The following letter was written by William Norman Adams (1837-1904), the son of Solomon Adams (1814-1896) and Anna Shrader (1817-1906) of Bedford county, Pennsylvania. In November 1864, 27 year-old William was employed as a carpenter and residing in New Paris with his first wife, the former Mary Catherine Repp (18xx-1865), and their daughter, Sarah (b. 1860). When William failed to report for duty, he was arrested, mustered into service, and assigned to Co. M, 100th Pennsylvania Regiment (sometime called the “Roundheads”). He was then sent to his regiment in Virginia to participate in the ongoing Petersburg campaign. He was mustered out of service by general order on June 25, 1865, after having spent several weeks in the hospital. He spent the next several weeks at home in poor health.

“In 1883, William applied for an invalid pension from the federal government for disability received in service due to injury and disease. According to his declaration, in the service and in the line of his duty at Petersburg, VA, on or about the 22nd day of March 1865, William received “ruptures of varicose veins from throwing sand-bags upon the breastworks. Also, while engaged in guard duty along the canal near Washington, [William] received a malarial fever (so called by the Dr.).” He was treated in the regimental hospital in the month of June 1865 and sent to the general hospital at Washington, D. C. William described himself as at least one-half disabled from earning his living as a carpenter. To support his application, he obtained written testimony from Joseph Anders, George W. Darr, and his father, Solomon. William’s claim that he contracted malarial poisoning in service was approved, but his claim that he contracted varicose veins of the leg in service was rejected. The Arrears Act of 1879 stipulated that his pension was retroactive to the date of his discharge from service (1865) and that he was entitled to receive a lump-sum payment. 

In 1894, William applied for a re-examination of his rejected claim for varicose veins in service because his cousin, Anna O. Gephart, discovered the previously discussed March 27, 1865 letter by William to her father. In support of his claim, William submitted the letter along with a deposition from Anna. A special examiner sent the claim to the Commissioner of Pensions in Washington, DC, with a note. “The letter written by the claimant in the service to his uncle Henry Shrader is valuable evidence and corroborates the claimant’s allegations as to the incurrence of varicose veins…. I took the deposition of Anna O. Gephart. She is of good reputation and testified in a perfectly straightforward manner. I am satisfied that she found the letter amongst her father’s papers, as she states… I believe the claim for varicose veins of left leg to be meritorious.” William’s claim, which had been re-submitted several times before, was eventually approved and his pension was increased.” [Source: Craig Adams]

A photocopy of this letter in William’s pension file was made available to me for transcription and publication on Spared & Shared by Craig Adams, a descendant of William’s brother, George Adams.

T R A N S C R I P T I O N

[Before Petersburg, Va.]
March 27, 1865

Uncle,

I take my pen in hand to let you know that I am still among the living. We had right smart of a brush on the 25th of this month with the Johnnies. They broke in here and we had a right smart fight with them. I got off right well though I got my ear burnt and gun shot out of my hand and the stock somewhat disfigured. That was close enough, I thought. ¹

And a few days ago I was throwing sand bags on the breastworks and trained my leg at the knee and ankle and [now] that leg won’t track right. There is blue spots on the leg [that] a man says is bursted veins.

The weather here is fine and warm and up there you say is cold and snow on the ground. I think the [Johnnies] can’t stand it much longer on account of being starved out right soon. Direct as before. — Wm. Adams

To Henry Shrader

¹ The “right smart fight” that William refers to in this letter was the pre-dawn assault on Fort Stedman where the 100th Pennsylvania Infantry was posted with other 9th Corps regiments.