Monday, April 11, 2011

Jeremiah Quill - Civil War Soldier

My great great grandfather Jeremiah Quill enlisted in the Union Army, Company F Eighty-first Regiment, Pennsylvania on October 27, 1861. He was married with 3 young children and living in Philadelphia at the time. Over on the side of this page is a link to Jeremiah's Military Page in Ancestry.com.

I have a copy of his Civil War Pension file. Jeremiah fought at Harper's Ferry and in the battle of Fredericksburg, two pretty famous places when you think of the Civil War.  He was wounded twice and after the second injury served in the Pennsylvania volunteers.  He missed being present at muster more than once and it was not until he applied for his Civil War pension in 1888 that he received his honorable discharge from the Army. The pension file consists of some medical records documenting his injuries, many pension disbursement cards, and affidavits by Jeremiah and neighbors describing his injuries and the circumstances he found himself in.  Jeremiah signed his affidavits so I have his signature which is pretty cool..

The pension file also contained copies of Jeremiah's marriage and death certificates. His widow Hannah, my great great grandmother, applied for pension benefits after his death. It was a bonus to find the marriage certificate. That provided the date and place of marriage and Hannah's maiden name.

What the pension file did not tell me was where in Ireland Jeremiah came from, when he  came to the United States or if he had any relatives other than his immediate family. From the information in the affidavits given by several of Jeremiah's neighbors in Philadelphia the family was alone and destitute. When one of the children died the neighbors provided the funds to bury the wee one. These same neighbors also gave the family money to travel to  Ohio so Jeremiah could recover from his injuries in the 'fresh air.'

After the war Jeremiah and his family moved west to Ohio, where they resided for the 1870 census. From Ohio they went to Muscatine, Iowa and then on to St. Paul, Minnesota where where they are recorded in the 1880 US census. Jeremiah and Hannah are buried in St. Paul, along with several of their children.