From 1882 to 1885, Thomas Ashbaugh was a Constable with the Royal North-West Mounted Police, Regiment 616. He was among the scores of NWMP officers who fought at Duck Lake, Saskatchewan, in March 1885, during the unsuccessful uprising by Louis Riel and his Metis supporters against the Dominion of Canada.
For his service, Thomas received the North-West Rebellion of 1885 medal. He was invalided and honourably discharged, with a Conduct notation of "Very Good".
Less than 10 years later, Thomas died at the Dundas House of Refuge on December 28, 1914, and three days later was buried in a pauper's grave in the local burying grounds.
The force merged with the Dominion Police in 1920 to form the Royal Canadian Mountied Police, Canada's "Mounties".
For 97 years, Thomas Ashbaugh's grave in Grove Cemetery was unmarked, with no stone or remembrance of any kind. A local chapter of the RCMP Veterans' Association recently (re-)discovered Ashbaugh's final place of rest and successfully urged the RCMP to pay for a stone marker, and while they were at it, a fitting observance should take place as well.
On May 29, 2011, a military and community ceremony was held at Grove Ceremony to dedicate the new headstone, and to honour NWMP Constable Ashbaugh with people, piper, and prayer - once a Mountie, always a Mountie.
Scarcely two weeks after this event, it was learned that Thomas had a brother, Joseph Ashbaugh, a NWMP Constable as well, who had also been buried in an unmarked grave, but 22 years later and more than half a continent away.
Younger by 2 years and enlisting in the force at the same time as Thomas, Joseph Ashbaugh served for a year with the NWMP in the 1880s. A painter by trade, Joseph died in poverty in Vancouver in 1936 and was buried in Mountain View Cemetery in that city.
The parents of Thomas and Joseph were Frederick Andrew Ashbaugh UE and Margaret (Ralston) Ashbaugh, of Barton Township, Wentworth County, Ontario. They rest in Hamilton Cemetery on York Boulevard, Hamilton. The surname Ashbaugh has continued in the Mount Hope / Glanford area of Hamilton into this century.
A descendant of this family, who himself is a retired RCMP officer in BC, is currently working to determine whether Joseph would also be eligible for a gravestone through the Mounties.
The ceremony in Dundas for Thomas Ashbaugh was one of the first of its kind in Canada, and was made possible thanks to the vigilant and caring efforts of the local RCMP Veterans' Association.
For his service, Thomas received the North-West Rebellion of 1885 medal. He was invalided and honourably discharged, with a Conduct notation of "Very Good".
Less than 10 years later, Thomas died at the Dundas House of Refuge on December 28, 1914, and three days later was buried in a pauper's grave in the local burying grounds.
The force merged with the Dominion Police in 1920 to form the Royal Canadian Mountied Police, Canada's "Mounties".
For 97 years, Thomas Ashbaugh's grave in Grove Cemetery was unmarked, with no stone or remembrance of any kind. A local chapter of the RCMP Veterans' Association recently (re-)discovered Ashbaugh's final place of rest and successfully urged the RCMP to pay for a stone marker, and while they were at it, a fitting observance should take place as well.
On May 29, 2011, a military and community ceremony was held at Grove Ceremony to dedicate the new headstone, and to honour NWMP Constable Ashbaugh with people, piper, and prayer - once a Mountie, always a Mountie.
Scarcely two weeks after this event, it was learned that Thomas had a brother, Joseph Ashbaugh, a NWMP Constable as well, who had also been buried in an unmarked grave, but 22 years later and more than half a continent away.
Younger by 2 years and enlisting in the force at the same time as Thomas, Joseph Ashbaugh served for a year with the NWMP in the 1880s. A painter by trade, Joseph died in poverty in Vancouver in 1936 and was buried in Mountain View Cemetery in that city.
The parents of Thomas and Joseph were Frederick Andrew Ashbaugh UE and Margaret (Ralston) Ashbaugh, of Barton Township, Wentworth County, Ontario. They rest in Hamilton Cemetery on York Boulevard, Hamilton. The surname Ashbaugh has continued in the Mount Hope / Glanford area of Hamilton into this century.
A descendant of this family, who himself is a retired RCMP officer in BC, is currently working to determine whether Joseph would also be eligible for a gravestone through the Mounties.
The ceremony in Dundas for Thomas Ashbaugh was one of the first of its kind in Canada, and was made possible thanks to the vigilant and caring efforts of the local RCMP Veterans' Association.
From 1882 to 1885, Thomas Ashbaugh was a Constable with the Royal North-West Mounted Police, Regiment 616. He was among the scores of NWMP officers who fought at Duck Lake, Saskatchewan, in March 1885, during the unsuccessful uprising by Louis Riel and his Metis supporters against the Dominion of Canada.
For his service, Thomas received the North-West Rebellion of 1885 medal. He was invalided and honourably discharged, with a Conduct notation of "Very Good".
Less than 10 years later, Thomas died at the Dundas House of Refuge on December 28, 1914, and three days later was buried in a pauper's grave in the local burying grounds.
The force merged with the Dominion Police in 1920 to form the Royal Canadian Mountied Police, Canada's "Mounties".
For 97 years, Thomas Ashbaugh's grave in Grove Cemetery was unmarked, with no stone or remembrance of any kind. A local chapter of the RCMP Veterans' Association recently (re-)discovered Ashbaugh's final place of rest and successfully urged the RCMP to pay for a stone marker, and while they were at it, a fitting observance should take place as well.
On May 29, 2011, a military and community ceremony was held at Grove Ceremony to dedicate the new headstone, and to honour NWMP Constable Ashbaugh with people, piper, and prayer - once a Mountie, always a Mountie.
Scarcely two weeks after this event, it was learned that Thomas had a brother, Joseph Ashbaugh, a NWMP Constable as well, who had also been buried in an unmarked grave, but 22 years later and more than half a continent away.
Younger by 2 years and enlisting in the force at the same time as Thomas, Joseph Ashbaugh served for a year with the NWMP in the 1880s. A painter by trade, Joseph died in poverty in Vancouver in 1936 and was buried in Mountain View Cemetery in that city.
The parents of Thomas and Joseph were Frederick Andrew Ashbaugh UE and Margaret (Ralston) Ashbaugh, of Barton Township, Wentworth County, Ontario. They rest in Hamilton Cemetery on York Boulevard, Hamilton. The surname Ashbaugh has continued in the Mount Hope / Glanford area of Hamilton into this century.
A descendant of this family, who himself is a retired RCMP officer in BC, is currently working to determine whether Joseph would also be eligible for a gravestone through the Mounties.
The ceremony in Dundas for Thomas Ashbaugh was one of the first of its kind in Canada, and was made possible thanks to the vigilant and caring efforts of the local RCMP Veterans' Association.
For his service, Thomas received the North-West Rebellion of 1885 medal. He was invalided and honourably discharged, with a Conduct notation of "Very Good".
Less than 10 years later, Thomas died at the Dundas House of Refuge on December 28, 1914, and three days later was buried in a pauper's grave in the local burying grounds.
The force merged with the Dominion Police in 1920 to form the Royal Canadian Mountied Police, Canada's "Mounties".
For 97 years, Thomas Ashbaugh's grave in Grove Cemetery was unmarked, with no stone or remembrance of any kind. A local chapter of the RCMP Veterans' Association recently (re-)discovered Ashbaugh's final place of rest and successfully urged the RCMP to pay for a stone marker, and while they were at it, a fitting observance should take place as well.
On May 29, 2011, a military and community ceremony was held at Grove Ceremony to dedicate the new headstone, and to honour NWMP Constable Ashbaugh with people, piper, and prayer - once a Mountie, always a Mountie.
Scarcely two weeks after this event, it was learned that Thomas had a brother, Joseph Ashbaugh, a NWMP Constable as well, who had also been buried in an unmarked grave, but 22 years later and more than half a continent away.
Younger by 2 years and enlisting in the force at the same time as Thomas, Joseph Ashbaugh served for a year with the NWMP in the 1880s. A painter by trade, Joseph died in poverty in Vancouver in 1936 and was buried in Mountain View Cemetery in that city.
The parents of Thomas and Joseph were Frederick Andrew Ashbaugh UE and Margaret (Ralston) Ashbaugh, of Barton Township, Wentworth County, Ontario. They rest in Hamilton Cemetery on York Boulevard, Hamilton. The surname Ashbaugh has continued in the Mount Hope / Glanford area of Hamilton into this century.
A descendant of this family, who himself is a retired RCMP officer in BC, is currently working to determine whether Joseph would also be eligible for a gravestone through the Mounties.
The ceremony in Dundas for Thomas Ashbaugh was one of the first of its kind in Canada, and was made possible thanks to the vigilant and caring efforts of the local RCMP Veterans' Association.
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