William Albright

  General Notes:

William Albright enlisted August 26, 1864, in Company E, 206th Regiment of the Pennsylvania Infantry. By 1889 and many years after the war, he and his wife, Amanda, had raised eleven of their thirteen children.
It was in 1889 that William entered a "Declaration for Original Invalid Pension," claiming he had chronic diarrhea and rheumatism received during his time in the service. Following testimony and medical evidence from various doctors, William applied for and received an $8 a month pension in 1891. But this did not seem to satisfy William Albright, so each year he claimed he was sicker and each year he applied for and received an increased amount. By 1923, he was receiving $72 a month. In 1925, William Albright died, and the pension was then transferred to his widow, Amanda, at a reduced monthly rate of $26. The amount was reduced, according to the U. S. Department of the Interior, in Washington D.C. because Amanda was not William's wife during his enlistment in the period of the Civil War.
By 1928, Amanda Albright's pension had increased to $50, making provisions for their youngest surviving daughter, Cora, (now mentally disabled from a childhood illness) upon Amanda's death. Amanda continued to receive the $50 a month pension until her death in 1936. By January, 1937, the pension check was being directed to daughter, Cora, claimed as being an "Orphan of the Civil War." In 1952, and several years thereafter, Congressman Augustine B. Kelley tried to get improved benefits for Cora but to no avail. The Barclay Westmoreland Trust Company handled her estate until her death in 1969, at Westmoreland Manor, Greensburg, over 100 years after the War had ended. This pension had been paid out for over 70 years.

William married Amanda Steiner, daughter of John Steiner and Sophia Mench, on 26 Jul 1866 in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. (Amanda Steiner was born on 30 Jul 1849 in Hempfield Township, Westmoreland County, PA, died on 23 Nov 1936 in Greensburg, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania and was buried in Hillview Cemetery, Greensburg, Westmoreland Co., PA.)