Thomas Francis Meagher was born in this building, 1823, In 1848
the British charged Meagher, and several colleagues, with high
treason and condemned them to death. The following year his
sentence was commuted and he was banished for life to Tasmania.
He escaped in 1852 and made his way to New York City. There he
studied law, worked as a journalist, and traveled to present
lectures on the Irish cause. At the beginning of the American
Civil War, he joined the U.S. Army and rose to the rank of
brigadier general. He was most notable for recruiting and
leading the Irish Brigade and encouraging Irish support for the
cause of the Union. He was married twice and had one surviving
son, from his first wife. Following the Civil War, Meagher was
appointed acting governor of the Montana Territory.