This collection includes many letters written during the American Civil War by Dr. Charles James O'Hagan, an Irish immigrant who settled in Pitt County, North Carolina, and served in the North Carolina State Troops as a surgeon, to his daughters; and letters written by Confederate soldiers to his eldest daughter. Also included are letters (1840s) from family in Ireland and testamonials written to help Dr. O'Hagan find employment; letters written in the post-Civil War era 1860s through 1882; and letters, photographs, and obituaries concerning the related Laughinghouse and Grimes families of Pitt County, N.C., in the late 19th century and early 20th century.
Dr. Charles James O'Hagan was born on September 16, 1821, in Londonderry County, Ireland, to John Patrick O'Hagan and Martha O'Kane O'Hagan. He was educated in Belfast, Ireland, and immigrated to the United States of America in 1842. Dr. O'Hagan taught school near Greenville, North Carolina, was an early North Carolinian daguerreotypist in 1845, and then embarked on a medical career in the same area. He graduated from New York Medical College in New York City, New York, with a M.D. degree in 1855. O'Hagan wed Ann Elizabeth "Eliza" Forrest of Greene County, North Carolina, in 1846. They had children Elizabeth "Eliza" Courtney Forrest O'Hagan (July 10, 1848 - January 29, 1919) who married Joseph John Laughinghouse Sr., and Martha O'Hagan (1850-July 19,1935).
During the American Civil War, Dr. O'Hagan served as Asst. Surgeon with the 1st North Carolina Cavalry (9th North Carolina State Troops) from June 1861 until May 1862 when he was transferred to the 35th North Carolina Regiment and appointed Surgeon under the command of Brig. General Ransom. He served in this capacity until his parole at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, on April 9, 1865. In late 1862, Dr. O'Hagan was charged with "incompetence and ignorance of the duties of a Surgeon" and was dropped from the rolls, but he was reinstated after the requests of several Confederate physicians. He was tried by a Court Martial, found not guilty, and returned to the 35th NC Regiment in January 1863.
After the war's end, he returned to Greenville and continued practicing medicine. He served as a commissioner and as Mayor of Greenville, and as president of the NC State Medical Society and of the NC State Board of Medical Examiners. Dr. O'Hagan's wife Eliza died in 1871 and he remarried to Elvira Louisa Clark (February 19, 1835 - November 15, 1888) of Pitt County, North Carolina, on August 22, 1877. They had a son Charles James O'Hagan, Jr., born in December 1878. After she died in 1888, Dr. O'Hagan did not wed again. He died on December 18, 1900, in Greenville, North Carolina, and is buried in Cherry Hill Cemetery in Greenville.
The relationship with the Laughinghouse and Grimes families of Pitt County, North Carolina, is due to Elizabeth "Eliza" Courtney Forrest O'Hagan marrying Joseph John Laughinghouse, Sr. Their daughter Elizabeth Forrest Laughinghouse married John Bryan Grimes (a son of Confederate General Bryan Grimes) and they had sons Alston Grimes and Charles O'Hagan Grimes who both figure in the 20th Century material in this collection. Dr. Charles O'Hagan Laughinghouse Sr., a well-known Greenville doctor who was also involved in state medical groups, was another child of Eliza Courtney Forrest O'Hagan and Joseph John Laughinghouse, Sr.
Source: FindAGrave. Retrieved from: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/19423255/charles-james-o'hagan
The majority of this collection are letters written to and from Dr. Charles O'Hagan to his wife and daughters. Other items within the collection include photographs, a genealogy, and clippings.
Purchased from William G. O'Quinn
Processed by Martha Elmore March 2024 with some processing help from Ashlyn Racine
Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law.