Following the midterm this week, we discussed beginning to delve further into the documents of out soldiers. I created a new Google spreadsheet with the required information and then used my Inventory spreadsheet on Wilhelm Kurz to pick and choose which documents I thought would provide me with the most helpful information. In the end, I actually ended up simply opening every single document (save the original copies of forms that had a typed transcript) because I didn’t want to miss any information that might be interesting on Kurz.

Most of the documents were pension records, and from reading them I learned that he was apparently injured in the Second Battle of Bull Run with a hemorrhage from the nose when running in retreat from battle. He also incurred a neck injury at the Battle at Chancellorsville. When filing for pension, Kurz filed on the basis that he was “wholly” unable to continue to support himself as a baker because the lasting effects of his injuries made it impossible for him to work approximately three fourths of the time.  When he applied for an increase in his $8 per month invalid pension payments, he was awarded it based on a dilated heart and rheumatism, but not given credit for his supposed hemorrhage.

The documents also revealed that he had two very close friends in Camden, NJ, where h lived with his family for most of his later life, that were almost always included in affidavits. It also seems as if his widow, Phillippine, split her time between New Jersey and Philadelphia later in life, because even though her residence is listed in New Jersey, most widow pension documents are stamped from Pennsylvania. It is also evident from the widow pension documents that the couple had more than one child, but they are only mentioned once in passing, and not by name.  Also through looking at FamilySearch, I found the name of the boat and date of Wilhelm’s immigration from Germany.