Maria and Thomas Dull’s lives after the Civil War

Recently I wrote about John Dull and his son, Thomas, who mustered into Co. H of the 1st Iowa Cavalry in 1861. John was a farrier for the Company and died on October 19, 1863 of “Remittent Fever” in the General Hospital, Little Rock, Arkansas.

According to the 1890 U.S. Census “Special Schedule” for Veterans, Thomas remained in the Cavalry until Feb 18, 1866. He served 4 years, 8 months, and 2 days. At the time of this federal Census, Thomas was living in Omaha, NE. There is also an interesting comment on the bottom of the form stating that he incurred a disability when he was shot in the arm during his service.

His wound was significant enough that he applied for disability in 1889, the year before the special Census. He died on August 18, 1913 in Iowa and ten days later, his widow applied for the Widow’s Pension.*

Maria, John’s widow and Thomas’ mother, had applied for the Widow’s Pension** soon after the death of her husband. This pension application was an extensive process, requiring proof of marriage from the Clerk of Court in the County where the marriage took place, proof  by the Surgeon General of the United States of her husband’s death, proof of his enlistment in the military by the Office of the Adjutant General, and two witnesses from her community speaking to her credibility as an applicant. Maria was able to get those forms and received a pension compensation of $8.00 per month. Although the approval for her application took six months, it was retroactive to the day after John’s death the previous October.

*Fold 3: Civil War and Later Veteran’s Pension Index for Thomas H. Dull.

**Fold 3: Civil War “Widow’s Pensions” for Maria Dull, widow of John Dull, Co. H, 1st Iowa Cavalry.