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John H. Bricker – Cavalry Vet Died in Illinois at Age 102
Posted By Norman Gasbarro on September 23, 2019
During the Civil War, John H. Bricker served in the 9th Pennsylvania Cavalry, Company B, as a Private.
The Veterans’ Card from the Pennsylvania Archives, shown above, indicates that a 30-year-old John Bricker enrolled at Harrisburg on 29 August 1864 and was mustered in at the same time and place in the company and regiment that was heavily composed of residents from the Lykens Valley area. At the time of his enrollment, he gave his birthplace as Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, his residence as Dauphin Borough, and his occupation as boat maker. He stood 5 foot 4 inches tall, had light hair, a fair complexion, and blue eyes. He received his honorable discharge by General Order on 29 May 1965.
On 10 December 1879 John H. Bricker applied for an invalid pension based on his service in the war. He collected the pension until his death, which occurred on 8 December 1920 in Decatur, Illinois.
On 9 December 1920, the Decatur Herald provided the following obituary:
JOHN H. BRICKER DIES ON MONDAY AT AGE OF 102
Decatur Man’s Formula for Long Life Was Regular Eating Habits
BORN IN PENNSYLVANIA
John H. Bricker, who lacked 39 days of living to observe his 103rd anniversary of his birth, died at 8 o’clock Monday night in the home of his daughter, Mrs. David M. Lewis, 1533 North Church Street. He leaves besides his daughter, Mrs. Lewis, two sons, Harry R. Bricker and Albert I. Bricker of Baltimore; also one grandson, one granddaughter and one great granddaughter. His wife died 15 years ago.
John H. Bricker was born January 8 1828 in Brickerville, Pennsylvania, of Pennsylvania Dutch parents. During his young manhood he operated a canal boat, usually with a load of coal. During the season when oysters were on the market it was common for him to cover the bottom of his boat with oysters in the shell and take them home to his family and neighbors.
Served in Union Army
He was fond in telling that in those days he could buy good whiskey for 11 to 12 cents a gallon and that he always had a barrel of whiskey on his boat where his friends and patrons helped themselves at pleasure. He explained that whiskey did not cost much, that fellows liked it, and it helped his standing with his patrons and those who might become patrons to treat them generously.
He served in the Union Army as a member of Company B, 9th Pennsylvania Cavalry; he thought it something of a joke years later to tell that during his service one time his horse was killed beneath him, that he then caught an army mule and rode on with his companions.
Fond of Hunting
He was fond of hunting when he was a young man for then in the mountains of Pennsylvania black bear and deer were numerous; if one preferred the fowling piece, each spring and fall there were flights of passenger pigeons in such numbers that persons who never saw them would not believe it if the numbers accurately were told.
He was a member of Dunham Post, G.A.R., and Sunday, January 28, 1928, members of the local post gathered at his home for a formal celebration of the 100th anniversary of his birth. He was the oldest member of Dunham Post.
Mr. Bricker told that both of his grandmothers lived to be more than 100 years of age, one dying at 102 and the other at 103; also he told that some members of his family were persons of large size, an uncle weighing 569 and an aunt more than 300 pounds.
Regular Eating Habits
He had no formula for long life but warned against eating at irregular hours, holding the opinion that irregularity was in part at least responsible for some forms of stomach trouble. When he was 100 years of age, he proudly declared that he could eat anything that his daughter cooked.
Not until he was 100 years of age was he compelled to desist in reading, which had ever been his habit, but he found solace in others reading to him for he always sought to keep in touch with current events. For the last seven years he has been a resident of Decatur, making his home with Mrs. Lewis.
The body was taken to the undertaking rooms of L. A. Monson to await funeral arrangements.
The Harrisburg Evening News provided the following obituary on 11 December 1930:
Former Dauphin Resident Dies at Age of 103; Was Civil War Veteran
John H. Bricker, a veteran of the Civil War, who formerly lived at Dauphin, died on Tuesday at the home of Mrs. Mary E. Lewis, in Decatur, Illinois, aged 103 years.
Brief funeral services will be held on Sunday afternoon at 1:30 o’clock at the home of Mrs. Margaret Bricker in Dauphin, with further services in the Dauphin Evangelical Church. The Rev. Mr. Firing will officiate. The body my be viewed on Saturday evening after 7 o’clock.
Surviving besides his two daughters, are two sons, Harry R. Bricker and Albert I. Bricker, of Baltimore; one grandson, Albert Bricker Jr., one granddaughter and one great granddaughter.
During his youth Bricker operated a canal boat and later engaged in bridge building. In the Civil War he saw action with the Union Army in Company B, 9th Pennsylvania Cavalry.
Also, the Harrisburg Telegraph of 12 December 1930 provided the following account of the funeral arrangements, but making an error as to his age at death:
FUNERAL SUNDAY FOR OLDEST RESIDENT OF DAUPHIN BOROUGH
Dauphin, December 12 [1930] — Funeral services for John H. Bricker, former resident, who died Sunday at the home of his daughter, Mrs. David Lewis, in Decatur, Illinois, will be held from his former home here Sunday afternoon at 1:30 o’clock, with further services in the Evangelical Church.
Friends may view the body Saturday evening at 7:30 o’clock in his old home, now occupied by Mrs. Margaret Bricker, where the Sunday afternoon services will also be held.
The church service to follow will be in charge of the Rev. H. A. Firing. Burial is to be made in Dauphin Cemetery. Mr. Bricker, who age is said to be 105 years, served in the Civil War, was interested in the canal boat trade of other days and was a bridge builder.
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John H. Bricker was previously introduced to The Civil War Blog on 20 April 2012.
News clippings from Newspapers.com.
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