Thomas Andrew Pennington was born on March 24, 1825, in Russell, Kentucky. His father was Royal Riley Pennington and his mother was Elizabeth Kerns.
On November 18, 1847, he married Cynthia Ann Brown. They had five children before the war, including James T. Pennington, who was William (Bill) Musgrove Jr.’s grandfather. Another child was born in 1863 and two more after the war.
He enlisted in 1862 at the age of 37. He joined Company A, 1st Regiment, Missouri State Militia Calvary Regiment. He started as a second class musician, but by the end of the war, he had been promoted to bugler. On January 24, 1862, Thomas Pennington along with the rest of his company was dispatched to fight against Chandler’s Jawhawkers who had attacked several farms near Atchison, Kansas. Some of the Jawhawkers were captured, the remaining escaped toward White Cloud, Kansas.
He died on April 3, 1880, (age 55 years) in Patton, Bollinger County, Missouri.
Sources
- U.S. Civil War Soldiers, 1861-1865, online, Provo Utah. General Index to Pension Files 1861-1934, National Archives, for Cynthia’s pension application #349881, Feb 4, 1887, filed in Mo. T288, roll 367.
- Index to Compiled Military Service Records, film M390, roll 37. Union Army, Vol.5, p.52.
- Index to Compiled Military Services Records can be found at the following website – www.civilwar.nps.gov/csss/
Copyrighted, 2012 by Andrea Musgrove Perisho.