The 21st United States Colored Infantry Regiment

1 Corporal transferred to non-commissioned staff as Sergeant Major May 1, 1865.

2 Discharged at Morris Island, South Carolina May 29, 1864 for disability.

3 Discharged at Morris Island, South Carolina May 29, 1864 for disability.

4 Sergeant transferred to non-commissioned staff as Commissary Sergeant May 1, 1865.

5 Deserted March 1, 1865.

6 Reduced from Corporal July 1, 1863.

7 Promoted Corporal November 20, 1863; Discharged for disability November 15, 1865.

8 Promoted Corporal August 1, 1865; Died in Hospital Morris Island, South Carolina, February 5, 1865.

9 Promoted Corporal October 1, 1865.

10 Died in hospital at Hilton Head, South Carolina October 13, 1865 of dysentery.

11 Promoted Corporal September 12, 1865.

12 Died July 27, 1864.

13 Promoted Corporal August 31, 1865; promoted Sergeant September 12, 1865.

14 Joined from Rec Depot October 20, 1864 at Morris Island, South Carolina.

15 Discharged September 7, 1864 by reason of expiration of term of service.

16 Discharged August 17, 1865.

17 Never reported from recruiting.

18 Never reported from recruiting depot.

19 Died May 10, 1865 of small pox.

20 Deserted December 18, 1865.

21 Credited to state of Connecticut.

22 Promoted to Corporal August 24, 1864.

23 Promoted to Corporal January 1, 1865.

24 Never reported

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EUBANKS, JAMES
Co. A, 21^st United States Colored Infantry
Enlisted: June 13, 1863
Discharged: April 25, 1866
Slave or free before the war: unknown.
Pension record number

Widow: SARAH EUBANKS
Pension record number: 320,117,
application rejected.

GENERAL SUMMARY

Witnesses who served with James Eubanks in the 21^st regiment of USCI testified that he was disabled with kidney and bladder ailments while serving in the army. Sarah Eubanks, known s Sarah Carter before her marriage on May 18, 1867, to James Eubanks, applied for a widow’s pension, but was denied on the grounds of not providing medical evidence of the soldier’s ailments prior to his death.

EXCERPTS FROM THE PENSION RECORD

General Affidavit: State of Florida, County of Nassau, ss: In the matter of Sarah Eubanks on this 6 day of Sept, A.D. 1898, personally appeared before me, a Justice of Peace in and for aforesaid County, duly authorized to administer oaths, Stephen Wright age 59 years, a resident of Fernandina in the County of Nassau and State of Florida whose post office address is Fernandina Fla.“I am well acquainted with deceased soldier I was a comrade of his in same Company and Regiment and remember well when he was at time unable to do duty service and was affected in his urination and after he come home, being mustered out- he was at times very sick and finally died from what they say Kidney & Bladder troubles. I visited him often and found him parilize in small part of his back and ailment in [?]- I first- remember he being sick at Morris Island, S.C.”General Affidavit. State of Florida, County of Nassau, ss: In the matter of Sarah Eubanks on this 6 day of Sept, A.D. 1898, personally appeared before me, a Justice of Peace in and for the aforesaid County, duly authorized to administer oaths, Henry Hannahan age 56 years, a resident of Fernandina. “That he has been acquainted with the deceased soldier ever since during the war that they were comrades in the army and that he remember very well that while soldier was at Morris Island S.C. and in duty of the U. States carrying carrying cartridge [belt] and [from?] [chafe?] of the same around his waiste by wearing and heavy marching that he contracted kidney and bladder disease in so much that he was unable at times to urinate and was in bad condition all this I know happened d at Morris Island S.C. in latter part of 1864 I also remember that I visited him in his last illness and that he was still ailing from Kidney Bladder and urination trouble and that he finally [died of it.]”

WIDOW’S PENSION. Reissue to allow under the General Laws. Claimant: Sarah Eubanks
P.O. Fernandina
Soldier: James Eubanks
Rank: Private, Co. A
Regiment 21 U.S.C. Vol. Inf.
Children:
Elizabeth Born, December 26, 1876 Sixteen, December 25, 1892
Edgar Born, October 12, 1886 Sixteen, October 11, 1902Recognized Attorney: Joseph H. Hunter. Articles filed March 18, 1892.

Submitted for Rejection, September 10, 1900. Newburgh, ExaminerApproved for rejection on the grounds of no record of medical evidence of the existence of any disability in the service at discharge or after until about six months prior to death and the claimant declared inability to furnish satisfactory evidence to connect the soldiers death of [?] paralyses with his military service.

September 7, 1900 Important Dates:
Enlisted June 13, 1863
Discharged April 25, 1866
Died January 1, 1887
Declaration filed March 18, 1892
Claimant’s marriage to soldier May 18, 1867

Widows Declaration for Pension. State of Florida. County of Nassau. On this 1^st day of March 1921, personally appeared before me a Justice of Peace of a Court of Record in and for the County and State aforementioned, Sarah Eubanks, resident of Fernandina, Claims “that she is the widow of James Eubanks who was a Private in company “A”, commanded by William [?] in the 21 Regiment of U.S.C.T., in the war of 1861; that her maiden name was Sarah Carter and that she was married to said James Eubanks on or about the 18 day of May, 1867, at Hilton Head, S.C., by Reverend Vandross.”“She further declares that said James Eubanks, her husband, died on or about the 1 day of Jan, 1887, at Fernandina in the State of Fla, and the immediate cause of his death was disability due to service. “The following are the amounts, dates of birth, and places of residence of all the children of her deceased husband who were under sixteen years of age at the time of his death:

Elizabeth, born on the 26^th day of Dec, 1876
Edgar, born on the 12^th day of Oct, 1886
Her post office address is Fernandina, Nassau Co. Fla.”

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FORESTER, LEWISCo. A, 21^st Regiment, United States Colored Infantry
Enlisted: June 13, 1863, at Fernandina, Florida
Free man before the war.
Discharged: April 25, 1866
Pension record number 808,976

AFFA FORESTER (FORMERLY GRAY) WIDOW OF LEWIS FORESTER
Born free before the war
Pension record number 288,415

GENERAL SUMMARY FROM THE PENSION RECORDS

Affa Forester testified that she and Lewis Forester were married January 29, 1854. She was born free, and Lewis was born a slave whose father purchased his freedom. Their home was on the St. Johns River, at today’s Magnolia, south of Black Creek. Adam Fleming, a member of the Fleming family of Fleming Island in what is today Clay County, Florida, performed the ceremony. After the war they were remarried “by law” by the Reverend Catalin Simmons of what is today known as the Bethel Baptist Institutional Church. During the interval between the two ceremonies, five children were born to Lewis and Affa. The entire family made their way to Fernandina in 1862 after Union forces occupied the town in early March 1862. About one year later, in June 1863, Lewis joined the United States Colored Infantry and served the United States until about one year after the war ended.

Before the war, Lewis and Affa Forester had been the only free black family that owned land in Clay County. After the war they returned with their children to this very same farmland at Magnolia on the St. Johns River. Lewis lived until 1889.

Witnesses who testified during the pension application proceedings were almost all veterans of the Lewis’s military unit, Co. A, 21^st Regiment, United States Colored Infantry1. George Floyd said he and Lewis and Affa knew each other before the war, and that Lewis was nearly white in complexion, “so white that I mistook him for a white man.” Floyd, age 63, said that he knew both Lewis and Affa before the war, and that Lewis was a carpenter. We lived near each before the war, on the Saint John’s River opposite of Black Creek.”

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FRANCIS, FEBRUARY

Co. K, 21^st Regiment of United States Colored Infantry
Enlisted: September 14, 1864 at Fernandina, Florida.
Enslaved before the war; the property of William Christopher at Talbot Island, Duval County, Florida.
Discharged: April 23, 1865 at Charleston, South Carolina.
Pension Record Number 672,736

GENERAL SUMMARY

February Francis was born a slave at Mayport, in Duval County, Florida, the property of William Christopher. Francis was both a sailor and a soldier during the Civil War. He enlisted first in the United States Navy, and, after being honorably discharged, enlisted in the United States Colored Infantry.

February Francis was originally from North Florida where he spent his childhood in slavery and was known as February Christopher. At some point during the war he changed his name from that assigned him by his former slave owners to February Francis, although Navy records apparently list him as Christopher February. After the war, Francis returned to Duval County and lived at Jacksonville, Florida. Late in life, on November 8, 1917, former sailor and soldier February Francis was married to M. Alena Diggs at St. Nicholas, Florida. Francis had become a deacon in a church at St. Nicholas by then, and had changed his name again, to February Shaw.

EXCERPTS FROM THE PENSION RECORD

Received at the Office of the Pension Bureau on 05/22/1912: “I am the identical February Francis who enlisted in Company “K” 21^st Regiment U.S.C. Troops at Jacksonville Florida on the 14^th day of September 1864 to serve 3 years and was discharged April 23 1866 at Charleston S.C. by means of muster out of organization having served 1 year, 7 mos and 18 day I am now 73 years of Age, having been born at Mayport February 1, 1839.

“I am 5 feet 8 in high, black, black eyes, black hair grey now. I have lived in Duval County Florida during the whole time since the war. I am now a Pensioner of the U.S. government under certificate No. 672763 I have the honor to ask the Hon. Commissioner of Pensions that I may be re-rated at $20.00 per month under law of May 1912.”

11/02/1916: “Attention is invited to affidavit of claimant filed July 27, 1916, wherein he states that the name of his owner was William Christopher, which statement, in the opinion of the examiner, is sufficient, taken in connection with the unusual name of February, and in consideration of the similarity in present description and allegations of the claimant, February Francis, to establish his identity with the sailor Christopher February”

F.D. Byington, Acting Commissioner, wrote to the Quartermaster General, War Department, on 11/04/1916: “In the above-cited claim for pension it appears that Christopher February, a colored man, was discharged from the U.S.S. “Wabash,” then part of the blockading fleet off Charleston, S.C., on November 29, 1863, and he states that he was thereafter placed on the transport “General Hunter”; was on said vessel on April 16, 1864, when she was torpedoed on the way to Jacksonville, Fla.; was taken off by the “Harris Reed”? (Harriet A. Weed) and brought to Jacksonville, where he enlisted in the army.”

“It is shown by a report from the War Department that he enlisted in Co. K, 21^st U.S. Col. Inf., on September 7, 1864, under the name February Francis, and a report is desired showing whether said Christopher February or February Francis was serving as an employee of the Quartermaster’s Department aboard the “General Hunter,” and, if not, showing to what regiments the troops aboard said vessel were assigned.”

February Francis to Commissioner, Stamped Received by the Pension Office, 07/19/1917: “[I]was discharged from U.S.S. ‘Wabash’ and went right aboard the ‘General Hunter’ and served on her until she was torpedoed April 16, 1864 off Mandarin…joined the ‘Wyoming’ Cap. Jones. Left the ‘Wyoming’ and enlisted in the 21 U.S.C. Inf. Sept. 7, 1864 and served with until he was discharged.”

Copy of Wedding Invitation, Stamped Received by the Pension Office, 05/01/1920: “Mr. Frank E. Smith of Jacksonville, Fla. announces the marriage of his mother Mrs. M. Alena Diggs to Deacon February Shaw at St. Nicholas, Fla., Wednesday evening March the Fourth, at eight o’clock nineteen hundred and fourteen”

Will of February (Francis) Shaw, November 8, 1917: Makes his wife Mary Alena Shaw the sole administratrix of his estate. Leaves 1 ¼ acre and another 3 7/8 acre plots of land to his wife with the exception of one acre which he leaves to his adopted son Robert Lee Adams. He also leaves his wife all personal belongings.

Letter from M. Alena Shaw to the Commissioner of Pensions, Stamped Received by Pension Office, 05/01/1920:

“Dear Sir

I am not making application for a widow pension, I am only asking for my husbands Pension to pay his funeral expenses, and will be satisfied if paid my attorney undertaker Pratt I Borrowed money to make the first payment and owe a balance of $65.00 so you can see that there nothing in it for me.”

Undertaker Statement
Casket: $60.00
Embalming: $10.00
4 [?]: $20.00
Car: $10.00
Robe: $10.00
Grave: $2.50
[Total]: $112.5

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GRAY, PABLO
Co. A, 21^st Regiment, United States Colored Infantry
Enlisted: June 13, 1863 at Fernandina, Florida
Enslaved before the war, owned by Raphile Canova
Discharged: April 25, 1866
Pension record number: 320,847.
Died November 24, 1886

GEORGINA GRAY, widow of Pablo Gray
Enslaved before the war, owned by Jim Walker, Pierce County, Georgia
Pension record number: 422,318.

GENERAL SUMMARY

Pablo Gray was born into slavery at St. Augustine, Florida, the property of Raphile Canova. His widow describes him as of mixed-race ancestry, one-fourth African ancestry. He enlisted Company A of the USCI at Fernandina in June 1863 and was promoted to corporal.Georgina Gray, the widow of Pablo Gray, testified that she was born a slave in Pierce County, Georgia, the chattel property of Jim Walker. At some time during the war, she “moved” to Fernandina, Florida, where she met and married the soldier, Pablo Gray. Whether that “move” was an escape from slavery to Union-occupied territory is not stated. Georgina and Pablo settled in St. Augustine after the war, where Pablo worked as a “peddler in the street and doing errands” according to the widow, who testified that he suffered from aggravated asthma contracted during his military service.

EXCERPTS FROM THE PENSION RECORD

Proof of Incurrence of Disability for soldier Pablo Gray.State of Florida, County of St. Johns, ss: Personally appeared before me, a Notary Public in and for the aforesaid County and State, duly authorized to administer oaths, Thomas Williams, age 64 years, a resident St. Augustine, in the County of St. Johns, and State of Florida who, being duly sworn according to law, states that he is acquainted with Georgiana Gray, applicant for Invalid Pension, and knows the said late Pablo Gray to be the identical person of that name who served as a [soldier] in Company A 21^st Regiment of Colored Volunteers.“Thomas Williams upon oath states he was in the same company with the late Pablo Gray soldier. That he knew him before he went with the recruiting service and was with him and knew him to be [the same] man when he enlisted the service in 1863. That he took the asthma in the line of duty but I don’t know [the exact time it happened], but I do know that he was suffering from it a year or more after leaving the service and suffered with it a great deal after that during the balance of his service or about two years. This I know of my own personal knowledge having been with him through the service.“[Saith] that he was in the same company with him; Further that he knows his widow Georgina Gray very well; That they lived together as husband and wife up to his death. That they had never been divorced, and that she is still the widow of late solder. Further: That he lived as neighbor to them and knew of the sickness of late Pablo Gray. He suffered from asthma and throat difficulty and died from same disease, and weak lungs: Further that he was wholly unable to perform manual labor, and during the last few weeks to my knowledge he suffered a great deal up to his death Nov 20^th 1886.”Testimony by Thomas Williams December 22, 1898: “Since his return- up to his death- He was suffering from asthma and throat trouble all the time and was not able to do any manual labor at all. He could only do some errands for merchants and so earn a little now and then. He suffered a great deal the last few months he lived. The above I know from personal knowledge having lived neighbor to him.”GENERAL AFFIDAVIT: On this 26 day of November 1890 Georgina Gray testifies as follows. “I was born in Pierce Co. Ga. nearest town was Carterville 20 miles off. I moved to Fernandina Fla where the war was going on and that was my residence when I got acquainted with my late husband. When in Georgia before moving to Fernandina I was owned by Jim Walker. I was acquainted with my late husband about one year before we were married. I was known by the name of Georgiana White before getting married to Pablo Gray. Was never married before nor been married since his death. Pablo my husband enlisted in St. Augustine. He was a soldier when he came there first. My age is 47 years was born in Oct but don’t know the day of the month.“The company my husband belonged to was Co. A, Captain Davis. Lts. Dow & Harper. He was a corporal in the company. He was born in St. Augustine was a quarteroon, quite light complexion. His age was 53 when he died 4 years ago. He was a slave belonged to Raphile Canova. He was always known as Pablo. He never had any other wife but me- to my knowledge. His occupation was a peddler in the street and doing errands. He was not able to do any hard work after the war as he suffered with severe [parius?] in the chest and with asthma. Dr. Robinson was the physician at Fernandina (now dead) until they went to Hilton Head S.C. Soldiers height was 5ft 11 inches or about. His post office address was St. Augustine Fla.”General Affidavit: January 23, 1892, Levi Jackson, aged 36 years, a resident of St. Augustine says: “That [I] have been well and personally acquainted with Pablo Gray all my life. I knew Pablo Gray the late soldier when he [determined on] military service, knew him to have asthma quite bad for years after his discharge from the service. Knew him to be suffering in such way that he was not able to do any manual labor but…washing...for which he got but little pay. Further I knew him to suffer him the trouble continuously for years and increased [?] him turned the better part of his life, and he died of aggravated asthma...in the year 1886.”General Affidavit: On September 7, 1892, personally appeared Georgina Gray, age 48 years, [saith] “That her late husband Pablo Gray died of lung disease contracted in the army. The Physician who attended him in the Regiment, was Dr. Hawk, but she has no way of knowing where he is and cannot get his affidavit. She did hear he was dead. She further states that her husband had no attending physician here [because] he could not pay one. That upon his having spells of coughing & choking she would give him some [?] [?] to relieve his pain time to time. That upon his last moments there was a Physician sent for but he got there too late to do anything for him. Further that she cannot get the testimony of any commissioned officer as she cannot find out their whereabouts if living which is doubtful. She is unable to furnish medical evidence for the reasons told above.”Claimants General Affidavit: January 5, 1899, Georgina Gray upon oath states “that her husband, the late soldier Pablo Gray, was only attended by a Physician A Dr. Smith who is now about, and she does not know his whereabouts. She further states that her husband died from throat & lung trouble and aggravated asthma. That he was [?] [?] the difficulty after returning from the war and was not able to earn scarcely anything not being able to perform manual labor at all. That from April 1866 the time he returned [from the war] to Nov. 24, 1886-the time he died-he suffered continuously with asthma & throat & lung trouble. That she was with him nursing & doing for him up to his death. Post office address is St. Augustine, Florida.”General Affidavit: On January 5, 1899, George Edwards, 113 Marine Street, St. Augustine, Florida, upon oath states he “knew the late Soldier Pablo Gray very well. Knew him before he went into the service and when he returned from service. Knew also his widow very well- Georgiana Gray- lived neighbor to them. They always lived together as husband and wife, and were never divorced. She is still the widow of Pablo Gray deceased. He further states that he knew of late soldiers sickness after returning from service. He suffered from asthma and chest trouble this I knew because I often saw him during his sickness; He was wholly unable to do any manual labor and could only do a few errands now and then. For the last few months before he died he suffered continually from the difficulty and died Nov. 24, 1886.”General Affidavit: On September 20, 1900 Anthony Glen, aged about 73 years, “declared…that he knew Pablo Gray late soldier when he was a small boy and have known him ever since up to his death knew him a year before he entered the service, and knew him to be a strong man. Physically strong and well able to do a man’s labor. I lived in the neighborhood with him. And saw him everyday and knew this of my personal knowledge.”

WIDOW’S PENSION: Georgina Gray, Soldier Pablo Gray
P.O. St. Augustine, Rank. Corporal, Co. A
County St. Johns, State Florida, Regiment 21 USC Vol. Inf.
Rate $12.00 per month, commencing November 24, 1882
Recognized Attorney: Allan Rutherford. Fee $25.00
Articles filed May 14, 1876
Submitted for Special Examination, Oct 25, 1890. Approved for rejection. No record or medical evidence of treatment of disease of lungs in service or at discharge. Claimant has declared her inability to connect fatal disease of lungs with soldier’s military service by competent and satisfactory evidence.Nov. 8, 1900. J.B. Albright

Important Dates:
Enlisted June 13, 1863; Discharged April 25, 1866
Died November 24, 1886; Declaration filed May 14, 18[90?]
Claimant’s marriage to soldier Oct 13, 1863
Not remarried, no divorce.

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HATCHER, BENJAMIN

Co. A., 21^st Regiment, United States Colored Infantry
Enlisted: June 13, 1863, at Fernandina, Florida.
Enslaved before the Civil War, owned first by Isaac Hatcher, and second by Landers Hill.
Discharged: May 1865 at Morris Island, South Carolina
Pension Record No. 61969. Invalid Certificate. No. 547,555.

Widow: DIANA HATCHER
Pension record number 615,172
Enslaved before the Civil War, owned by David L. Palmer.

GENERAL SUMMARY

Benjamin Hatcher was a veteran of the 21^st Regiment of the United States Colored Infantry. A slave in Georgia before the war, he escaped bondage to freedom in Union-occupied in Fernandina, Florida, where he enlisted in the army. After the war he received a disability pension for asthma and for eye problems. After Hatcher’s death, his widow, Diana Hatcher applied for a widow’s pension, which was approved, but only after a lengthy and grueling investigation into her background and character. For historians, the Diana Hatcher pension record is of great value for the evidence it contains concerning the fragile bonds of what was known as “slave marriage.” Examiners repeatedly and relentlessly probed the marital relationships of freedmen applicants for pensions, searching for evidence of immoral behavior, which would permit them to recommend against the granting of pensions. Answers to the questions in this case point out poignantly how precarious and tenuous were the marital bonds under slavery.Benjamin Hatcher, for example, was married three times prior to 1865. He first married a woman named Rebecca, enslaved like Hatcher, and fathered two sons: Powell Hatcher and William Benjamin Hatcher. They were separated during slavery. Hatcher’s second slave wife was Harriet Carey, who testified: “I married him when I was about thirteen years old when my boss bought him. I have two children by him….That was in slave times that I lived with him. We separated when he went to the war and left me and the children…in Georgia. He never came back to me anymore. I never saw him again until [after the war] I saw him here [Fernandina] living with Sister Hatcher.”After Hatcher escaped from bondage he found sanctuary in Union-occupied Fernandina, Florida, and took a third wife, Minerva Hatcher, this time by legal marriage with a preacher and a certificate. When he mustered out of the USCI, he returned to Fernandina and to Minerva. After Minerva’s death he remarried in 1883, six years after becoming a widower, to Diana Palmer at a church in Oakland neighborhood of Jacksonville, Florida. He continued married to Diana (Palmer) Hatcher until his death in 1894, after suffering an apparent heat stroke while roofing, causing him to tumble from the roof and die.Diana Palmer was also married three times before her “legal” marriage to Hatcher. The first three relationships were with fellow slaves, none of which she considered legal marriages. Her first husband was Brutus Floyd, by whom she had two children and said: “we did not live together long. I cannot tell what become of him, we parted before my girl Sarah was born…I was a slave when all my children were born. I did not consider Brutus my husband.”After Brutus departed, Diana related to the investigator, “In slave time when I lived with Mr. Palmer [her owner] I had a husband, his name was Sammie Sams, he was sold off to a negro trader long before the war…and I never heard from him after he was sold.” Next she lived as wife to Bethel Bellamy. About that relationship she said: “Bethel Bellamy and I lived on separate plantations—our slave marriage was with the consent of our owners, I suppose his master gave consent but do not know.” With Bellamy, she escaped bondage and found refuge with Union forces in Fernandina, prior to Bellamy’s enlistment in the USCI and the end of their so-called slave marriage. Quite accurately, Diana Hatcher told the investigator, “there was no divorce for colored peoples before the war….”

EXCERPTS FROM THE PENSION RECORDS

Letter to Pension Bureau, August 10, 1887.

In reply to your official circular JEJC Aug 4-87 relative to invalid pension claim no #61969 Benj Hatcher, I have the honor to state as follows, viz when I was discharged from the army on Morris Island SC in May 1865. I went to Hilton Head & remained there farming for two years and then returned home to Fernandina Florida in March 1867 and have resided near Fernandina ever since farming. I first felt suffering in my left eye during my term of service under enlistment, it was caused by catching cold while on guard in cold weather on Morris Island during the second year of my service. I went to the Surgeon of Our Regiment Dr Hawk, and showed him my eye & explained to him my suffering, he gave me a bottle of eye-water and told me to bathe the eye with it, and I did so, and it seemed to relieve it a little for the time but not permanently….While at Hilton Head and for some time after I thought my eye would outgrow its weakness and fit well but as it did not, finally went to Dr J D Palmer of Fernandina in the year 1884. Who examined the eye and said he would have to take it out and scrape the film off which is growing over it. I did not fancy that sort of work so I went to Dr W. H. Pope in July 1887 who examined the eye and said it was badly filmed & would continue to grow worse but he thought the right eye would remain good and not be seriously effected, he therefore advised me to not have the left eye operated upon. Dr Pope is also a resident of Fernandina Fla, The eye troubles me always in mid-day I can’t see to look and has so troubled me for many years since the war.

Benjamin [X] Hatcher (His Mark)

From statement before me On August 18^th 1887, Charles V. Hillyer, Notary Public, Fernandina, Florida, Mar 30, 1895, to the Commissioner of Pensions: “In the case of Benjamin Hatcher lot 547555 I have the honor to return all the papers with my report thereon. As will be seen from the deposition of Henry Hannahan one of the principle witnesses in his claim the claimant and pensioner died about four month ago leaving a widow but no dependant relatives as minor children. He also testifies that deceased claimant was married before but does not know whether his first wife died or not and that he was married only about five or six years ago again and that a son by the first wife is still living at Kings Henry Nassau Co Florida. These statements could be confirmed with the widows declaratory in case she claims her husbands pension. It is also learned that the widow has some property and that for two years previous to Benjamin Hatcher’s death she was living with her father in Jacksonville while the claimant who is now deceased lived here in Fernandina Florida. I did not deem it necessary to take further testamentary in this claim concerning the cause of death of the claimant but the witness Henry Hannahan testifies to identifying the corpse as that of deceased petitioner. In view of the foregoing facts I recommend the case for rejection.”Very respectfully, James P Terri, Special Examiner.Deposition: Case of Benjamin Hatcher, no. 347555, March 30, 1895, Fernandina.Deponent: Henry Hannahan: “I am sixty two years old am not able to do much work but I do a little painting and whitewashing. My residence and post office both at Fernandina, Nassau Co. Florida am a pensioner under certificate 663080. I was a comrade in Co A 21 USC Inf. of the deceased claimant Benjamin Hatcher who died about four months ago. I knew him intimately all my life before, during the war in the service, and since and saw the corpse as our Grand [bury?] post of which I am commander buried him. He died three miles from here but was buried from the first Baptist church here and the coffin was offered to give his friends a last look at the body. His wife was at the funeral but for two years she were residing in Jacksonville while Benjamin Hatcher lived here. I don’t know what the estrangement was between them but believe it was about a lot of land and house that was owned between them. I don’t know its value. She the widow now lives in Jacksonville but she came here and consulted me in January about getting her husband’s pension. The lot of land I referred to above is situated in [?] Island, Duval County, Florida. “Benjamin Hatcher was married to his last wife about five or six years before he died. I heard that Hatcher was married before but do not know whether his first wife died or whether he was divorced. I know his sons first name I do not now recall, he lives at Kings Ferry in this county Nassau Co Florida, which son was a child by the first wife. His present widow the second wife lives with her father but she washes for a living. I don’t know whether the widow filed her application for pension or not. Benjamin Hatcher left no minor children nor any dependant parents or he was about eighty years old himself.”General Affidavit: October 10, 1895. Shed Glen and Daphne Whitehead. “We have known claimant and her deceased husband about twenty years in fact ever since they were married. They were never divorced from each other, always lived together as man and wife. We are near neighbor of claimant, and see her frequently, and know that she has not remarried since the death of her husband Benj Hatcher. Claimant does not own any real estate, has no stocks, bonds or mortgages and no income except from a little labor she can do which amounts to nothing. She is only a poor old colored woman living with one of her children and trying to get along the best she can, her health is bad and she cannot take in washing or do any hard work, he son helps her all he can, but he is poor himself and has hard work to get along.”Claimant’s Affidavit, Duval County, Diana Hatcher, 10 October 1895. “I stated in my application for pension that I was married Dec 18 1883 as I was testifying from memory I gave the date as sure as I could. I find this record shows I was marred to solider Dec 13 1883. I also stated in my application that Hatcher’s first wife died Oct 1882. In this matter I was also testifying from memory and gave the date as well as I could remember. In this I was mistaken as it appears from the record kept by the minister who officiated at her funeral that she died Aug 29 1882 and I desire these corrections be made in my application. “In regard to my former husband if he could be called that I desire to say that it should not have been put in my application- I lived with a man in slavery time and we passed as man and wife though we were never married. More than twelve years before the war the man I was living with was sold to a gentleman living in Louisiana or Mississippi and he went away with him. We did not belong to the same owners, I have never seen or heard of him since that time. “It is impossible for me to furnish any evidence in regard to any former marriage other than to Benj Hatcher, because I was not married to any one. I lived with a man in slavery days as his wife, he belonged to one owner named Haines and I belonged to another owner named Palmer. The man I lived with to wit, Samuel Sams, was sold by his owner to a planter from Louisiana or Mississippi and taken there by the man who bought him and I never saw him afterwards. I was then living in this county and have lived here ever since or near here. Sams was taken away from Florida long before the war and there are no living witnesses who know anything about the facts except myself. I saw Sams one Christmas which we spent together and I did not know until the following April what had become of him. He had been sold and I did not know it.”Deposition B-1. Case of Diane Hatcher, No 615.172. Jan. 2, 1896, Jacksonville, Fla.. Question: Did Bellamy belong to the same master that you did?Answer: “No sir.”Question: When and how did Bellamy get his freedom?Answer: “He got away from his masters as best he could and went to Fernandina Fla.”Question: [Was it] there you and he hid? Together there? Until he went into the U.S. army did you?Answer: “Yes sir- but we [parted?] He went to the army.”Question: Did you have any marriage with him after he went to Fernandina Answer: “I had no marriage with him after I got my freedom or after we went to Fernandina.”Question: What became of Bellamy?Answer: “He died here in Jacksonville- before I married Ben or I heard so- I was not here when he died but heard so.”Question: By whom can you prove that Bellamy is dead and the time he died?Answer: “By the undertaker who buried him. I will [?] the name till- I cant tell you now, the people or what place he died or dead.”Question: Now tell me who you have had since slave time as your husbands or men tell the names of all of them.Answer: “I had in slave times Brutus, Sammy Sams, Bethel Bellamy after Bellamy and since slave times and then Ben Hatcher?”Question: Are you a pensioner?Answer: “No sir.”Question: Did you apply for a pension or [warrant?] of Sams, Brutus, or Bellamy ? Answer: “No sir- I made only application as the widow of Ben Hatcher. Bethel Bellamy and I lived on separate plantations- our slave marriage was with the consent of our owners, I suppose his master gave consent but do not know.”Question: Who can tell me about your marriage to Bellamy?Answer: “I do not know as no one can- the white family to who I belonged are dead , - Bellamy was owned by Mis [?] she died during the war, the family are gone.”Deposition A. December 12, 1896, Jacksonville, Duval Co, Fla. Diana Hatcher: “I live in Oakland, Jacksonville Fla….I do not know my age, I think I am about 60 years old. I keep house, I am the person who is claiming pension as the widow of Ben Hatcher who served in Co A, 21- USCI and died Sept 12, 1894 at Fernandina, Nassau Co Fla… I met…Ben Hatcher during the war. At that time I was living in Fernandina Fla, I first saw him in that place during the war, after he enlisted. He then had a wife and no children. That wife’s name was Minerva Hatcher. They lived together until she died- I can [recall] the day or year she died. She died in Fernandina, Fla about a year and eight months before I married Ben, I was living in Jacksonville at the time she died I guess she had been dead some weeks before I heard it. Yes sir, I am certain she was dead before I married Ben, I had no husband when I first married Ben. I belonged to Mr. David Palmer at St Nicholas in this county. After that I went down to Pablo he is now dead- Mr Ed Holmes his son in law is the old…there, I guess I earned find some of the servants in [town] that know one then.“In slave time when I lived with Mr Palmer I had a husband, his name was Sammie Sams. He was sold off to a negro trader long before the war. They took [him] to Mississippi or Louisiana and I never heard from him after he was sold I did not have any other husband, I had no children by Sammie Sams. No sir I have not lived with him any since the war- not seen him, no sir- I had no husband since the war until I married Ben Hatcher.“I was married to Ben Hatcher in Oakland Fla, Dec 12, 1883 by Thomas Lancaster a Baptist preacher. He had no other wife and I no other husband at that time. Sarah Ring, Julia Williams, Mrs. Richard Ward and Thomas Ward and others living in Oakland were present when I was married. After marriage we lived together as husband and wife all of the time until he died. We lived some of the time in Fernandina and some of the time in Oakland Fla. At Fernandina, we lived out in the country about 2 ½ miles from the city east near the beach. George Hills, Emma Hills, Ruth Morrison lived near us- they live there now. When living here [Ranshad?] Ward, Hattie Edwards, William Edwards, Charlotte Davis were neighbors to us. Thomas Ward also lived near us.“I had no children by Ben Hatcher. Yes sir, I have some children- none by Ben, my children are something over 30 years old William Floyd is my son, he lives with my [?] in Oakland, Sarah Yelder is my girl I think she is about 35 years old, she lives in Maitland, Orange Co, Fla.“Yes sir I was not married to the father of these children, Brutus Floyd was father of my children- he is dead. He died I heard he died. I lived with Brutus Floyd in Jacksonville Fla, we did not live together long. I cannot tell what become of him- we part[ed] before my girl Sarah was born, I do not know whether Brutus had another wife- don’t know any thing about that. I did not live with Brutus any after then [short?] is not after some times- I was a slave when all my children were born- I did not consider Brutus my husband. Primus McQueen of this city [?] Floyd this city knew Brutus. “I have had no children born since slave times and I had no husband until I married Ben Hatcher. I have not married nor lived with nor cohabitated with any man as his wife since Ben Hatcher died. Ben Hatcher was a pensioner when he died, I do not know what law he was pensioned under, I think he got $36 every three months. I would not [know] whether he had my other claim pending when he died.”Question: State what Ben Hatcher’s [lands?] were when your first know him. Answer: “I did not know as he had any bad health of any kind when I first knew him in the service. Afterward when we got married I learned he had some mind trouble and he was complaining all of the time. Then there was some trouble with his eyes- I understand from him that he lost his sight of his left eye when on duty on Morris Island.”Question: When did you first notice there was any trouble with his eyes?Answer: “After I married him. He was often taken with a [pain] in his body- would be so bad that he had to lie right down- I suppose it was head trouble. He was found blind. He had no sickness before died. He had been up all day went to church at night mind the next morning he was found dead in his [bed?]. No, Sir I do not know that there was any [inquest?] hold any his body. They had none after I got there. I was over here when he died- and he died at Fernandina. He went from me here on Tuesday and one week and one day later he was found on his bed lifeless. We had lived over there two years. It did not agree with my health there so he moved me here and was going to move over himself in a little while. He came and stayed with me about five days and went back intending to move over here but died before he got a chance to move. We had a little house we lived in over there on Mr. Shims place. He died in that house. At the time Ben died my father was very sick here in Oakland and I was helping to take care of him.“Henry Clay, Joseph [Argah?] [Gus? Robinson?] Henry Hannahan and Ben Joseph knew my husband in Fernandina Fla. Ben had sick spells when I lived with him they came on some times several times a day and sometimes the spells would be survived weeks apart. In seemed that older he got the worse it troubled him, when he had those spells he appeared to have a pain in his chest here (placing her hand on her heart).”Question: Besides the trouble with his eyes and his pain in his chest did he have any sickness while you knew him?Answer: “Sir, yes, he was always complaining of inward pain- I do not know what it was. Sometimes he would say his heart hurt him, he [had?] me enough- sometimes he would be sick with fever. Sometimes he would be so sick he would not turn himself over. No sir, he had no doctor come to visit him while I lived with him- he sometimes went to see a doctor, Dr JD Palmer of Fernandina ([?]) pronounced him incurable so he did not go for more treatment- I do not know where Dr Palmer is now. No sir, I cannot tell whether Dr Palmer told Ben what was the matter with him.”Question: Is it not a fact that you were living here in Oakland or Jacksonville with your father when Ben died, and that you had been living here for two years or more when he died and that Ben Hatcher continued to live on at Fernandina and intended to continue to live there?Answer: “Sir, yes sir. I had him here and he over there for some time before he died, but we visited each other, he came over here to see me and I went over to see him,No sir he was never divorced from me, no sir I was not divorced from him.”Question: How did it happen that you lived here and he at Fernandina?Answer: “Sir, because my health was bad over there I have asthma and the salt air did not agree with me, and he liked to [?] [there or then]- But he had moved some of his things over here and intended to move the rest of his things over here but died before he got moved, No sir we had [not?] separated we had no dispute at all it was all friendly between us.“Ben Hatcher had two sons living at Kings Ferry, Nassau Co, Fla. Their names are Powell Benjamin and William Benjamin and John Wesley Carey I do not know his residence and Madison Carey, I do not know where he lives, were Benjamin Hatcher children he did not have any other children that I know of. “Ben Hatcher had been married three times before he married me, his first wife was named Rebecca, she died- I do not know where or when she was died a great while before my time. Powell and William Benjamin were her children and may know where and when she died.”Question: State if you know who was Ben Hatcher’s second wife, when and where he married her, what became of her, who were her children and by whom you came from what become of her if you say she was dead before you married Ben, by whom can you prove that?Answer: “Her name was Harriet Carey. There was no marriage to it. He was living with her before the war. She lives here in this place. She was separated from him before the war, must have been because when I got acquainted with Ben during the war he was married to Minerva [Harriet’s?] children by the soldier are John Wesley Carey and Madison Carey. I do not know where they are- Madison Carey is a Methodist minister, Harriets now is now [?] Carey, she lives on Hickory St in Oakland. I do not know her number, No sir there was no divorce between Ben and Harriet for there was no divorce for colored peoples before the war, no sir they did not live together after the war for during the war Ben was married to Minerva.“Yes sir, Ben was married to Minerva during the war- I know for I saw their license or certificate. They got burned when the house burned up. After we were married it was burned the February before he died.“I know when Minerva died, I did not attend her funeral. I got the word of her death from the [M.E. ?] Church she belonged to at Fernandina, Fla.”Question: State fully all the property you owned at the time the solider Ben Hatcher died;Answer: “I did not own any property.”Question: State what property you now own?Answer: “I own my bed and a few dishes that Ben brought over here just before he died and the clothes I wear.”Question: Did not your father leave some property to you when he died?Answer: “Father left two lots and two houses on them, I [cant?] state their value. He made no will, he left three living children and grandchildren by two children who are dead. He left no wife, the property will be divided in five parts. One house is rented at three (3) per month. One house is just as good as the other- the rent of the houses would not much more than pay the taxes on them. He left no other property. There is no debt on the houses or lots. I used to take in washing- I have cooked but the rheumatism and asthma so affects one that I cannot work at this. While I lived with Ben Hatcher he went to Dr J D Palmer of Fernandina Fla, Dr W H Pope (the old Dr Pope) of Fernandina is dead.”Question: What was the condition of Ben Hatcher’s eyes when you first knew him?Answer: “Perfectly good so far as I knew. I never knew that there was anything the matter with his eyes until after he came away from the army. After I married him I discovered his eye was affected I sometimes noticed something the matter with his eyes before that, but I never paid any strict attention to his eyes until after I married him, then I noticed [?]- I know the left one was affected, there appeared to be a skin or film proving over it- and some times the eye would be red inflamed; he told me his eye got that way when he was on dirty at night on Morris Island while a soldier.”Question: By whom can you prove that his eyes became deceased while he was in the U.S. Service?Answer: “By some of his soldier brother (comrades) Henry Hannahan Fernandina Fla ,Lewis McQueen Jacksonville , Primus ? (works for Dexter Hunter) , Richard Masters, Brooklyn, Isaac White, Farmer, Fernandina.”Question: by whom can you prove that you had not been divorced or separated from Ben Hatcher before he died?Answer: “I can prove that by the [church?] house here and at Fernandina, for you [?]. [?] divorce except by process of law, Daphne Whitehead, Julia Williams Charles [?], Richard Ward, Edmund Williams all near neighbors to me.”Question: By whom can you prove that you had not been married or had any husband form the time Brutus Floyd left you as you say in slave in war times until you married Ben Hatcher?Answer: “By the witnesses just named, you make a mistake there- I had Brutus first- was never married to him- after he went off I had Samuel Sams (Sammie Sams) as the slave husband, he belonged to Mr Harris who sold him before the war, then I can prove by the neighbors named above that I had no husband from that time Sam was sold until I married Ben Hatcher, and I can prove by the same witnesses that I have not remarried or lived with any man since the death of Ben Hatcher.”Question: By whom can you prove what these lots left by your father are worth?Answer: “I will inquire, Mr John Flynn own property out there and might know, the family that owned Sammie Sams went out of this country when the war began and I do not know what became of them.”Deposition B-1. December 28, 1896. Deponent: Hattie Carey. “I live at 25 Hickory Street, Oakland, Duval Fla. I am cannot tell my age- do not know. I know this claimant Diana Hatcher- for I and her both had the same man- I have known her about 15 years. I know Ben Hatcher in his lifetime. He and I belonged to the same parties [?] Landers Hill [?] before the war. He belong to Isaac Hatcher as a slave as but I married him when I was about 13 yrs old when my boss bought him- I have two children by him. John Wesley Carey and Madison Thomas Carey, both living now. That was in slave times that I lived with him- we separated when he went to the war and left me and the children there at Charleton Co. Ga.“He never came back to me anymore- I never saw him again until I saw him here living with Sister Hatcher (the claimant). They were married then- I had heard that he was married after left me before he married claimant and that wife died- I did not know that first wife.“Ben lived here some and some over at Fernandina Fla after I know him here. The claimant first lived here and she stayed most of the time after I know her that place when she went over to Fernandina to see Ben any he used to come here and stay with her.“After Ben left me- after the surrender I married again- that time I married James Carey. He has been dead two years. I am not a pensioner….No sir I never lived any with Ben after the war.

”Deposition 1.

January 2, 1897, Jacksonville, Duval Co., Florida.
Deponent: Joshua Williams: “I reside at #1225 Clay St Jacksonville, Fla, I am 45 years old by occupation carpenter. I know the claimant- have known her ever since I was a child. She used to come to my grandfathers house here in Jacksonville when I just knew her, that was before the war- I know she at one time had Bethel Bellamy for a husband I do not know whether she was married to him or not- simply know they appeared to be living together, that was in Fernandina, that was about 1863- the exact date I cannot give- about the time Bellamy enlisted I am satisfied she did not live with him after his discharge for the army in service and she would not have him when he came back- No sir I do not think she had him any after the war- we lived just across street from her at that time and she lived with her father Rodwill Palmer (Sams) I cannot tell when Bellamy died nor whether he was dead when she married Ben Hatcher.“I knew Ben Hatcher first when the time Co A 21^st USCT was organized at Fernandina Fla. At that time he was in good health so far as I know, After he had been in soldier about a year I noticed he was sick- had taken cold and had rheumatism- and was having some trouble with his eyes. He was taken off regular duty and put to cooking- it was on account of his disability. I cannot be certain what the disability for which he was put to cooking was. His eyes at time he came home in 1866- were bad- He then wore green shades over them and [wore?] specks. I saw him from that time on, for time to time up to 1881 and his eyes continued bad- just worse as he grew older. I do not know what caused the trouble with his eyes.“I went out with the 21 USCT campaigning in the South (servant) to Major H Willingham- was with them until 1865 and had opportunity to see the old neighbors during service.

”Deposition 2.

January 30, 1897, Jacksonville, Florida.
Deponent: Amelia Williams. “I live in east Jacksonville Fla, I was 41 ½ years old before the troops were made up for freedom- I lived in this county about 21 miles from this town this time. I do not know this claimant I did know Bethel Bellamy, he died at his brother’s in East Jacksonville close by me a long time ago- before my girl Jenne died when she died she left a child- that child is now 20 years old or more old- he is a grown man- His name is Eddy Ferguson. He is a full [grown] young man now- I think Bethel Bellamy has [been] dead us much as twenty years. Bethel Bellamy left two children I do not know what became of them. “Diana was his wife- I now just begin to understand and [recollect?] about that- she lives in Oakland. Yes- I do know Diana- who used to belong to Mr Sams- she was Bethel Bellamy’s wife one time. That was before the war- then during the war. They all got to Fernandina- they took him in the Regiment and he lost his mind and they had to also change him from the regiment. I know after he came home from the army they did not live together.

”Deposition 3.

February 1, 1897, Jacksonville, Florida. Deponent: Ramsey Dey. “I do business at 19 + 21 W Adams St Jacksonville Fla as undertaker- have been engaged in business here about 19 years. I know this claimant- have no interest in her pension claim. I knew Bethel Bellamy- a colored man in his lifetime- I do not know whether he had been a soldier, he was a night scavenger when I knew him- I would consider his mind weak-I must have known him ten years I suppose.“Yes sir I recollect burying him . His mother Scipio Bellamy was in East Jacksonville, Fla somewhere from 8 to 10 years ago. I have no record of his burial that I can find- it was done on the request of his mother Scipio Bellamy who paid for it and I can find no record of it I feel confident that his death occurred no less than 8 no more than 10 years ago. I think Bethel Bellamy when I knew him had no family.”Report to Pension Bureau by J.D. Harlo, Special Examiner, Jacksonville, FlaFeb. 1, 1897. “Herewith are returned the original papers in the above entitled pension claims and the widow taken therein.The claims were referred for special examination to determine the merit of the pending claim made the old claim for disability from disease of the eyes, and to determine the merit of the widow claim under the new law (as of January 27, 1890)“The claimant was given the usual notice of special examination and fully advised of her rights and [line missing] accompanying me with taking the testimony at the city except that of J. Ramsey Day, Amelia Williams and Joshua Williams. She was not able to go with me to Nassau Co. Fla. but I read to her all the evidence taken by me there.“I have carefully examined the records of circuit court in and for Nassau and Duval counties, Fla. from dec 12, 1883 to sept 12 1894, this is for all the time from the alleged marriage of claimant and solider to the time of soldier death and find no evidence there of any divorce proceedings were ever instituted by either party. I am [unable?] to find anyone who ever heard of any divorce proceedings between them- in fact that class of people rarely resort to a divorce court.“The evidence examined by [Mr. Shaw?] the claimant was married to the soldier at about the time alleged and was recognized by their families and neighbors as husband and wife from that time until the death of the soldier. That they lived together some of the time and that he had returned from his last visit to claimant but a few days before he died. At that time claimant was [away] to care for her father who was sick on his death bed. The claimant alleges she was married to the solider by Thomas Lancaster, the copy of record furnished by her shows the marriage ceremony was performed by Henry Lancaster M.D. in the record which I looked at shows the [?] made by Henry Lancaster, but the, is said that it might be taken for [?] something else. There is no question that they were married and lived together as man and wife. The license and [?] refers to these parties.“I have examined the records of the officers of the tax collection for the city and county. (Jacksonville, Duval Co, Fla.) for the years 1894, 5 & 6 can find no property assessed to the claimant, and no property assessed to Rodwell Palmer or similar name I did find however that the lots nos. 73 & 74 block 11 in Oakland were assessed to unknown owner for the years 1895 & 6 at $400. these were the lots formerly owned by claimants father Rodwell Palmer, - lots where claimant now lives, it appears [?] rule to as- surround estate at one [?] of its actual cash value, making value of property $1200. [?] assessed against claimant in Nassau Co Fla.“While investigating widow claim at Fernandina Fla (Nassau Co) I learned claimant had at one time while a slave had Bethel Bellamy as husband, and had raised one or more children by him. She had told me nothing about her relation with Bellamy. That made necessary an additional statement from her which I took after reading to her all the testimony taken by me in Nassau Co. in her statement she claims never to have lived with Bellamy after his discharge from the service and in that I think that the evidence sustains her. In [?] there is evidence tending to show that Bellamy became insane while in service because this claimant had abandoned him Withstanding claimant statement she had not lived with Bellamy since his return from the service and the other evidence on that point I deemed it best to hold up the case and make an effort here to learn what parties here might know about her relations with Bellamy and whether or not Bellamy is dead and if so the date of his death. After the fullest inquiry among colored and white people who knew claimant and Bethel Bellamy I have been unable to find any evidence that they ever lived together after his discharge from service about 1864. I searched the court record of this city find is incomplete - a point I understand was disturbed by fire at one time, and there appears to me several periods between Jany 1876 and Jany 1892, when no record was made. The records do not show the death of Bethel Bellamy. Inquiring many of his neighbors in East Jacksonville Fla. where he died would fix the date of his death from six to twenty five years ago. The undertaker who buried him Mr. J. Ramsey Day has no record of the date of his burial, but fixes the time from memory as stated on his deposition, as from eight to ten years ago. The colored people who knew Bethel Bellamy have little idea of the passage of time and their recollections of such matters are of little no value. There is no doubt [?] Bethel Bellamy was alive at the time claimant married the soldier, or that he died some years before the soldier died and while claimant and soldier were [missing line]“I have been unable to find original affiant William Doyle (wid BJ #6) he was suppose to live somewhere north from Jacksonville, quote not far out of town”- but whether living or dead I have never been able to find him. Original affiants Dr W. H. Pope, Stephen Haddock Amsterdam Issac White are dead.“I have exhausted all known sources of evidence in this district and find only the evidence with submitted tending to show that Ben Hatcher contracted any disease of eyes in service Mr Henry Hannahan is in good [reputation] as a witness but I do not think his statement “sir after they had been in service about a year he heard him (Ben Hatcher) complain of being [?], having to [?] wash his eyes,” sufficient to establish injury in service of disease of eyes, that claim will have to be negated?. “I rate the witness as sound in mind from statements of neighbors and members of [the community?]. “I recommend admission of widows claim and Rejection of invalid on the ground that the evidence finds as to the origin in service to date of the alleged disease of the eyes.”Jacksonville Florida

November 6, 1916
Widow certification number 39.056
Name of soldier Benjamin Hatcher
Service of solider Civil warCommissioner of Pensions“Sir: I am pensioned widow the above certificate number because of the service of the solider named. I was married to soldier about thirty years ago in Jacksonville Florida. I am eighty four years of age having been born in this Duval County Florida in 1832 according to my former owners statements to me. I am entitled to the increase of pensions provided by the first section of the act of Sept 8 1916. My post office address is Jacksonville Florida.”

Signed Diana [X] Hather (her mark)

Witness to mark- C. B. Stephens P.O. Address Jacksonville, Fla.
Witness to mark- F. O. McQueen P.O. Address Jax’ Fla.

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HANNAHAN, HENRY
Co. , 21^st Regiment, United States Colored Infantry
Enlisted: June 13, 1863, at Fernandina, Florida.
Free man before the war
Discharged: January 31, 1866.
Pension record number: 663,080

MARY C. FORESTER HANNAHAN, second wife of soldier and pension recipient.
Pension record number: 956,075

GENERAL SUMMARY

The pension file of Henry Hannahan is in many ways unique. By the end of the war Hannahan had achieved the rank of Sergeant Major and throughout his lengthy experience with the Pension Bureau he explained how this rank made his war experience different from those of many of his comrades in the USCT. Hannahan was also literate and therefore able to write his own letters to the Pension Bureau. Hannahan was willing to use his literacy to help other former soldiers in the USCI. Letters written by him can be found in the pension application files of many of his former comrades living in the Fernandina area. Hannahan’s pension application file is noteworthy for information for free blacks and slaves before the war and their black life after emancipation.

Hannahan claimed disability from war service which induced rheumatism and that he suffered from bullet wound in his left thigh. The results of several medical examinations are contained in the file. White officers and surgeons from his regiment were questioned about Hannahan and his condition, and his service records were extensively and repeatedly searched at the War Department.

Hannahan’s first wife Nancie passed away in 1867. Three years later he married Mary C. Forester with whom he remained until his death. When Hannahan died in October 1910, Mary Hannahan submitted an application to receive a widow’s pension.

EXCERPTS FROM THE PENSION RECORD OF HENRY HANNAHAN

Declaration for Original Invalid Pension, Henry Hannahan, June 12, 1880: “…he occurred disability, the symptoms and location of which are hereafter described: Rheumatism all over [?], neck, & head being the worst, has often been in bed 3 months at a time. Also while at an Island opposite James Island near Charleston, in the State of South Carolina, on or about the Fourth day of July, 1864, he incurred a bullet wound in his left thigh. He still carries the bullet in his left thigh.

Letter, Henry Hannahan, April 12, 1881:“This is to certify that I cannot furnish medical evidence of my soundness at enlistment, because I had no family physician at that time, being in good health, and I have used every means in my power to find the examiner, surgeon and have failed 2^nd I cannot give you medical evidence of the state of my health since my discharge, because my Doctor Ebenezer G. Clay, and C.W. Horsey, both of Fernandina Fla, are both dead, and I have been to poor since they died to employ anybody else, 3^rd I cannot furnish an affidavit of the surgeon that treated me while in the service, Dr. J.M. Hawks, because he has forgotten the particulars of my case, as the letter that I sent you sometime since, that I received from him shows.”Examining Surgeon’s Certificate, A.J. Wakefield, September 21, 1881: “From exposure lying on the ground of Morris Is. S.C. and in N. Florida campaign of Feb 1864 contributes rheumatism in legs and arm which have troubled him ever since. The G.S.W. [gun shot wound] of left thigh is not to be rated. He was struck in head with butt of a gun which caused insensibility and left [trembling] of fingers [?] and sleeplessness at night.Disability rating from Rheumatism one quarter (1/4) and from injury to head one quarter (1/4) makes in all one half (1/2) entitling him to $4.00 per month.”Affidavit for Commissioned Officer or Comrade, Ben Redding, April 23, 1881: [Hannahan] “did contract rheumatism while standing to attention from seven o’clock at night until 9 o’clock next morning in a beating rain, the waters washing down the hill under his feet. He was treated by the Regimental Surgeon, and has been a sufferer from it ever since, and since he left the Army, has at times been confined to the bed months at a time, and was a helpless invalid three years, and is only able now to do little jobs, I was with him the night he contracted said rheumatism and know of this sickness.”Note in File, No Signature, No Date: “Friend Dudley, I have just received the accompanying papers through Judge Hillyer of Fla. Who says ‘the Claimant is a bright acceptation, to the general rule, of the colored race, Honest, Virtuous, industrious, and grateful. He is at present a great invalid and need help. If Uncle Sam can or intend to do any thing for him – the poor fellow – no[w] is the time do it’ I know nothing about the claimant but I do know that there is not money enough in Fla. to induce the Judge to make a false statement, if he is a some of mine….” (page two missing)Letter, from Henry Hannahan to Commissioner of Pension, July 21, 1882: “I inclose (sic) your letter of about two years ago, to which I have affixed the Number of Claim and Division assigned. I respectfully request information as to the status of my claim, for pension, bounty, and black pay. Since I was mustered out of the service I have never received but $84.00 in all. Hoping for an early reply I am very respectfully yours.”Pension Office Notice, Wm. W. Dudley, November 24, 1882: In every claim to Invalid Pension it is necessary that the following information should be furnished by the claimant, if it does not appear in his declaration.1. – He should state under oath the nature and locality of the wound or injury, or the name or nature of the disease for which pension is claimed.2. – He should state under oath when and where the alleged wound or injury was received, or the disease contracted, and the circumstances of the origin of each.3. – He should state under oath whether he has been in the military or naval service since ___, 18 .4. – He should state without oath the names or numbers and the localities of all hospitals…in which he was treated while in the service, giving, as nearly as possible, the dates of treatment in each. If he was not treated in the service he should state the fact.5. – His post office address…In the claim, No, 4, of Mr. Henry Hannahan, the information indicated by paragraph No, 4 has not been furnished and should be supplied. Please return this circular with your reply.”War Department, Adjutant General’s Office, M. Barke, January 12, 1883: “He is reported on Muster Rolls from orgin (sic), to Feby 29/64, present for duty (as Corpl); from Feby 29/64 to Aug 31/64, present, “Daily duty act’g sergt. Major” form