On December 6, 1859, Joseph Ritner enlisted at the stated age of twenty-three in Carlise with the regular army for a five-year term and assigned to Co. A, 1st U.S. Light Artillery. On February 15, 1864, he re-enlisted at Warrenton, Virginia, for another three years and honorably discharged at term's end February 15, 1867, at Jackson Barracks, Louisiana, still a private.
Somewhere in there he married Sarah A. lnu (Eby possibly but unconfirmed). He died at his home whereupon Sarah applied for a widow's pension and later married a Casey.
Ritner's age is a question mark, and the birth year seen above is doubtful. The Carlisle Sentinel claims he died "in his 46th year." Problem is that ages at death in obituaries of the period are by no means reliable, although it does conform to his first stated age at enlistment, suggesting a birth year of ca. 1836. The 1850 census for Cumberland County lists two men named Joseph Ritner born ca. 1836. The 1880 census has a Joseph, wife Sarah, born ca. 1846.
However, claimed enlistment ages are also unreliable, so that does not offer definitive evidence. Online family trees appear to conflate multiple men named Joseph Ritner, which may be the source of the 1832 birth year. All this is as clear as mud but typical of the times.
In another conflation example, the error-prone Pennsylvania Veterans' Burial Card File misidentifies him as a member of the 1st Pennsylvania Militia which actually refers to another man buried in Chestnut Hill Cemetery in Lower Allen Township.
Somewhere in there he married Sarah A. lnu (Eby possibly but unconfirmed). He died at his home whereupon Sarah applied for a widow's pension and later married a Casey.
Ritner's age is a question mark, and the birth year seen above is doubtful. The Carlisle Sentinel claims he died "in his 46th year." Problem is that ages at death in obituaries of the period are by no means reliable, although it does conform to his first stated age at enlistment, suggesting a birth year of ca. 1836. The 1850 census for Cumberland County lists two men named Joseph Ritner born ca. 1836. The 1880 census has a Joseph, wife Sarah, born ca. 1846.
However, claimed enlistment ages are also unreliable, so that does not offer definitive evidence. Online family trees appear to conflate multiple men named Joseph Ritner, which may be the source of the 1832 birth year. All this is as clear as mud but typical of the times.
In another conflation example, the error-prone Pennsylvania Veterans' Burial Card File misidentifies him as a member of the 1st Pennsylvania Militia which actually refers to another man buried in Chestnut Hill Cemetery in Lower Allen Township.
On December 6, 1859, Joseph Ritner enlisted at the stated age of twenty-three in Carlise with the regular army for a five-year term and assigned to Co. A, 1st U.S. Light Artillery. On February 15, 1864, he re-enlisted at Warrenton, Virginia, for another three years and honorably discharged at term's end February 15, 1867, at Jackson Barracks, Louisiana, still a private.
Somewhere in there he married Sarah A. lnu (Eby possibly but unconfirmed). He died at his home whereupon Sarah applied for a widow's pension and later married a Casey.
Ritner's age is a question mark, and the birth year seen above is doubtful. The Carlisle Sentinel claims he died "in his 46th year." Problem is that ages at death in obituaries of the period are by no means reliable, although it does conform to his first stated age at enlistment, suggesting a birth year of ca. 1836. The 1850 census for Cumberland County lists two men named Joseph Ritner born ca. 1836. The 1880 census has a Joseph, wife Sarah, born ca. 1846.
However, claimed enlistment ages are also unreliable, so that does not offer definitive evidence. Online family trees appear to conflate multiple men named Joseph Ritner, which may be the source of the 1832 birth year. All this is as clear as mud but typical of the times.
In another conflation example, the error-prone Pennsylvania Veterans' Burial Card File misidentifies him as a member of the 1st Pennsylvania Militia which actually refers to another man buried in Chestnut Hill Cemetery in Lower Allen Township.
Somewhere in there he married Sarah A. lnu (Eby possibly but unconfirmed). He died at his home whereupon Sarah applied for a widow's pension and later married a Casey.
Ritner's age is a question mark, and the birth year seen above is doubtful. The Carlisle Sentinel claims he died "in his 46th year." Problem is that ages at death in obituaries of the period are by no means reliable, although it does conform to his first stated age at enlistment, suggesting a birth year of ca. 1836. The 1850 census for Cumberland County lists two men named Joseph Ritner born ca. 1836. The 1880 census has a Joseph, wife Sarah, born ca. 1846.
However, claimed enlistment ages are also unreliable, so that does not offer definitive evidence. Online family trees appear to conflate multiple men named Joseph Ritner, which may be the source of the 1832 birth year. All this is as clear as mud but typical of the times.
In another conflation example, the error-prone Pennsylvania Veterans' Burial Card File misidentifies him as a member of the 1st Pennsylvania Militia which actually refers to another man buried in Chestnut Hill Cemetery in Lower Allen Township.
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