You’re lucky;my great-great-great-grandfather(yes,that’s three greats!)was a prisoner of war about five times and I don’t have a single document to show for it all.:(Seriously,though,great post;that was really very interesting.
Her husband (the Civil War guy) had left her some years earlier and ended up committing suicide in California in about 1909. She filed to collect his pension, but had no marriage certificate (they never divorced). To prove she was married to the guy, she had to give a deposition as to their life together and get depositions from several other people who knew them as a couple. This was all presented to the court and she was granted his veteran’s pension of about $15/mo.
JRyan35: The existence of this letter is only known to me via a small book that was written by one of his fellow soldiers about their AUS unit, the 23rd NY Volunteers, Company K. They had been students together at Alfred University in NY, and were friends. The letter was quoted in the book in its entirety and contained the circumstances of his capture, and his subsequent release. Very interesting stuff. The guy was quite adventurous, giving up a job as a lawyer in PA and moving to Devil’s Lake in the Dakotas, where he became the court clerk and was one of the first three appointed commissioners to the area. Unfortunately, he couldn’t seem to keep his pecker in his pants, and his wife finally told him she was leaving for home. He’s buried in a numbered veteran’s grave in Santa Barbara, CA.