This Surgeon's Certificate is found in the Civil War Pension File of my paternal third great-grandfather. He had qualified for a monthly pension from the United States Government by serving in Company I of the 215th Regiment of the Pennsylvania Infantry at the end of the war.
At the time of his exam, May 29,1901, he was living at 1416 South 15th Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The exam took place at 1636 Walnut Street in the same city. This would be a less than 10 minute car ride today.
My third great-grandfather's cause of disability was impaired vision due to cataracts, followed by operations, which were only partially successful. These disabilities allowed him an $8 a month pension, about $250 today.
About five years prior to this exam, he noticed a deficit in his vision. A year later he had to relinquish his work as a machinist on account of his cataracts.
My third great-grandfather, an Irish immigrant, was 70 years old at the time of this exam. He stood five feet, eight and a half inches tall and weighed 160 pounds. He had a ruddy complexion and had gray eyes and hair. He was a married father of seven children, five of which were still living.
His external eye appearance seemed normal, but the oblique examination showed a dark membrane with few white streaks remaining after a cataract operation. These findings called for another operation according to the examining doctor.
Every ancestor is more than just a name. Every one of them has a story. We are connected genetically, physically, and emotionally. We are who we are because of who they were.
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