Scope and Contents:
This collection contains papers related to Thomas D. Toy. Materials include Civil War military documents, personal papers, and Toy family genealogy.
Toy, born in Pickaway County, Ohio in 1842, lived in Washburn, Illinois at the time the Civil War began. He enlisted in the 47th Illinois Volunteer Infantry on September 4, 1861. Achieving the rank of sergeant, he then reenlisted with the 71st United States Infantry (Colored) on March 25, 1864, as a 2nd Lieutenant. After the war, he moved to Cherryvale, Kansas and worked as a blacksmith.
The collection contains a number of documents related to Toy's military service, including his discharge papers from the 47th Illinois Volunteer Infantry, a guard report from September 2, 1864, and documents relating to Toy's pay, veteran's bounty, and the pension received by his widow after his death. There also several other documents, including information on a vehicle shaft patented by Toy in 1906 and notes on donations given to Toy after his blacksmith's plant burned down that same year. The rest of the collection consists of photocopies of newspaper clippings and other documents detailing the genealogy of the Toy family.
Eckard V. Toy, Jr., Thomas Toy's great-nephew, donated the collection to the Illinois Historical Survey, the predecessor to the Illinois History and Lincoln Collections, in 2000.
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