after an illness of but a few
days. He had been in failing health for
some time, but continued to discharge his duties as rural mail carrier until
within a few days of his death. Some
time since he suffered an attack of the grip, but remained at work until
Tuesday of last week, when he went to Sullivan, Ind., to attend the
funeral of a relative, which occurred Wednesday. He returned home on Thursday afternoon, but
was not compelled to take to his bed until Saturday, when pneumonia set
in. Owing to his advanced age he was not
able to combat the disease successfully, and his condition grew worse until
death ensued.
An extremely sad feature in connection
with the case is that Mrs. Bland is also very critically ill of the same
disease that claimed her husband, and it is feared she can not recover.
Thomas Finley Bland was born in New
Lebanon, Sullivan county, Indiana, February 21, 1842, make his age at death 72 years, 10
months and 17 days. He was united in
marriage to Cecilia B. Merry, August 21, 1866, and six children
were born to their union. The oldest, a
daughter, died in infancy. There others
surviving are: Mrs. James F. Springer, Sullivan, Ind.; R.A. bland, Portland, Oregon;
Miss Abbye Bland, Seattle, Wash., and Miss charlotte
and Ray Bland of this city. There are
also four grandchildren, Wallace and Ruth Springer of Sullivan, and georgette
and Richard Bland of this city. Two
sisters, Mesdames Nancy Hunt and Manta Hanchett, and
one brother, William H. Bland, all of Sullivan, are surviving members of the
deceased.
At the age of 19, Mr. Bland enlisted
as a private in Co. I, 41st
Regiment Indiana
Volunteers. His enlistment was
for three years, and he served the entire term in a manner highly creditable to
himself, being discharged from the service at Indianapolis November 25, 1864.
During a campaign in Georgia he was taken
prisoner by the Confederates on May 31, 1864, being held until
December of that year, when he was exchanged.
He served in Andersonville and Camp Lawton, near Milan, Ga. In a memorandum of his prison experience, he
says that when exchanged “a more horrible looking lot of men was
never seen on earth,” and he was so weak from starvation that he could not
walk.
After his discharge from the army he
returned to Sullivan county, Indiana, where he devoted
himself to farming until he removed with his family to Mount Carmel about sixteen
years ago. For some time he was landlord
of the New Mansion house, and after giving that up was appointed by the
Republican editor, then postmaster, as carrier of one of the first three rural
routes established out of the local office, a position the duties of which he
discharged with the greatest faithfulness until the last.
The deceased was a member of the
Masonic order for a period of probably thirty-five years prior to his death,
and he was greatly devoted to it. He was
also a member of the Grand Army of the Republic for a long period, and he took
great pleasure in his association with his comrades of the great
war.
Mr. Bland was a member of the M.E.
church, and while not ostentatious in his profession, was sincere in his
practice of its teachings and was an earnest Christian in every way. He was a good citizen and an excellent man, a
hind husband and father, a good neighbor and friend, who never failed to have a
cheery greeting for every one.
Arrangements for the funeral have not
as yet been announced, but the body will be taken back to Sullivan for
interment at the old home.