• General Notes

  Major, U.S.Army
  
      John became a ward of the Orphans Court in Anne Arundel County, MD, after the death of his father. An Anne Arundel County guardianship record indicates that Henry Whalon (Whalen) was appointed guardian of John Gore, orphaned by his father, Henry Gore, on April 20, 1826 (John would have been 7 1/2 years of age). Oral family history indicates the guardian spent all the money (there was only one accounting on file in the courts, so this seems to bear this out). Oral family history also indicates he was in the Baltimore Blues Militia. On August 1, 1838 (John was almost 19), he was appointed as 2nd Lt. 4th Infantry, Maryland, by President Martin Van Buren. He was twice breveted (Aug and Sept 1847, Captain and Major, respectively) for gallant and meritorious conduct in the War with Mexico. He was a good friend of Gen. Grant's; served in 4th Infantry with him & shared living quarters in Detroit, MI, in abt 1850-1852 w/Lucy, Grant, & Grant's wife Julia. In the August 1850 census, John was 31, Lucy was 24, and son James was just a year. John died of cholera after crossing the Isthmus of Panama with the 4th Infantry (per one Grant biographer, he keeled over while playing euchre with Grant and was dead by morning). He died on the steamer Golden Gate in Panama Bay off Flamenco island. ?Some reports say that Grant disposed of the dead by burying them on Flamenco Island. Other reports say that he disposed of the bodies by weighting them down with cannonballs and throwing them in the ocean.? Per his affidavit and 1840 census, b. 1819 (undoc info says 01-Mar- 1816, which must be incorrect). He was about 5'11" in height, which made him very tall for the times. Men living in the Civil War era had an average height of 5-foot-7.?, ,, ,

Details of John Henry's family with Lucy Armistead MOREHEAD