Civil War Pension File of John C. Shell

WC 732.355
(1)Unit: Sergeant, Company I, 7th West Virginia Volunteer Infantry
Enrolled: 22 Nov 1861 – Greenland, Virginia
Discharged: 13 Feb 1863 – Camp Convalescent, Virginia
(2)Unit: Private – Company F, 2nd Regiment Ohio Cavalry Veteran Volunteers
Enrolled: 24 Feb 1865
Discharged 11 Sep 1865 – Benton Barracks, Missouri
Description: 5 feet 10 inches high, light complexion, hazel eyes, brown hair

Documents:

(1) Certificate of Disability for Discharge – 13 Feb 1863 – Convalescent Camp, Virginia
Sergt. John C. Shell of Captain Watson's Company I, 7th West Virginia Volunteer Infantry, enlisted at Greenland, Virginia, on 22 Nov 1861 to serve three years.  He was born at Fayette Co, Ohio, and is thirty-two years of age.   He is 5 feet 10 inches high, light complexion, hazel eyes, brown hair and by occupation a farmer.  During the last two months the said soldier has been unfit for duty 60 days.

Station: Camp Convalescent, Virginia – Date: 5 Feb 1863 – Signed: R. P. Crawford
John C. Shell is incapable of performing the duties of a soldier because of functional disease of the heart contracted in service.  Off duty 5 months.  Discharged 13 Feb 1863 at Convalescent Camp, Virginia.
[Signatures unreadable]

(2) Form of Declaration for an Invalid Pension – 18 Feb 1863 – Washington, D.C.
John C. Shell, aged 32, resident of Greenland, Hardy Co, Virginia, states he enlisted at Greenland on 22 Nov 1861 as a Sergeant in Company I, commanded by Capt. J. Watson, commanded by Colonel Snyder.  He was honorably discharged 13 Feb 1863.  While in the service and in the line of his duty he developed consumption following typhoid fever which he had at Mt. Pleasant Hospital, Washington, D.C. on 28 Aug 1862.  It has left him very weak so that he probably will never be able to labor any more.  He has resided at Alexandria, Alexandria Co, Virginia, since leaving the service.  By occupation he is a farmer.  He appoints Lewis F. Rogers & Company of Washington, D.C. his attorneys, with power of substitution, to prosecute his claim and receive the certificate.
Signed: John C. Shell

(3) Adjutant General's Office – 10 Dec 1881 – Washington, D.C.
Summary of Company Rolls for John C. Shell, Sergeant of Company I, 7th West Virginia Infantry Volunteers, who enrolled 22 Nov 1861 at Greenland. Reported present on roll dated 3 December 1861.  To 28 Feb 1862 presence or absence not stated, same to 30 Apr 1862.  Present on rolls to 31 Aug 1862.  On 31 Oct 1862 absent, sick in General Hospital, Washington D. C.; same to 28 Feb 1863.  No regimental returns for January, February and March 1862 on file.  The return for April 1862 does not report him absent.  On the regimental return for March 1863 he is reported discharged 23 (sic) Feb 1863 for disability.  Certificate of Disability shows him discharged at Convalescent Camp, Virginia, 13 Feb 1863 which date is accepted as correct.

(4) Affidavit – 17 Feb 1882 – DeWitt Co, Illinois
John C. Shell, Post Office Farmer City, DeWitt Co, Illinois, states that the disease for which he claimed a pension and which has troubled him ever since his discharge is rheumatism contracted at Paparo Tunnel on The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad caused by exposure in camping out without shelter and insufficient clothing.  The disease affects his back, neck and limbs making them stiff or painful to move.
Signed: John C. Shell

(5) Affidavit for Neighbors' and General Purpose – 1 Feb 1883 – Athens Co, Ohio
A. S. Tidd, aged 60, resident of Coolville, Ohio, states that he first became acquainted with the claimant about the spring of 1874.  He knew him for some years prior to this but was not well enough acquainted with him to know much about his affliction until he moved on his farm.  From 1874 until the spring of 1881 he was intimately acquainted with the claimant and knew of his being frequently laid up on account of rheumatism which the claimant told him was caused by exposure while in the U. S. service.  He further states that in his judgment the claimant has been incapacitated from doing regular manual labor owing to the said disability fully one third of his time.  He cannot do more than two thirds of a healthy man's work on an average.  The claimant lived on the affiant's farm for some years.
Signed: A. S. Tidd

(6) Affidavit for Neighbors' and General Purpose – 1 Feb 1883 – Athens, Ohio
Mary J. Lyons, aged 48, resident of Coolville, Ohio, states that she was acquainted with the claimant before his entrance into the U.S. Service and that the claimant was considered a sound healthy man at that time and that after he came out of said service he was troubled with rheumatism so that at times he was not able to do anything in the way of regular labor and in her judgment he was unable to do regular manual labor more than one third of the time.  Her means of knowing the above facts are that she was a near neighbor of the claimant nearly all the time after his discharge until the spring of 1881 when the claimant removed from Ohio to Illinois.
Signed: Mary J. Lyons

(7) Declaration for Original Invalid Pension – 8 Jul 1890 – DeWitt Co, Illinois
John C. Shell, aged 62, resident of Farmer City, DeWitt Co, Illinois, states he enlisted on 22 Nov 1861 as a Sergeant in Company I, 7th West Virginia Volunteer Infantry commanded by Captain Shell and Captain Watson after and was honorably discharged at Convalescent Camp, Alexandria, Virginia, on 13 Feb 1863.  His personal description is age 62 years, height 5 feet 10 inches, complexion dark, hair auburn, eyes hazel.  He is now suffering from rupture and rheumatism.   He has never received but has applied for a pension previously.
Signed John C. Shell
Witnesses: Dill Farmer, C. D. Breadwell

(8) Certificate, Bureau of Pensions – 5 Aug 1891- n.p.
Act of 27 Jun 1890 – Original Pension No 639.539 – John C. Shell, Sergeant, Company I, 7th West Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment, is entitled to a pension at the rate of $8 a month, to commence on 12 Jul 1890.  This pension being for "inguinal hernia (incomplete) and lumbago."
Signed: Geo. Chandler, Acting Secretary of the Interior

(9) Circular, Department of the Interior, Bureau of Pensions – 15 Jan 1898 – filled out by John C. Shell on 4 Jul 1898
  ·  Wife's maiden name: Ann R. Smith
  ·  Marriage: 30 May 1859, Petersburg, West Virginia, by Rev. John Johnson
  ·  Record of Marriage: in the county clerk's office in Petersburg
  ·  Previously married: No
  ·  Living children: Joseph H., b. 4 Mar 1860; Mary F., b. 18 Jul 1861; Edward T., b. 6 Jun 1866; Samantha J., b. 9 Aug 1868; Anna E., b. 9 Nov 1870; John S., b. 6 May 1873; George William, b. 2 Apr 1876; Lewis E., b. 14 Apr 1890 (sic. should be 1880)
Signed: John C. Shell

(10) Declaration for Pension – 19 Feb 1907 – DeWitt Co, Illinois
John C. Shell, aged 78, resident of Farmer City, DeWitt Co, Illinois, states he also served as a private of Captain S. A. Rand's Company F, 2nd Regiment Ohio Cavalry Veteran Volunteers.  He enrolled on 24 Mar 1865 and was discharged on 11 Sep 1865 at Benton Barracks, Missouri.  His description at enlistment was height 5 feet 10 inches, light complexion, hazel eyes, brown hair, and his occupation was a farmer.  He was born 3 Jun 1828 at Frankfort, Ross Co, Ohio.  His places of residence since leaving the service have been Athens Co, Ohio, then to Farmer City, DeWitt Co, Illinois.  He is a pensioner under Certificate 639.539.  He makes this declaration for the purpose of being placed on the pension roll under the Act of 6 Feb 1907.
Signed: John C. his X mark Shell
Witnesses: John D. Scott, John P. Canfield

(11) Department of the Interior – 7 May 1907 – Washington, D. C.
Report on the military history and personal description of the soldier as a member of Capt. S. A. Rand's Company F, Indpt. Regt. Ohio Cavalry Veteran Volunteers.  John C. Shell, Company F, 2nd Regiment Ohio Cavalry, aged 36, height 5 feet 9 inches, complexion fair, eyes hazel, hair auburn, born Fayette Co,Ohio, occupation farmer, enrolled 24 Feb 1865 and mustered out with the Company 11 Sep 1865 as a private.  "It does not appear from the records of this office that such an organization as Co. F Indpt Regt Ohio Cav. Vet. Vols. was M.I. to the service of the U.S."

(12) Declaration for Widow’s Pension – 1 May 1911 – DeWitt Co, Illinois
Anna R. Shell, aged 72, resident of Farmer City, DeWitt Co, Illinois, declares she is the widow of John C. Shell, who died 25 Apr 1911 at Farmer City, Illinois.  She was married under the name Anna R. Smith to said John C. Shell on 30 May 1859 by Rev. John Johnson at Petersburg, West Virginia.  She had not been previously married and he had not been previously married.  She has not remarried since the death of John C. Shell.
Signed: Anna R. her X mark Shell
Witnesses: Lydia Marie Case, Eva Lena Shell

(13) Drop Notice – 3 May 1911 – Chicago, Illinois
John C. Shell, Invalid Pension, Certificate No. 639539, Company I, 7th West Virginia Infantry, last paid at $24 to 4 Apr 1911, has been dropped because of death, 25 Apr 1911.

(14) Affidavit – 2 Jun 1911 – DeWitt Co, Illinois
Handwritten affidavit of Eli Tucker, aged 69, resident of Farmer City, Illinois, and Eli E. Shell, aged 47, resident of Farmer City, Illinois.  Affiants state they have been acquainted with the said John C. Shell and Anna R. Shell his wife for forty years and they have raised a family of children, the youngest being over 30 years old.  Said John C. Shell and Anna R. Shell lived together until his death which was 25 Apr 1911 "and he is now dead."
Signed: Eli Tucker, Eli E. Shell

(15) Affidavit – 2 Jun 1911 – DeWitt Co, Illinois
Handwritten affidavit of Dr. John H. Ziegler, a physician and surgeon, who testifies under oath that he treated John C. Shell in his sickness until his death which occurred in Farmer City, Illinois, on 25 Apr 1911 at his home.
Signed: John H. Ziegler, MD, Farmer City, Illinois

(16)Record of Marriage – 28 Jul 1911 – Hardy Co, West Virginia
Hand written record of the marriage of John C. Shell and Ann R. Smith, both of Hardy Co, married 30 May 1859 at Hardy Co, by John Johnston.
Signed: C. B. Welton, County Clerk, Hardy Co, West Virginia

(17) Drop Notice – 21 Jan 1914 – Chicago, Illinois
Anna R. Shell, widow, Certificate No. 732.355, last paid at $12 to 4 Oct 1913, has been dropped from the roll because of death, 2 Jan 1914.

(18) Application for Reimbursement – 28 Jan 1914 – DeWitt Co, Illinois
John S. Shell, aged 42, resident of Farmer City, DeWitt Co, Illinois, makes the following declaration in order to obtain reimbursement from the accrued pension for expenses paid (or obligations incurred) in the last sickness and burial of Anna R. Shell who was a pensioner by Certificate No. 732.355 on account of the service of John C. Shell, Sergeant, in Co. I, 7th Regiment West Virginia Volunteer Infantry.  The pension was last paid to 4 Sep 1913.  The full name of the deceased pensioner was Anna R. Shell, widow of John C. Shell.  The pensioner did not leave a child under 16 years of age.  No sick or death benefits were paid on the pensioner’s account.  There was no insurance (life, accident or health) in force on the life of the pensioner at the time of death.  There is no executor or administrator, however, "I expect to apply for letters administrator later."

The deceased pensioner left $65 in money.  The money was spent: $18.00 paid for digging graves of the deceased and her deceased husband and brick for the same; the balance of $47 on funeral expenses.  The pensioner did not leave an unendorsed pension check.  The person filling out the form is her son who is married.  The pensioner died of hemorrhages of the lungs.  Her last sickness was 2 weeks prior to her death and she was bedfast but had been ailing a long time.  Her doctor was Dr. J. H. Zeigler.  The pensioner was living with the claimant and was nursed by the claimant’s wife.  She died 2 Jan 1914 at the house and was buried at Maple Grove Cemetery south of Farmer City.

List of expenses:
  ·  Dr. J. H. Zeigler – physician – unpaid – $23.50 due
  ·  Medicine – included in the above – none due
  ·  Nursing and Care – was done by home folks – none due
  ·  Stensel Bros – Undertaker – unpaid - $45.00 due
  ·  B. Woodward – Livery - paid $2.00 - $8.00 due
  ·  Maple Grove Cemetery Assoc. – unpaid - $45.00 due
Balances: Paid = $2.00 – Amount unpaid = $121.50
Signed: John S. Shell

(19) Affidavit – 28 Jan 1914 – n.p.
D. L. Fuller and I. F. Houseman state they saw the claimant, John S. Shell, sign his name to the Application for Reimbursement.  The affiants also state that the pensioner died 2 Jan 1914.  She had $65 in the Old First National Bank of which they are the cashier and Vice President.
Signed: D. L. Fuller, I. F. Houseman

(20) Statement of Attending Physician – 31 Jan 1914 – n.p.
The pensioner died 2 Jan 1914.  She had been complaining of running down since last spring.  On August 9 he began making visits off and on.  She died of consumption.  He was the only physician.  Mr. and Mrs. John Shell were at the house all of the time to care for her and the other children would help at times.  His bill includes all medicine furnished during the last sickness.
Signed: J. H. Ziegler, MD

Compiled Service Record, John C. Shell, Sergeant Company I, 7th West Virginia Volunteer Infantry, File Designation WC 732.355, National Archives, Washington, D.C.

VETERAN DEAD.
FARMER CITY, April 26 – J. C. Shell, for 30 years a resident of this place died here yesterday.  He was born in Cumberland (sic) county, Ohio, 84 years ago and was a veteran of the Civil war, serving in the Seventh West Virginia.   The funeral will be held in the Christian church tomorrow morning at 10:30.  (From The Decatur Herald, Decatur, Illinois – Thursday, 27 Apr 1911 – Newspapers.com)

J. C. SHELL DIES.
Aged Resident of Farmer City Passed Away Tuesday Morning.
Farmer City, Ill, April 25. – (Special.) – J. C. Shell died this morning of general debility.  He was born in Cumberland (sic) county, Ohio, 84 years ago.  He was a veteran of the Civil war, serving in the Seventh West Virginia.  For thirty years he has resided in this vicinity.  He is survived by his wife and eight children: William, Mrs. Harry Randall and Mrs. Thomas Riggs, of this city; Lewis, of Champaign; Joseph, of Oregon; Edward, of Mahomet: and Mrs. Anna Mansfield of Deland. There are also twenty grandchildren.  The funeral will be held from the Christian church Thursday at 10:30 a.m., conducted by Rev. Mr. Stevenson.  Interment will be in Maple Grove.   (From The Pantagraph, Bloomington, Illinois – Wednesday, 26 Apr 1911 – Newspapers.com)

MRS. JOHN SHELL, SR., DIES
Aged Resident of Farmer City Passes Away Friday Morning.
Farmer City, Jan 2 – (Special) – Mrs. John Shell, Sr., died about 2 o"clock this morning after an illness of several weeks.  Deceased was aged 76 years and had been a resident of this place for many years.  She is survived by several children.  The funeral will be held Monday at 2:00 p.m. from the Christian church, conducted by Rev. R. D. Brown, of LeRoy.  (From The Pantagraph, Bloomington, Illinois – Saturday, 3 Jan 1914 – Newspapers.com)