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Toddlers and Angels

June 4th—the day my sister Sharon died—always makes me pause.  My mind shifts back to the dark days of 1994. Then, when the veil between here and after was thin and my mind was continually occupied by thoughts of my sister - memories, regrets, wishes - I was on high alert, ever watchful for her presence.  Desperate for a sign that she was okay was a natural response to the traumatic way she died. I wanted reassurance. I found myself looking for women that looked like her in the grocery store or on the street, just to get a glimpse of her face one more time. For months, even years later, my heart would nearly leap out of my chest when I spied a young lady with long, dark, curly hair or a face that resembled hers. Of course, I was invariably disappointed when that person wasn't Sharon, and I couldn't pretend it was all somehow just a bad dream. But there were a few times, when our daughter was a baby and toddler, when it wasn't me but Anne who seemed especially attuned...
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GENEALOGY CHALLENGE 2021 - Military Record

GENEALOGY CHALLENGE

Military Record - January 6th entry of a 31-day challenge to post a document, photo or artifact on social media every day in January.

by Nancy Gilbride Casey

 

Top section of Collostin J. Davis' Declaration for Invalid Pension (remainder of document below).

While not strictly a military service record, this Declaration for Invalid Pension is part of the Civil War Pension file for Collostin James Davis, one of my husband's 3x great grandfathers.1

C. J. Davis served in the 12th Maine Infantry, Company B, enlisting in 1 November 1861 in Pittsfield, Somerset, Maine. He served the entire Civil War, being honorably discharged at Hart's Island, New York in May 1866. He paid a dear price for that service.

Collostin sought a pension in 1891 from the U.S. government, claiming that due to his injuries, he could not completely support himself. He declared he had suffered, "...gunshot wounds of the right arm, adhesion of the plura on the right side from taking cold from measles whilst in the army." He swore out his declaration in the presence of a notary public in Reno County, Kansas, where he was living on 25 April 1891. 

His declaration was only the beginning of the invalid pension process. Collostin had to be physically examined by doctors who would confirm his injuries and diseases. He needed to obtain proof that he was honorably discharged. He needed affidavits from neighbors and associates swearing that he did indeed have the disabilities he claimed to have, which as his life progressed included a terrible, wracking cough, and an inability to completely use his right arm. All of these steps took time, as the forms wound their way back and forth between Kansas and Washington, and elsewhere, in the late 1890s and early 1900s. (A similar process awaiting his widow, Ellen Maria Martin Davis, after Collostin's death in 1911, in order to collect her widow's pension.)

In all, Collostin's entire Civil War pension file totals 106 pages of fascinating reading.

 


 


NEXT UP -Burial or cemetery record

To read more about Collostin J. Davis' Civil War service, read my blog post, "The Bad Luck of Collostin J. Davis, Cpl., 12th Maine Volunteer Infantry."

 

1 Collastin J. Davis (Cpl., Cos. B & H, 12th Me Inf., Civil War), pension no. Inv. Claim 308,563, Case Files of Approved Pension Applications, 1861-1934; Civil War and Later Pension Files; "Declaration for Original Invalid Pension," 22 Sept. 1883; citing Record Group 15:  Records of the Department of Veterans Administration; National Archives, Washington, D.C.



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