Well, a quick look at the documents told me that the reason John Fink’s file was so large was that he was in almost constant contention with the Pensions Office in regards to his pension and the validity of his claimed disability. You see, he suffered from chronic diarrhea for his entire post Army life. From the time he left the service in 1865 until his death in 1926 this skilled carpenter suffered from an ailment that prevented him from holding down a full time steady job. Of course, there were doctors that questioned the validity of his medical claim and some that apparently questioned that he even served in the Army at all during the Civil War. So, was he an unfortunate, suffering, under appreciated veteran or a lazy drifter who had difficulty holding down a job and was trying to get something out of the government??At first I wasn’t sure. Now, after closer reading of the 266 pages and additional research, I’m convinced his claim was valid and the impact of this illness, on his life, was indeed severe and devastating.
John Fink started out with the 9th Regiment of the Pennsylvania Volunteers in April of 1861. He was about 18 and served with that regiment for three months. In August of 1862, he reenlisted, this time with the 130th Pennsylvania Infantry to serve 9 months. The 130th was first sent to Washington D.C. and were eventually camped at Fort Marcy, overlooking the Potomac. The taste of battle would not be far away, because in September of 1862 the 130th was involved in the bloody battle of Antietam, near Sharpsburg, Maryland. This was the first major battle in the Civil War to take place on Northern soil. Two of Fink’s fellow F company men were killed at this battle and four were wounded, some of the wounds later proving to be fatal. The 130th as a whole suffered 296 killed and wounded.
After Antietam, the 130th spent a short time in camp at Harper’s Ferry and then were posted at Belle Plain Landing, on the James River, until December 5th 1862. Now you must know this piece of the story, that this entire regiment slept exposed to the elements, during the time from early September until late December of 1862. Their tents had been left at Fort Marcy. Not surprising, that it was also during this time that John Fink contracted yellow jaundice and later chronic diarrhea. His superior officer, 1st Lieutenant Michael W. French, testifies to this later, in documents filed with the pension office. Then the 130th were marched through deep mud, in the midst of a severe storm, in order to reconnect with their division and prepare for the Battle of Fredericksburg (Dec. 11-15, 1862). It wasn’t until late December that they finally received their tents.
I won’t go on and on with the complete details of John Fink’s military experience except to say that he was mustered out of the 130th in May of 1863. About a year later he again signed up for military service, this time with the U.S. Signal Corp. During this stint he spent some time in Jarvis Hospital, a military hospital near Baltimore. There he was treated for chronic diarrhea. So, it does seem clear that his condition did originate while serving in the military.
It turns out that about half of the deaths from disease in the Civil War were caused by intestinal disorders. The Union Army reported that more than 995 of every 1,000 men eventually contracted diarrhea or dysentery. Chronic diarrhea appears to have claimed at least 27,000 lives during the Civil War. The causes were usually infectious agents such as viruses, parasites and bacteria. John Fink was lucky to have survived, but because of the lack of effective treatment options, he continued to suffer long after the end of his service.
John Fink submitted his original pension application in 1879. It was approved at the rate of $2 a month and back pension was granted for the time between 1863 and 1879. Then he was suddenly “dropped” from the pension rolls in 1881, apparently because his disability had ceased. No… it hadn’t ceased as the government claimed. He continued to suffer from chronic and debilitating diarrhea, which prevented him from holding down a steady job. He worked but rarely was he able to hold down a job as a carpenter for the long term. By 1886 he was able to apply for restoration of his benefits. Remember that each step in this process costs a certain amount of money in attorney and other fees. It’s not surprising that it took a few years for him to put his case together. He included numerous signed and certified affidavits from friends, family, former employers and acquaintances that testified not only to his military service, but to the debilitating nature of his condition.
In 1887 the Pension office rejected Fink’s claim for reinstatement of his pension. A board of doctors had determined, after examining him that his condition was not debilitating and did not prevent him from working full time. Doubt was cast on his claim that the condition had begun while serving in the military. An appeal was filed in 1890 but the claim rejection was affirmed in 1892. Round and round and round we go!
Finally in 1894 he was able to get his benefits restored and began to receive $8 a month. The struggles with red tape were not over though, because even though he continued to receive benefits until the end of his life, he constantly had to “prove” the continuance and validity of his condition and so the file is filled with numerous physician reports outlining his current condition. The pension money seems to have barely helped him get by in life. His wife died in 1896 and he was forced to put his youngest daughter, age 10, in the Soldier and Sailor’s home. By 1910, at the age of 67, he himself was living at the Soldier’s Home in northern Ohio. A few years later he moved to Albany, Indiana to live with his daughter, Laura, a young widow with three children. She struggled to support him and care for his needs until his death in 1926 at the age of 83. By the end of his life he was a complete invalid who required nursing care. Laura sent a pleading letter to the Pension office asking for an increase in his pension. She wrote to her brother, living in Washington D. C. for help, thinking maybe he could go over and convince the pension office of their extreme need. Near the very end of his life his monthly pension benefit had risen to $72 a month. That might seem like a lot but it probably didn’t stretch far when paying for 24 hour nursing care, medical bills, etc.
So, on this Veteran Day I think of all the current veterans who, like John Fink, struggle to get benefits for physical ailments that they have contracted during the course of serving in the military. I don’t think John Fink was a slacker. All I had to do was read the detailed descriptions of his condition written by the people who knew him. No one “fakes’ having chronic diarrhea for 64 years!
“I am actually in need of medicine, owing a bill at the drug store and nothing to pay with. I tell you dear Secretary, I feel like the man that wanted to die to get out of my sufferings and troubles. The government surely received the best part of my life in its service. I enlisted into its service but a boy. Served two enlistments and was serving a third when the war closed. Might it not be reasonable to suppose that by long continued service, especially at the front, that a man might be disabled if not by bullet by disease?”- John Fink’s letter to the Secretary of the Interior- 12/9/1890
-Mary
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| John Fink |
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