William Rooney Civil War Pension

One doctor wrote the following concerning William’s ailments: "Has rheumatism constantly in all the joins worse in those of left side. Is always worse in wet or changeable weather.  Is troubled with short breath and palpitation on exertion.  Is blind in left eye.  Has pain in it occasionally." This was written in 1886.  Due to his ailments William received a higher monthly pension compared to Irish John’s monthly pension.  Irish John probably knew what William was getting each month.  John complained to the Pension Board and noted that others who were less disabled than he were higher pensions.   

William first applied for a service-related disability pension on April 26, 1886.  He identified his occupation as Farmer and stated he had lived in Bear Valley, Richland County, Wisconsin, since leaving the military. 

Anna Marie Huebsch

Before we begin…Anna Marie Huebsch is not related to us…at least not directly…


Anna Marie was born in Prussia to Johann Huesch and Anna Marie Miller in 1848.  She lived there until 1853 when her parents elected to immigrate to America.  We are uncertain as to when they made their way to Wisconsin, but we see the family living in Springfield, Dane county in 1860.  The next reference we see of Anna Marie was in 1870 – she married John Paul Bohl, and later in the 1880 census we see this family living in Bear Creek, Wisconsin. 

Anna Marie Huebsch Bohl

 


John and Anna had at least four children: Mary Catherine, Charles, Pauline and John.  Interestingly,  the youngest son John was born in White Lake, Aurora county, Dakota territory.  They were not the only family from Bear Creek to “strike it rich” in Dakota territory – our ancestor Irish John Smith homesteaded less than 15 miles away in Kimball, South Dakota.  They eventually left South Dakota, and moved back to Bear Creek. 

Her husband died in 1896, and this is where the story becomes interesting.

Within the year the widow Bohl married again.  This time she exchanged vows with William Rooney, Irish john Smith’s step-father, whose wife also died a year earlier.  They were married in Keysville, Richland County, Wisconsin, on August 17, 1897.  Anna Marie was 25 years younger than William, and this must have been a choice conversation at the dinner table in the close knit Irish and German enclave of Bear Creek.

•Mary Catherine, Charles, Pauline, John Bohl, White Lake, Dakota
•1885? , White Lake, Dakota (South Dakota)



They were married for only a few years as William Rooney died in 1900.  His will and last testament left everything to his new bride, Anna Marie.  There was no intervention by Irish John Smith, at least from what we can see, however Frank McCarville and Patrick Sullivan sued for expenses.  While none of Catherine’s family was awarded any money, it may be that William felt that Anna and her children needed the money more. 

One of the things we noticed when going through the cemetery in Keysville was the location of of William Rooney's grave. He was not buried with his wife, Catherine Greenan Smyth Rooney, of 40 years. Instead he is in another family plot a few rows away.  He is buried in the mcCluskey family plot, to be more specific – the James McCluskey family plot.  William Rooney was the first to be buried in this plot (we could speculate that there was no room at the Greenan family plot where Catherine was buried).  15 years later, Anna Marie Rooney was buried  here.  In addition we see Pauline and James McCluskey buried in the same family plot.  James was the son of Alice Greenan and Bernard McCluskey, and was Irish John Smith's first cousin.   Pauline was the daughter of Anna Marie Huebsch Bohl and John Bohl, so mother and daughter were buried in the same family plot, as well.

 

James J. McCluskey (1869-1904),

Pauline Bohl (1878-1943)

* All photos obtained by ancestry.com

 

One final note. On the back of Anna Marie's photo, which is shown above, is inscribed as follows: " Killed when horse ran away and she was thrown from the buggy and broke her neck."

Copyright IrishJohnSmith.com