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Military Hospitals  Private John was sent to the U. S. General Hospital at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri.  On October 31, 1863, he was furloughed from this hospital and transferred to Harvey Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin.  He never saw any military action again.  On January 10, 1865, Private Smith was transferred to the Veteran Reserve Corps by order of the War Department.  During this time ‘Irish’ John was transferred to Captain Albert J. Guthridge’s Company E of the Fifth Regiment of United States Veteran Reserve Corp.  He was given a disability discharge from military service on December 23, 1864 because his injury left him unfit for duty.  The United States government gave him $4.00 a month in disability payment for his injury.  He was discharged by order of Major General Hooker.  His discharge papers indicate in December of 1864 that ‘Irish’ John was 20 years old, 5 foot 3 ¼ inches high, fair complexion, brown eyes, brown hair, and his occupation prior to military service was a farmer.

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War’s End 

Family Lore: 

1)  John Smith and Susan McPhillips were born in County Monaghan, perhaps living not more than 15 miles from either’s birthplace. 

2)  In 1882 John Smith moved to Brule County from Wisconsin and homesteaded property located in what is now Highland Township.  In 1883 the rest of the family moved to Dakota Territory. 

3)  Irish John Smith donated money to the Church so that St. Margaret’s Catholic Church in Kimball, South Dakota, could be built.  Not to be outdone by the Smiths, Batty Ryan donated the property where the church now rests. 

4)  Owen Smith became a Catholic priest. 

5)  Bridget Smith reportedly married and raised a family. 

After leaving the hospital ‘Irish’ John lived in Bear Creek Township, Sauk County, Wisconsin.  He stated that his postal address was Marble Ridge.  Unfortunately, time erased this place name from the map.  The map below shows Sauk County as it looks today with its Townships, Villages and Towns.

Bear Creek Township is located on the lower left side of Sauk County.  Richland County is next door where Keyesville, Wisconsin is located.

John Smith never did recover from his wound.  In 1866 the Examining Surgeon, Dr. Rennan, thought his disability was temporary and wrote this in his official records.  Throughout his life ‘Irish’ John had to go before doctors and the pension board to prove his disability.  Fred C. Festner, who was ‘Irish’ John’s commanding officer in Company G, vouched for his disability in a pension hearing in 1865.  John had minimal use of his left arm and told the board his occupation was ‘looking after cattle and doing chores as best he could’.  He kept his pension of $4.00 a month. 

The official record reads, ‘While in actual Battle with the Enemy he was shot by a Minniey Ball in the left Shoulder causing at the present time great disuse of his arm being almost entire useless for manual labor it being impossible for him to lift his arm up in front of himself.’   

Family Reunited 

Although the Smith family appears to have separated in the early 1860s, by 1870 the family came together and lived in the same house.  We believe Irish John’s mother, Catharine, remarried.  We believe she married William Rooney who was also a Civil War veteran, and served with the Wisconsin 20^th Regiment, Company I.  In 1862 William enlisted for military service in Lisbon, Wisconsin, which is located on the eastern portion of Wisconsin.  William mustered out of military service in 1865 as a Private.  The 1860 federal census suggests that Catharine and William were married either in 1859 or 1860.  Owen did not work.  The whereabouts of Bridget is unknown although we assume she was married by this time. 

The following information is taken from the 1870 US Federal Census.  The census was taken for the inhabitants of the township of Bear Creek in the County of Sauk, State of Wisconsin.  Their actual post office address at this time was Marble Ridge.  The actual census was taken on June 15, 1870. 

 The Rooney and Smith families lived together in the same house.  This information suggests that Irish John had more assets than William even though William and Catharine had been living in this location longer.  After the war Irish John said he moved to Bear Creek Township in Sauk County.  This census validates Irish John lived in Sauk County after the Civil War. 

Meet the McPhillips 

The McPhillips family lived near ‘Irish’ John in the township of Bear Creek.  Susan McPhillips and Irish John eventually married in Wisconsin.  The following information is taken from the 1870 US Federal Census.  The census was taken for inhabitants of the township of Bear Creek in the County of Sauk, State of Wisconsin.  The census was taken on June 15, 1870.  The census asked whether any person older than 20 years old could not read or write. 

 According to the information above, there were only six McPhillips family members living in the same house.  It is possible that an older child no longer lived with them.  Patrick McPhillips can be found working at a nearby farm employed by the Patrick and Margaret Smith family.  It is not clear what relationship Patrick McPhillips was to Susan. If you recall from the 1860 census, Patrick Smith lived near the Rooney family.   

More Doctor Visits… 

By 1875 doctor records showed John had grown a bit.  Now medical records showed his height at 5 feet 8 inches and his weight at 150 pounds.  Two years earlier he was listed as weighing 144 pounds.  Although John physically lived in Bear Creek Township in Sauk County, his mailing address was actually in Bear Valley, Richland County.  One of the witnesses that traveled with John Smith to a pension board meeting in 1876 was Francis McCarville.  In John Smith’s obituary one of the names mentioned as an out of town visitor was Frank McCarville.  

In May 1876 John’s pension increased from $4.00 to $6.00 a month.  Dr. D. E. Down wrote this in his records: ‘I find then is now the superior lobe of left lung impervious to air probably caused by gun shot wound.  In my opinion the rating has been too low.  The disability is permanent in its present degree and has not been in any degree caused or protracted by vicious habits”. 

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