52 Ancestors In 52 Weeks: Hard Times

21 June 1897 Minnehaha Falls, Minnesota

Hard times have befallen me so I reached out for the best help I could get. As I sit here on the porch in a rocking chair, I can spy the mighty Mississippi River. As the river ebbs and flows, it reminds me of the ebbs and flows of my varied life. I am an inmate at the Minnesota Soldiers Home.

Let me start at the beginning. Born in New York in 1830, I settled in the new states of Wisconsin and Minnesota with my mother and siblings. I was 19 years old in 1849. It was a hard living as my mother and sister were some of the first women in these states…not much civilized. We farmed, we worked in a brickyard, we counted every penny for our existence.

We came to Minnesota in 1855, and I lived a quiet life on the farm. My world would change in six years time. My experiences would reset my life and all its then dreams. In 1861, I enlisted in the First Minnesota Infantry, Company G. It was the start of the War of Rebellion. I was 31 years old.

Letters home to my mother told of what I saw although I did spare her of telling the worst. I had no sweetheart so no letters to write to a dear one. In September of 1862, I witnessed and participated in a terrifying battle where many were lost. At Antietam in Maryland, I was wounded; but my wound was minor so I was placed back in the Company. Three months later, I was wounded once more at Fredericksburg, Virginia. My wound was serious…I was disabled. I was sent home in February, 1863…I was a war hero to my family. I would not march with my brother soldiers to Gettysburg that coming July.

Back home, I managed to support myself by farming as I was able to secure land. I had no family, no wife and children for helpmates. I hired out farm hands. For awhile, I also drove a stage and carried the mail. Finally, my disability landed me on hard times.

Last year, I came to know the Soldiers Home…a place for displaced veterans. I get to live out my days in the company of old soldiers like me who have stories to tell. In my room. I keep a photograph of a “once upon a time, I went to a veterans reunion”. And so…hard times gave me a place to find rest and peace.

~Balthus Keefer Soule, Minnesota Soldiers Home

Note: Balthus was my second great uncle. When I came across his reunion photograph, it prompted me to research his life. I was unable to find exactly what his wounds were at Antietam and Fredericksburg. Obtaining his military pension record will shed light on this aspect of his story. When I have the rest of the answers, his story will be further told in a later blog.