Archive:Civil War Pension File, George H. Whitney
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Civil War Pension File of George H. Whitney
Widow: Emma L. Whitney
Invalid Applic. # 108552 Cert. # 94100
Widow Applic. # 687395 Cert. # 481917
National Archives Building, Washington, D.C.
He is identified as George Horace9 Whitney (George T.8, Humphrey7, Jonathan6, Jonathan5, Samuel4, John3, Benjamin2, John1).
Private, Co. H., 11th Maine Infantry
George H. Whitney enlisted in Co. B, 22nd Maine Infantry on 10 Sept 1862 for a term of 9 months. He was quartered at Camp John Pope, Bangor, Maine. While at Bangor, on 22 Sept 1862, he was transferred to Co. H, 11th Maine Infantry for a 3-year enlistment.
On 16 August 1864, George was wounded in the left thigh while in a charge upon the enemy's works at Deep Run (or Deep Bottom), Virginia. Shortly before the battle at Deep Run, George had contracted a chronic cough while on guard duty during bad weather. Disability due to the gunshot wound and to chronic bronchitis would plague George the remainder of his life. Subsequent to the wound, he was sent to the Beverly U.S. General Hospital in New Jersey. He was honorably discharged 6 Oct 1865 in Washington, D.C.
Upon his military discharge, George returned to Hudson, Maine, and worked with his step-father on the family farm for a year. On 16 August 1868, George H. Whitney married Emma L. Holmes at Bangor, Maine. They were married by George W. Royal. Neither had been previously married. Emma L. Holmes was born 17 March 1853 at Hudson, Maine, the daughter of Shephard Holmes, born in Parkman, Maine, and a farmer in Hudson. The marriage date for George and Emma is also given as 19 August 1869, but there is much testimony in the file to the 1868 date, so I believe it to be the accurate date. They were married by Martin Van Buren Piper, J.P.
George and Emma had two children: Hollis G., born 1874; and Lillian R., born 1878. After his military discharge in 1865, George lived in Hudson, Maine until the fall of 1872, when he moved to Detroit, Somerset Co., Maine, where he lived for one year. He returned to Hudson for one year, then returned to Detroit, where he lived until 1885. He then moved to Palmyra, Maine. The file does not indicate how long he remained there.
According to a physical exam done at age 44 as part of the application for pension, George was 5 feet, 10 inches tall and weighed 140 pounds. He was disabled by the gunshot wound to his thigh, which had been gangrenous, and by chronic bronchitis and heart disease. His application was filed from Detroit, Maine. George died at Pittsfield, Maine 14 November 1898 of consumption of the lungs (chronic bronchitis) and heart disease. He was 51 years, 6 mo., 28 days old (b. 16 Apr 1847). His occupation is listed as farmer.
Emma L. (Holmes) Whitney remarried after George's death, and as a result, lost George's pension benefit. On 10 March 1905 at Pittsfield, Maine, she married Horace Maxim. They were married by Rev. L. W. Coons. Both were widowed, and were residents of Pittsfield. Horace Maxim, born in Palmyra, Maine, was the son of Galen Maxim, a farmer born in Turner, Maine. At the time of the marriage, Horace was a 61 year old farmer, and Emma was a 50 year old domestic.
Horace Maxim died 17 Sept 1923 at Pittsfield, Maine. After his death, Emma applied for reinstatement of George H. Whitney's pension benefits, and this was granted 1 October 1923. Her address at that time was RR#1, Pittsfield, Somerset Co., Maine.
Copyright © 2006, Kenneth L. Whitney and the Whitney Research Group
