Oliver Perry Christy1,2,3

Family Chart
ID# 16694, (1843 - 1878)
FatherChurchill G. Christy4,5,6 (23 Mar 1812 - 20 Oct 1901)
MotherMaria Cobb4,5,6 (5 Jun 1812 - 25 Jun 1896)

Key Events:

Birth: 26 Jun 1843, Indiana7,8,9
Death: 2 Dec 1878, St. Louis, Missouri10,11
ChartsDescendants of Gideon Cobb
AncestryThe Cobbs of Pawlet, Vermont

Copyright Notice

Narrative:

     Oliver Perry Christy was born on 26 Jun 1843 in Indiana.7,8,9
     He appeared on the 1850 Federal Census of Center Twp., Dearborn Co., Indiana, in the household of his parents, Churchill G. Christy and Maria Cobb.12
     He moved to Decatur Co. with his parents by 1855. He appeared on the 1860 Federal Census of Marion Twp., Decatur Co., Indiana, in the household of his parents.13
     He had white swelling on one thigh when he was about 16 or 17, which caused one leg to be shorter than the other, and caused him to limp.14

Civil War Service --- Text Stolen from ReigelRidge.com !! ---

Oliver P. Christy
from parents' pension file15

     Oliver enlisted in Co. I, 86 Indiana Infantry, 1 Sep 1862, at Lawrenceburg, Indiana.16,17,18 The regiment was organized at Lawrenceburg and was mustered in 9 Sep 1862. The regiment moved to Memphis, where it was assigned to the army operating in western Tennessee, and participated in the march to the Tallahatchie and the December campaign against Vicksburg. It then joined the Arkansas expedition and then joined Gen. Grant's army and took part in the operations about Vicksburg, and was constantly on duty, often under fire, taking part in the assaults of May 1863. It was in the siege and capture of Jackson, and accompanied Gen. Sherman's army to Memphis.19
     In late 1862, at Yazoo Swamps near Vicksburg, Mississippi, Oliver was sick with measles and complained of lung trouble.20 He was treated for fever 13 to 18 Aug 1863, and on various dates from 16 Sep to 20 Oct for debiltias (weakness or feebleness), supposedly from measles that had settled in his lungs and malaria.21
     He was transferred to the Veteran Reserve Corps, unassigned, 9 Sep 1863 because of necrosis of his thigh bone that originated before his enlistment. On 9 Feb 1864 he was transferred to 138th Co., 2nd Battalion, Veteran Reserve Corps, where he was later promoted to corporal.22,23
     The Veteran Reserve Corps was created to allow partially disabled or otherwise infirm soldiers to perform light duty, freeing able-bodied soldiers to serve on the front lines. The First Battalion including those whose disabilities were comparatively slight and who were still able to handle a musket and do some marching, also to perform guard or provost duty. The Second Battalion was made up of men whose disabilities were more serious, who had perhaps lost limbs or suffered some other grave injury.24 The 138th Co., 2nd Battalion, was organized 16 Jan 1864, in New York City.25,26
     He was mustered out 9 Aug 1865, near Albany, New York.27

A Difficult Return to Civilian Life --- Text Stolen from ReigelRidge.com !! ---


     Oliver returned to his parents' home after his discharge, staying there for a time, and with various relatives. He worked some on the family farm, but was unable to work much because of coughing, shortness of breath and difficulty sleeping, which continued until he left the state.28 He worked briefly in Cincinnati as a clerk, while boarding with his brother James at 168 Barr St.29
     Oliver moved out of Indiana in the spring of 1870, going initially to Tennessee and Missouri, then to other southern states. The examiner for his mother's pension application, after interviewing relatives, said it was hinted he was sort of a "black sheep" of the family, and it was "not unlikely that he followed the life of a river gambler and sharper, living by 'divers and crooked ways'." His brother said he worked as a bar tender and on steamboats.30
     He moved to St. Louis, Missouri, about 1875, where he lived at a hotel or rooming house at 519 St. Charles St. He was a night clerk there.31
     He was admitted to a hospital in St. Louis 5 Aug 1878, where he was treated for typhoic malarial fever and phitusis pulmonalis (tuberculosis). He remained in the hospital 119 days.32
     Oliver died on 2 Dec 1878 in St. Louis, Missouri, at age 35.10,11
     His mother applied for a pension based on his Civil War service 15 Jun 1891.33,34 The claim was delayed by questions about whether the person who had died in St. Louis was actually Oliver, because hospital records showed his name as William alias Albert Christy, and whether his death resulted from injury or sickness while in the service.35
     After the death of his mother, his father applied for a pension based on Oliver's Civil War service 20 Mar 1897.36,34 Both claims were rejected 18 Oct 1897 on the grounds that there was no evidence that the lung disease he suffered in the service was the cause of death.37

Citations

  1. [S1122] Churchill J. Christie household, 1850 U.S. Census, Dearborn Co., Indiana, shows name as Oliver P. Christy.
  2. [S1117] C. G. Christy household, 1860 U.S. Census, Decatur Co., Indiana, shows name as Oliver P. Christy.
  3. [S11562] Oliver P. Christy, mother's pension and father's pension, National Archives and Records Administration, affidavit of Churchill G. Christy, 9 Mar 1897, shows name as Oliver Perry Christy.
  4. [S1122] Churchill J. Christie household, 1850 U.S. Census, Dearborn Co., Indiana, shows them apparently living as parent and child.
  5. [S1117] C. G. Christy household, 1860 U.S. Census, Decatur Co., Indiana, shows them apparently living as parent and child.
  6. [S11562] Oliver P. Christy, mother's pension and father's pension, National Archives and Records Administration, affidavit of Dyer C. Elder and George W. Hightower, 5 Dec 1891.
  7. [S1122] Churchill J. Christie household, 1850 U.S. Census, Dearborn Co., Indiana, shows age 6 and state.
  8. [S1117] C. G. Christy household, 1860 U.S. Census, Decatur Co., Indiana, shows age 16 and state.
  9. [S11562] Oliver P. Christy, mother's pension and father's pension, National Archives and Records Administration, affidavit of Churchill G. Christy, 9 Mar 1897, shows date, in Decatur Co. he thought but was unsure.
  10. [S4386] Register of Deaths, Missouri, pg 468, William alias Albert Christy, shows date and city.
  11. [S11562] Oliver P. Christy, mother's pension and father's pension, National Archives and Records Administration, affidavit of Heine Marks, M.D., providing transcription of death record for Wm. Christy alias Albert Christy from City Hospital, shows date, city, and state; affidavit of Thomas J. Christy, his cousin, 17 Oct 1893, shows he saw Oliver in St. Louis, he was known as Al there, and Oliver's friends directed him to the hospital but he got there after his death.
  12. [S1122] Churchill J. Christie household, 1850 U.S. Census, Dearborn Co., Indiana.
  13. [S1117] C. G. Christy household, 1860 U.S. Census, Decatur Co., Indiana.
  14. [S11562] Oliver P. Christy, mother's pension and father's pension, National Archives and Records Administration, affidavit of Joshua S. Christy, 10 Mar 1897.
  15. [S11562] Oliver P. Christy, mother's pension and father's pension, National Archives and Records Administration.
  16. [S11562] Oliver P. Christy, mother's pension and father's pension, National Archives and Records Administration, report of War Department to Bureau of Pensions, 21 Sep 1892, shows date and unit.
  17. [S11079] "Indiana Archives Digital Index Records," , muster roll card record for Oliver P. Christy, shows unit, enrollment date and place.
  18. [S11504] Christy, Civil War Pension Index, shows unit.
  19. [S11491] The Union Army, pp 162-3.
  20. [S11562] Oliver P. Christy, mother's pension and father's pension, National Archives and Records Administration, affidavits of Jackson Chance, acting hospital stewart 13 Sep 1893, Joshua S. Christy, 20 Sep 1893, and George S. Johnson, liet. Co. I, 83rd Indiana, 9 Nov 1893.
  21. [S11562] Oliver P. Christy, mother's pension and father's pension, National Archives and Records Administration, report of War Department to Bureau of Pensions, 21 Sep 1892, shows dates; and affidavit of George S. Johnson, liet. Co. I, 83rd Indiana, 9 Nov 1893, reporting causes.
  22. [S11562] Oliver P. Christy, mother's pension and father's pension, National Archives and Records Administration, report of War Department to Bureau of Pensions, 21 Sep 1892.
  23. [S11504] Christy, Civil War Pension Index, shows units.
  24. [S1265] Wikipedia, online, article "Veteran Reserve Corps," viewed Mar 2022.
  25. [S7148] Dyer, A Compendium of the War of Rebellion, pg 1746, shows date and city.
  26. [S11504] Christy, Civil War Pension Index, shows him in the Veteran Reserve Corps, in 138th Co., 2nd Battalion, and unassigned.
  27. [S11079] "Indiana Archives Digital Index Records," , muster roll card record for Oliver P. Christy, muster out date and place.
  28. [S11562] Oliver P. Christy, mother's pension and father's pension, National Archives and Records Administration, affidavits of Dyer C. Elder, 11 Sep 1893, John H. Hazelrigg, 11 Sep 1893,
    Joshua S. Christy, 20 Sep 1893 and 10 Mar 1897, and Churchill G. Christy, 9 Mar 1897.
  29. [S10413] William's Cincinnati Directory, 1868 pg 127.
  30. [S11562] Oliver P. Christy, mother's pension and father's pension, National Archives and Records Administration, affidavits of Dyer C. Elder, 11 Sep 1893, and Joshua S. Christy, 20 Sep 1893 and 10 Mar 1897, Maria Christy 20 Sep 1893, shows in Tennessee and Missouri about 1870 or 1871; report of special examiner, 14 Mar 1897.
  31. [S11562] Oliver P. Christy, mother's pension and father's pension, National Archives and Records Administration, affidavit of Heine Marks, M.D., providing transcription of death record for Wm. Christy alias Albert Christy from City Hospital, show address and lived in city 3 years; affidavit of Thomas J. Christy, his cousin, 17 Oct 1893, shows he lived in a hotel, 9 Sep 1897, shows was night clerk.
  32. [S11562] Oliver P. Christy, mother's pension and father's pension, National Archives and Records Administration, affidavit of Heine Marks, M.D., providing transcription of death record for Wm. Christy alias Albert Christy from City Hospital.
  33. [S11562] Oliver P. Christy, mother's pension and father's pension, National Archives and Records Administration, Parent's Claim for Pension, 6 Jul 1891.
  34. [S11504] Christy, Civil War Pension Index, shows date and application number, but no certificate number.
  35. [S11562] Oliver P. Christy, mother's pension and father's pension, National Archives and Records Administration, letter Deputy Commissioner to Maria 8 Dec 1893; affidavit of Maria Christy 19 Jan 1894.
  36. [S11562] Oliver P. Christy, mother's pension and father's pension, National Archives and Records Administration, Declaration for Dependent Father's Pension, 13 Mar 1897.
  37. [S11562] Oliver P. Christy, mother's pension and father's pension, National Archives and Records Administration, card 13 Oct 1897, Special Examination Division cards 18 Oct 1897.