Soldier Pension Help Needed!

[connecticut yankee]

My local historical society here in Connecticut is trying to answer the question whether or not a young widow applied and received a pension after her soldier-husband's death. She is MARY CASTLE (maiden name Leonard) and her husband is SUBMIT B. CASTLE.

At age 25, Submit B. Castle married 15-year-old Mary Leonard in Harwinton, Connecticut in 1850. They had a daughter, Martha. prior to the war.

Submit B. Castle enlisted as a private in Co. K--- 2nd. Connecticut Heavy Artillery in Sept. 1862

Just over one year after enlisting with two years of his military commitment left, Submit was discharged from the Union Army on Nov. 20, 1863 due to a "disability."

Submit died on Sept. 2, 1865 of "consumption." He is buried alone in a remote corner of South Cemetery, in Harwinton, Ct.

Where Mary and her daughter Martha lived after the war, where they died and are buried is unknown.

Any information regarding SUBMIT B. CASTLE or MARY CASTLE beyond what is presented above (especially Pension info) would be greatly appreciated.

SUBMIT B. CASTLE'S GRAVE, HARWINTON, CT.

 

[mcfb50]

Through a google search, I found he and his widow listed in a book of Learned family and associated names. It was published in 1898 and lists them both as d, s.p.

I had to look up s.p. and it means died without issue, so the daughter must not have survived. I couldn't surface the daughter through any other searches.

s.p. - [Latin] sine prole; without offspring died without issue (from Latin: decessit sine prole)

https://archive.org/stream/learnedfamilyle00larngoog#page/n190/mode/2up/search/castle

The newspaper article is from the Hartford Courant, Dece 4, 1863, page 2.

 

[John Winn]

Find someone with an Ancestry membership and do a search for your guy, selecting "military service" from the list of search options and if he or his widow applied for a pension they'll have a copy of the application. To really be sure you could also submit a NATF 85B form to the National Archives and they'll search for a pension application file. If they find one it'll cost you $30 for a copy of the file; if they don't there's no charge.

As Ancestry has digitized all the applications, though, I'd say if you don't find one there then she didn't apply. Note that the application was filed under the soldier's name so even if a widow filed it's recorded under his name.

Good luck.

 

[connecticut yankee]

My hat is off to both @mcfb50 and @John Winn. Thank you guys for the wonderful help!

 

[Taylin]

I looked for a while on Ancestry and couldn't find a pension file with his name in it, didn't find much on newspaperarchives either. National Archives probably your best bet

 

[BrianB]

I could not find any record of a pension application for Summit Castle in F, 2nd CT H.A. but there was a WAYNE CASTLE in that company:
he applied in 1866 for an invalid's pension - received pension certificate 75213

he also served in the 19th Connecticut Infantry (which was the original designation of the 2nd CT HA.

Wayne died December 23, 1926

 

[mcfb50]

I looked for a while on Ancestry and couldn't find a pension file with his name in it, didn't find much on newspaperarchives either. National Archives probably your best bet

Glad to help. I'm reached a lull in my own family research, and pop in here every now and then.