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Josiah Welker – Veteran Died of Blood Poisoning in 1926
Posted By Norman Gasbarro on October 7, 2019
On 14 May 1926, Josiah Welker died. He was a Civil War veteran. His burial place is the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery, Middle Paxton Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.
The obituary of Josiah Welker appeared in the Harrisburg Telegraph of 15 May 1926:
AGED VETERAN OF CIVIL WAR DIES
Joshua Welker Victim of Blood Poisoning at Lewistown Hospital
Lewistown, May 15 [1926] — While preparations were being made to amputate his leg in a last effort to halt blood poisoning, Joshua Welker, Civil War veteran, lumberman and farmer died at the Lewistown Hospital last night, aged 89. An infection which developed several weeks ago was the cause of death. He won a citation for bravery in action during the Civil War.
Mr. Welker was born in Northumberland County, where he attended private school in an old log school house until his family removed to the Lykens Valley where he continued to study until he was twenty years of age when he established a saw mill. He closed down his mill and enlisted in Company C, 36th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers [36th Pennsylvania Infantry], under the command of Dr. Witman, of Halifax, at Camp Curtin. He was invalided home after an attack of typhoid which developed at Gettysburg and confined him to an Army hospital for several months. After his recovery he re-enlisted at Camp Curtin in Company F, 200th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers [200th Pennsylvania Infantry]. He was promoted and cited for meritorious services and bravery while on picket duty near Dutch Gap. He was in a number of engagements, including the storming of Petersburg. After the war his health was impaired and he abandoned his saw mill and took over the old Greenawalt farm in Middle Paxton Township, Dauphin County, which he operated until about 20 years ago. He had been making his home with a daughter, Mrs. Clara R. Shoop, wife of John R. Shoop, of Lewistown. Other daughters are Sara Jane, wife of August Meals, Philadelphia; Ellen, wife of Horace W. Ballets, Harrisburg; George Welker, of Hatfield; and C. H. Welker, of Dauphin.
Funeral services will be held at Lewistown, probably Tuesday and the body will be taken to Dauphin arriving on the noon train, for burial in the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery, at Red Hill, by the side of his wife who died fifteen years ago.
The following biographical sketch was found in the Commemorative Biographical Encyclopedia of Dauphin County, published in 1896:
Joshua Welker
JOSHUA WELKER, farmer, was born in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, October 30, 1837. He is a son of Jonas Welker and Sarah [Kocher] Welker. His father was born October 16, 1800, and died February 16, 1888. His mother was the daughter of Peter Kocher. She died aged about sixty-four years. They had thirteen children: William Welker; Joshua Welker; Amanda Welker; Joel Welker; Isaac Welker; Sarah Welker; John Welker; Levi Welker; Eli Welker; Jonas Welker, who died in childhood; and three others who are deceased.
Joshua Welker attended a private school in an old log cabin, until he was twelve years old, when his father removed to the Lykens Valley, Dauphin County, in 1849 or 1850. He attended the district schools in Washington Township four or five years, when the family moved to Jefferson Township. There he continued attending school in the winter months until he was twenty years of age, assisting his father during the busy season on the farm. At twenty years of age he rented Buffington’s Saw Mill, Jefferson Township, and began business for himself, cutting lumber for the farmers and for merchant trade. He continued this business until June 1863. ON this date he enlisted at Camp Curtin, Harrisburg, in Company G, 36th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, Capt. Dr. Witman, of Halifax, and was sent to Gettysburg where he was stricken down with typhoid fever, and was for some time in the army hospital. He returned home, but again enlisted at Harrisburg, August 23, 1864, in Company F, 200th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers. He was in the ranks, but was promoted to Corporal in November 1864, for meritorious services and bravery while on picket duty near Dutch Gap. He was in a number of hotly contested engagements, and at the storming of Petersburg. He was discharged at Alexandria, Virginia, May 30, 1865. His health was seriously impaired by exposure. On his return Mr. Welker engaged in farming on his own account in Jefferson Township, and continued there until 1872, when he rented the old Greenawalt farm, Middle Paxton Township, which he has cultivated up to the present time [1896].
Mr. Welker was married, June 12, 1856, to Catherine Spayd, daughter of John Spayd and Elizabeth [Spotts] Spayd. She was born in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, May 18, 1834. They have ten children; five are deceased; one died in infancy; Elizabeth Welker, born November 19, 1859; John Henry Welker, born May 15, 1862; Minnie Agnes Welker, born August 28, 1869; Edward J. Welker, born July 7, 1874. Their living children are: Sarah Jane Welker, wife of August Meals; Clara R. Welker, wife of John Shoop; Ellen Welker, December 7, 1866, wife of Horace W. Bailets; Charles F. Welker and George H. Welker [twins], born August 11, 1876. Mr. Welker is earnest and active in all measuers intended to promote the welfare of the community. He has been Superintendent of the Sunday School at Red Hill for many years. Politically, he is a Republican. The family attend the Lutheran and Reformed Churches. The parents of Mrs. Welker are both deceased. Her father died aged about sixty-four, and her mother aged eight-two years. They had nine children, two of whom are deceased: John Spayd and Joseph Spayd. Their living children are: Jonathan Spayd; Philip Levering Spayd; Catherine Spayd, Mrs. Welker; Lydia Spayd; Elizabeth Spayd; Rebecca Spayd; and Amanda Spayd.
Not much information about the Civil War service of Josiah Welker is available on the Veterans’ File Cards found at the Pennsylvania Archives. For the 36th Pennsylvania Infantry Militia (Emergency of 1863), someone wrote some information on the card, but the only legible word is Halifax, probably indicating the place the company was organized.
For the card for his service in the 200th Pennsylvania Infantry, Company F, there is nothing on the card except the Bates reference.
However, information from other sources is available. The militia service was from 4 July 1863 to 11 August 1863. This militia regiment was at Gettysburg, but after the battle, and its duties were to clean up the battlefield and help to bury the dead. There is no mention that Josial Welker was discharged early due to typhus.
The service in the 200th Pennsylvania Infantry, Company F, as a Private, began on 23 August 1864, and at an unknown date, he was promoted to Corporal. Unfortunately the record notes that at muster out, he was “not accounted for.”
The two available Pension Index Cards, shown above from Fold3 and from Ancestry.com, indicate that Josiah Welker did not apply for a pension until 14 June 1897. If he had been injured during the war, he could have applied prior to 1890, but it doesn’t appear that he had any evidence to support his claim.
However, from his pension application papers, the following was noted:
I was in Co. G 36th Regt Pa State Service was enrilled 27th day of June 1863 to serve 90 day & was discharged 11th day of August 1863 and I was not in any other Regt except the 200 Regt wich I have mentioned in my application for Pension. I have never made application for Pension before. I was slitely wounded but was never treated at any Hospital. I make this voluntary Statement to W. A. Bailets of Dauphin Pa. This statement was not dictated directly or indirectly. [Rec’d: Pension Office, September 24, 1897].
There are several problems in Josiah’s statement including that the militia service was not a specified amount of time – he claimed it was 90 days. Secondly, there is no record of anyone in Company C of the 36th Pennsylvania Infantry Militia getting wounded. Finally, the persons to whom he made the statment had the same surname as his son-in-law.
The two cuts above are from the 1890 Veterans’ Census. Note that Josiah Welker only claimed service in the 200th Pennsylvania Infantry, and that during that service he was woulded at Fort Stedman. He also claimed “re-enlisted veteran status.”
This kind of confusion was common when veterans applied for pensions. The war had taken place many years prior and memories were fogged by time. In any event, the Pension Bureau carefully checked all claims and the fact that Josiah Welker received a pension, indicates that his statements and records were carefully verified.
A final thought: Although Josiah Welker spent a short time in Washington Township, Dauphin County, including attending school there, he is not named on that place’s list of war veterans. However, his sister, Sarah Welker married William Crabb, grandson of a pioneer African American settler of the Lykens Valley. She was born in Elizabethville and is buried there in Maple Grove Cemetery.
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