John Thomas Lockman was born on September 26, 1834, in New York City, New York, to Isaac Paul Lockman and Mary Kennedy. His father owned $7,000 of real estate and $400 of personal property by 1860. Lockman probably grew up and attended school in New York City, and he served in the Volunteer Fire Department in the 1850s. By the early 1860s, he was studying law.

 

He abandoned his legal studies in the spring of 1861 to serve in the Union army. On May 27, 1861, he received a commission as a 1^st lieutenant in Company H of the 83^rd New York Infantry. The regiment took part in the Battle of Antietam. He was promoted to captain on November 25, 1861, and then on September 22, 1862, he became the lieutenant colonel of the 119^th New York Infantry.

 

The regiment took part in the Battle of Chancellorsville, the Battle of Gettysburg, the Battle of Missionary Ridge, the Atlanta campaign, the March to the Sea, and the Carolinas campaign. He was promoted to colonel on May 2, 1863. He was wounded in the Battle of Gettysburg, but he eventually recovered and rejoined the regiment. He received a brevet promotion to brigadier general on March 13, 1865.

 

Lockman resumed his legal studies at Columbia Law School after the war, and he graduated in 1867. He married Harriet Hall on October 14, 1862, and they had at least four children: Mary, born around 1866; Jennette, born around 1869; John, born around 1876; Fred, born around 1878. They lived in New York City, and Lockman worked as a lawyer. By 1870, he owned $9,000 of real estate and $1,000 of personal property. He helped care for his elderly parents. He became a vestryman at Trinity Church and a director of the Lawyers Title Insurance and Trust Company. He was also a member of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the American Museum of Natural History.

 

By 1900, the family employed at least five white servants. In 1901, he and his wife travelled outside the country. His passport described him as 5 feet, 9 inches tall, with dark hair and grey eyes. He died in New York City on September 27, 1912.

 

Image: John Thomas Lockman (courtesy Wikicommons)

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