Thomas Minitor was born in Ireland of Irish parents in 1826. He traveled to the USA and at the age of 30 Thomas became a naturalized citizen. Thomas may have fought in the Civil War. He married Honora Leahy, another Irish immigrant, in Washington, DC, in 1862. He was employed as a laborer in Washington, DC. By 1870 Thomas and Honora have four children, and are living in an area that contains a lot of other Irish immigrant laborers. Thomas died in 1871 at the age of 45, one month before his fifth child was born.
Hanora Leahy came over from Ireland with her parents (Richard and Honora Leahy) and two brothers (Patrick and Stephen) onboard the ship Scotia in 1850, landing in Baltimore, Maryland. In 1862 she married Thomas Minitor. Together they had five children and lived in Washington, DC among other Irish immigrants. Her oldest son was only twelve years old when his father died, and the youngest daughter was born a month after his death. Honora worked for awhile as a washerwoman to take care of her family. The two oldest sons (and likely the entire family) moved to Baltimore by 1880. From 1882 until 1886 the widowed Honora is listed as living with her sons Michael and Thomas on West Woodberry in Baltimore, Maryland. After that she is shown as living with son Michael. Honora probably died in 1890, but records have not yet been found.