George Francis McGinnis

(Mar. 19, 1826-May 29, 1910). Union Army general George Francis McGinnis was born in Boston. Shortly thereafter, his mother died, and he was sent to live with an aunt in Maine. At age 12, he went to live with his father in Chillicothe, Ohio. His father was a hatmaker, and George went to school and worked as his apprentice. He enlisted in Company A, Second Ohio Volunteers at the outset of the Mexican War and was promoted to captain in 1847 at the age of 21.

In 1850, McGinnis moved to Indianapolis and opened a hat shop of his own on East Washington Street. When the CIVIL WAR began, he enlisted as a private in Company K, 11th Indiana Regiment, and quickly won promotions to colonel (1861) and brigadier general (1863) under the guiding hand of General LEW WALLACE. He participated in the battles of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson as well as the siege of Corinth. During the Vicksburg campaign, he commanded troops in the battles of Port Hudson and Champion’s Hill.

McGinnis returned to his hat shop in Indianapolis after the war and became an active Republican, serving a term as county auditor and two terms as county commissioner in the late 1860s and early 1870s. He was city postmaster from 1900 to 1905 and lived in retirement in Indianapolis from 1905 until his death.

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