Jennie Hodgers Mural
Donation protected
We propose to erect a mural of Jennie Hodgers/Albert Cashier in the main street area of Clogherhead
Village. The idea is to attract tourists to our village using Jennie Hodgers' incredible story. A mural would be achievable at a reasonable cost and would create a focal point to potential visitors to the village. This is the start of a project to create several murals and points of interest around the village and the development of a historic walking trail in Clogherhead.
Albert D. J. Cashier (December 25, 1843 – October 10, 1915), born Jennie Irene Hodgers, in Clogherhead, County Louth, Ireland on December 25, 1843, to Sallie and Patrick Hodgers. Cashier served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Cashier adopted the identity of a man before enlisting, and maintained it until death. Cashier became famous as one of a number of women soldiers who served as men during the Civil War.
The regiment was part of the Army of the Tennessee under Ulysses S. Grant and fought in approximately forty battles, including the siege at Vicksburg. During this campaign, Cashier was captured while performing reconnaissance, but managed to escape and return to the regiment.
After the war, Cashier returned to Belvidere, Illinois for a time, working for Samuel Pepper and continuing to live as a man. Settling in Saunemin, Illinois in 1869, Cashier worked as a farmhand as well as performing odd jobs around the town and can be found in the town payroll records. Cashier lived with employer Joshua Chesbro and his family in exchange for work, and had also slept for a time in the Cording Hardware store in exchange for labor. In 1885, the Chesbro family had a small house built for Cashier. For over forty years, Cashier lived in Saunemin and was a church janitor, cemetery worker, and street lamplighter. Living as a man allowed Cashier to vote in elections and to later claim a veteran's pension under the same name. Pension payments started in 1907.
In later years, Cashier ate with the neighboring Lannon family. The Lannons discovered their friend's sex when Cashier fell ill, but decided not make their discovery public.
In 1911, Cashier, who was working for State Senator Ira Lish, was hit by the Senator's car, resulting in a broken leg. A physician found out the patient's secret in the hospital, but did not disclose the information. No longer able to work, Cashier was moved to the Soldiers and Sailors home in Quincy, Illinois on May 5, 1911. Many friends and fellow soldiers from the Ninety-fifth Regiment visited. Cashier lived there until an obvious deterioration of mind began to take place and was moved to the Watertown State Hospital for the Insane in March 1914. Attendants at the Watertown State Hospital discovered Cashier's sex, at which point, the patient was made to wear women's clothes again after what we can assume would be more than fifty years. In 1914, Cashier was investigated for fraud by the veterans' pension board; former comrades confirmed that Cashier was in fact the person who had fought in the Civil War and the board decided in February 1915 that payments should continue for life.
Albert Cashier died on October 10, 1915 and was buried in uniform. The tombstone was inscribed "Albert D. J. Cashier, Co. G, 95 Ill. Inf." Cashier was given an official Grand Army of the Republic funerary service, and was buried with full military honors. It took W.J. Singleton (executor of Cashier's estate) nine years to track Cashier's identity back to the birth name of Jennie Hodgers. None of the would-be heirs proved convincing, and the estate of about $282 (after payment of funeral expenses) was deposited in the Adams County, Illinois, treasury. The name on the original tombstone is Albert D. J. Cashier. In the 1970s, a second tombstone, inscribed with both names, was placed near the first one at Sunny Slope cemetery in Saunemin, Illinois.
Cashier is listed on the internal wall of the Illinois memorial at Vicksburg National Military Park.
Village. The idea is to attract tourists to our village using Jennie Hodgers' incredible story. A mural would be achievable at a reasonable cost and would create a focal point to potential visitors to the village. This is the start of a project to create several murals and points of interest around the village and the development of a historic walking trail in Clogherhead.
Albert D. J. Cashier (December 25, 1843 – October 10, 1915), born Jennie Irene Hodgers, in Clogherhead, County Louth, Ireland on December 25, 1843, to Sallie and Patrick Hodgers. Cashier served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Cashier adopted the identity of a man before enlisting, and maintained it until death. Cashier became famous as one of a number of women soldiers who served as men during the Civil War.
The regiment was part of the Army of the Tennessee under Ulysses S. Grant and fought in approximately forty battles, including the siege at Vicksburg. During this campaign, Cashier was captured while performing reconnaissance, but managed to escape and return to the regiment.
After the war, Cashier returned to Belvidere, Illinois for a time, working for Samuel Pepper and continuing to live as a man. Settling in Saunemin, Illinois in 1869, Cashier worked as a farmhand as well as performing odd jobs around the town and can be found in the town payroll records. Cashier lived with employer Joshua Chesbro and his family in exchange for work, and had also slept for a time in the Cording Hardware store in exchange for labor. In 1885, the Chesbro family had a small house built for Cashier. For over forty years, Cashier lived in Saunemin and was a church janitor, cemetery worker, and street lamplighter. Living as a man allowed Cashier to vote in elections and to later claim a veteran's pension under the same name. Pension payments started in 1907.
In later years, Cashier ate with the neighboring Lannon family. The Lannons discovered their friend's sex when Cashier fell ill, but decided not make their discovery public.
In 1911, Cashier, who was working for State Senator Ira Lish, was hit by the Senator's car, resulting in a broken leg. A physician found out the patient's secret in the hospital, but did not disclose the information. No longer able to work, Cashier was moved to the Soldiers and Sailors home in Quincy, Illinois on May 5, 1911. Many friends and fellow soldiers from the Ninety-fifth Regiment visited. Cashier lived there until an obvious deterioration of mind began to take place and was moved to the Watertown State Hospital for the Insane in March 1914. Attendants at the Watertown State Hospital discovered Cashier's sex, at which point, the patient was made to wear women's clothes again after what we can assume would be more than fifty years. In 1914, Cashier was investigated for fraud by the veterans' pension board; former comrades confirmed that Cashier was in fact the person who had fought in the Civil War and the board decided in February 1915 that payments should continue for life.
Albert Cashier died on October 10, 1915 and was buried in uniform. The tombstone was inscribed "Albert D. J. Cashier, Co. G, 95 Ill. Inf." Cashier was given an official Grand Army of the Republic funerary service, and was buried with full military honors. It took W.J. Singleton (executor of Cashier's estate) nine years to track Cashier's identity back to the birth name of Jennie Hodgers. None of the would-be heirs proved convincing, and the estate of about $282 (after payment of funeral expenses) was deposited in the Adams County, Illinois, treasury. The name on the original tombstone is Albert D. J. Cashier. In the 1970s, a second tombstone, inscribed with both names, was placed near the first one at Sunny Slope cemetery in Saunemin, Illinois.
Cashier is listed on the internal wall of the Illinois memorial at Vicksburg National Military Park.
Organizer
Robert Gargan
Organizer
