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William Devine – 3rd Pennsylvania Cavalry
Posted By Norman Gasbarro on January 23, 2019
On 15 May 1882, William Devine applied for a Civil War Pension based on his service in the 3rd Pennsylvania Cavalry, Company L. The Pension Index Card, shown above from Ancestry.com indicates that the application was made from Pennsylvania and that he received the pension. No widow applied indicating perhaps that either he never married or that he was a widower when he died. The Pension Index Card from Fold3, not shown here, does not give a date of death.
William Devine was living in Reilly Township, Schuylkill County in 1890 when he reported his Civil War service to the census. However, as was pointed out in a prior post, it may be that it was a widow “Mary Moffat” who was reporting William’s service to the census. For a discussion of how there may be an incorrect alignment of names on the 1890 sheet, see: James Kilrain – Irish Immigrant. Coal Miner, and Civil War Veteran
The Pennsylvania Veterans File Card from the Pennsylvania Archives indicates that William Devine enrolled in the 3rd Pennsylvania Cavalry on 19 August 1861 at the age of 21 (born approximately 1840). On 23 August 1861, he was mustered into service in that regiment, Company L, at Washington, D.C., as a Private. A physical description would include a height of nearly 5 foot 7 inches, dark hair, a light complexion, and grey eyes. He gave his residence as Schuylkill County and his occupation as miner. A discharge date of 31 August 1864 was given, but also the remark that he was a prisoner of war since 27 August 1963.
Prior to entering the service, William Devine is found in the 1860 census for Reilly Township, Schuylkill County. The household in which he was living had others with different surnames, but there were several persons of the surname Devine included. Since the 1860 census did not include relationships, it can’t be determined if he was related to the others. William’s occupation was given as fireman, probably for the mines, and his place of birth was given as Nova Scotia.
No further information is known about William Devine. A death place and date have not been located. Not known also is whether he was married. Much of the information about him will probably be found in the pension application files which are housed in the National Archives, but because of the cost of obtaining them, they were not available for the writing of this blog post. Also of great interest is the term he served as a prisoner of war and whether that had any effect on his life after the war.
Readers are urged to provide information about the William Devine who served in the 3rd Pennsylvania Cavalry. Add as comments or send as an e-mail.
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