Person Page 1,915

Moses F. Souder was born on 14 Aug 1847 in Wilkes-Barre, PennsylvaniaG.^4,5,6,7 Moses appeared on the 1860 Federal Census of Huntington Twp, Luzerne Co., PennsylvaniaG, in the household of George Souder and Hannah Sutliff, who do not appear to be his parents.¹⁹
     Moses enlisted as a private in Co. A, 52nd Pennsylvania Infantry 21 Mar 1864 in Wilkes-Barre, PennsylvaniaG. He was mustered out with his company 12 Jul 1865 at Salisbury, North Carolina.^20,21
     Moses married first Hannah Krissy Smith on 11 Feb 1866 in Salem Twp., Luzerne Co., PennsylvaniaG, with Rev. W. D. Hamilton officating.^8,9,10
     Moses and Hannah appeared on the 1870 Federal Census of Huntington Twp, Luzerne Co., PennsylvaniaG, enumerated 25 Aug 1870, reporting no real estate or personal estate. Their son George was listed as living with them.²²
     Moses and Hannah appeared on the 1880 Federal Census of Shickshinny, Luzerne Co., Pennsylvania G, enumerated 10 Jun 1880. Their children George, Minnie, and Josephine were listed as living with them.²³
     Moses appeared on the veterans schdule of the 1890 Census of Fairmount Twp., Luzerne Co., Pennsylvania. The population schedules of that census have not survived, so no record remains showing the other members of his household.²⁴

A Tortuous Pension Process --- Text Stolen from ReigelRidge.com !! ---

     Moses applied for an invalid pension based on his Civil War service 18 Jul 1890, claiming disability due to kidney disease. He was living at Ripple, Luzerne Co., PennsylvaniaG, but used a Washington D.C. attorney, George E. Lemon, who apparently specialized in pension applications. He filed an identical application 30 July, apparently because of questions about the justice of the peace who certified his application. On 8 Oct 1891 he filed again, claiming disability caused by chronic diarrhea and kidney disease "from expose and use of army food" at Morris Island South Carolina in Jul 1864.²⁵
     A medical board examined him on 25 Nov 1891 and gave him a 6/18 disability rating for kidney disease, 6/18 for heart disease, and 6/18 for general disability. Apparently that did not result in a pension being awarded, as he filed an affidavit 16 May 1892 claiming heart disease for about 15 years. In December the War Department was asked for his medical records while in the army, and reported only treatment for acute bronchitis, in May 1864. Another medical examination, on 12 Apr 1893, found no evidence of the prior disabilities but gave him a disability rating of 6/18 for piles. His own doctor filed an affidavit 27 May stating he had frequently prescribed for rheumatism, chronic diarrhea, and weak heart, but Moses was unable to pay for the drugs so he had advised use of patent medicines. The doctor said he was almost completely incapacitated for manual labor. In December three men who had served with him, a sargeant and two privates, filed affidavits stating he had been sick at Morris Island. Nevertheless, the application was rejected 17 Jan 1894.²⁵
     Moses promptly renewed his quest for a pension. He prepared a new application 18 May 1894, with a new attorney, John P. Pollock of Wilkes-Barre. In a more detailed one ten days later, he claimed to have contracted chronic diarrhea in Jul or Aug 1864, which resulted in piles, and also to have contracted rheumatism about Mar 1864, which had resulted in heart disease. He said he had been treated in the hospital in Alexandria, Virginia in Apr 1864. On 11 Jun each of the three men who had previously filed affidavits about his sickness while in the Army were asked by the Bureau of Pension to make a new statement about what they knew of his disability, which they did. The same day the War Department was asked whether they had been present at the time, and it reported that they had been. A medical examination on 25 Jul found no disability, and his new application was rejected 15 Oct 1894.²⁵
     Apparently not deterred by his earlier rejections, Moses filed a new pension application on 23 Aug 1895, this time without an attorney. He claimed total inability to earn support by manual labor because of kidney disease, rheumatism, heart disease, and dyspepsia. However, a few months later, on 1 Nov 1895, he filed another application with the aid of his previous Washington attorney. To the previous grounds was added "broken skull." In May and June 1896 five men filed affidavits stating that he was unable to do a day's work, two of them the township poor officers who stated that he and his family had become wards of the town as a result. On 20 Oct his application was once again rejected. On 22 Feb 1897 he appointed a new attorney, Alva S. Taber, also in Washington.²⁵

A Near-Fatal Accident --- Text Stolen from ReigelRidge.com !! ---

     Despite his disabilities, on 19 May 1897 Moses was working in the lumber woods of Huntington Twp.G, choping down a tree. A large limb broke from the tree and fell on his head. He was carried to his boarding house unconscious, suffering a wound to his scalp, a cracked skull and a fractured rib.²⁶
     In June a newly elected Overseer of the Poor filed an affidavit again stating that Moses was a ward of the town, unable to work because his head injury which caused dizziness. His doctor filing a statement that he had been unable to half the work of a healthy man before his injury, and was afterwards totally incapacitated for manual labor. On 16 Jul a pension of $8 per month for partial disability was approved, based on his rheumatism, heart and urinary disease, rejecting his claims based on dyspepsia and his broken skull.²⁵
     The following month, on 24 Aug 1897, Moses filed for an increase in his pension based on his "broken skull, weak eyes, soreness in breast and stomach, and general debility," using the attorney who had finally been successful in getting his partial pension approved. A medical review on 21 Jan 1898 found only the previous grounds for disability. Moses and two men working with him at the time of the accident filed affidavits describing it on 1 Mar 1899. On 26 May 1899 his pension was increased to $12 per month effective from 17 Nov 1897, based on the skull injuries in addition to the previously recognized conditions.²⁵
     Moses and Hannah appeared on the 1900 Federal Census of Fairmount Twp., Luzerne Co., Pennsylvania G, enumerated 27 Jun 1900, reporting they owned their farm, free of mortgage.²⁷
     His wife died in Feb 1904.^28,29
     Moses married second Sarah E. Reigle, daughter of John Jacob Reigle and Olive Rogers, on 25 Mar 1910 in Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne Co., PennsylvaniaG, with John P. Pollock, Wilkes-Barre alderman, officiating. She was the widow of Joseph Souder, who was related to him somehow, but apparently they were not brothers.^11,12,13
     Moses and Sarah appeared on the 1910 Federal Census of Fairmount Twp., Luzerne Co., Pennsylvania G, enumerated 7 May 1910, reporting that they rented their farm. Her children by her prior marriage, Alvin, Gladys, and Thelma, were listed as living with them, as was Miles Brown, age 64, listed as a boarder.²
     He was a laborer in 1870. In 1880 he was reported to be working in mines. He became a farmer, owning his farm, by 1900, and renting his farm in 1910. He may well have lost his own farm due to the disabilities he claimed on his pension applications. His occupation was shown as laborer when he died.^{30,31,32,33,34,35}
     Moses died on 20 Aug 1911 in Harveyville, Luzerne Co., PennsylvaniaG, at age 64.^14,15,16 He was buried on 23 Aug 1911 in Bethel Hill Cemetery, Fairmount Twp., Luzerne Co., PennsylvaniaG.^17,18