At the time of his enlistment in the Union Army (Comp. C, 7th Reg., New Jersey Infantry Volunteers) on March 3, 1865, James lived in Providence, PA, 2 miles west of Scranton. He was injured and discharged in Arlington Heights, Virginia, on July 17, 1865. After his discharge, he lived near Scranton, PA, until April 1873 at which time he moved to Braidwood, IL (near Chicago). His Civil War Pension No. is 918,382. 

James and Kathryn had four children:  

Margaret (Maggie) was born in Scranton, PA, 1868, married a fireman named STAFF in either Pennsylvania or New Jersey and had four daughters (one set of twins). 

Catherine (Kate) was born in Scranton, PA, 1871, and married McCOLLOM and cared for her father James until he died in her home in Chicago, July 12, 1922. 

Mary Jane was born in Braidwood, IL, in July 1874, and never married. 

John Thomas (my grandfather) was born in Braidwood, IL, in March 1878. John Thomas GAHAGAN married Ella SKERRY (from Michigan). Two sons resulted from the marriage. Robert W. GAHAGAN born December 1914, now deceased, has seven children, all still living in the greater Chicago, IL, area and John James GAHAGAN born in Chicago, IL, June 10, 1911, and passed away March 23, 1999. Dad met my mother Beatrice KERNAN, born January 6, 1913, Fresno, California (her family was originally from County Cork, Ireland) while stationed in California during World War II. They were married in Holy Cross Catholic Church, Los Angeles, California,on May 23, 1943, and stayed in California. My brother, James Thomas, my sister, Mary Kathleen, and I, Richard Michael, live in California. 

The 1880 census in Chicago lists James and Kathryn, their four children, and a "cousin Bridget from Ireland." Bridget was listed in the census as being 20 years old in 1880. The family name was spelled GAGHAN in the 1880 census? My father had a faint recollection of this spelling. 

At St. Patrick's Catholic Church, Killala, County Mayo, Father Tuffy was kind enough to show me the church's baptismal records. The records before 1863 were destroyed both at St. Patrick's as well as Castlebar, the county town of Mayo. However, the first recorded Baptism at St. Patrick's is a Bridget GAUGHAN, born 1863. That would make her 17 years old in 1880. With the age difference and the different spelling (GAGHAN vs. GAUGHAN) she may not be the same Bridget living with my great grandfather in 1880. Incidentally, GAUGHAN is a common surname in northern County Mayo. 

My father told me James GAHAGAN had a brother who emigrated from Ireland but not with James. My father never met his great uncle and did not recall his given name. My father met his great uncle's son, Mike, in 1919 or 1920 (my dad was 9 at the time) while visiting Scranton, PA. He recalled that Mike ran a "blind pig" (some sort of speakeasy) during prohibition. 

Finally, I ran across an affidavit dated Feb. 24, 1891, written by a John GAHAGAN, age 52 at the time, in support of my great grandfather's Civil War pension application. John stated he knew James intimately and lived within 1 mile of him for 5 years after his discharge from the Union Army. John would, therefore, be about a year younger than James….perhaps they were brothers?