Pension Witnesses of Private John Welch
Co. K 9th N.Y. Heavy Artillery

John Welch served in Co. K of the 9th N.Y. Heavy Artillery as a private during the Civil War. He was born in Ireland about 1827 and settled in Clyde, Wayne Co. NY sometime before 1855. He died July 8, 1879 in Clyde of consumption. His widow, Mary Doran, applied for a pension in 1890. The following is a summary of the pension file:

Certificate of Death for Mary T. Welch (daughter). d. May 20 1887 age 20 years 10 months 28 days. Clyde NY

Affidavit, Clyde NY, 14 May 1890
attest: John J. Gleeson, rector of St. John's Catholic Church, Clyde NY, lists baptisms of children of John and Mary Welch from church records.

Affidavit, Clyde NY, 14 May 1890
attest: Chas. A. Smith, Galen Town Clerk, states that vital statistics were not kept in the town until July 1, 1881.

Affidavit, Clyde NY, 24 May 1890
attest: John J. Gleeson, rector of St. John's Catholic Church, Clyde NY, provides further details from church records on baptisms of the three children of John Welch who were minors at the time of his death.

Affidavit, Clyde NY, undated
attest: John J. Gleeson, rector of St. John's Catholic Church, Clyde NY, states that church records from 1855-6 are in poor condition with missing pages and therefore there is no record of the marriage of John and Mary Welch. States that the baptismal records for all of their children indicate they were legitimate.

Affidavit, Clyde NY, undated
attest: George Flynn having lived in Clyde for more than 38 years, will be 66 the following August. Stated that John Welch boarded with him for about two years before he married Mary Doran.
witness: ? Vrooman(?)
witness: ?.S. Wendell

Affidavit, Clyde NY, 2 June 1890
attest: Patrick Cain states that he had been residing in Clyde for more than 41 years and is now about 60 years old. States that John Welch and Mary Doran were married in 1855 and that he remembered that because it was the year before he was married and he was married in 1856.
witness: ??
witness: Chas. A. Smith

General Affidavit, Clyde NY, 26 May 1890
attest: Patrick W. Welch states that he knew John Welch 7 years before the war broke out and saw him frequently until he died in 1879. States that he is not related to either John or Mary Welch.

General Affidavit, Clyde NY, 22 May 1890
attest: James Crowley states that he knew John Welch well before the war and worked with him a great deal. States that he saw John Welch frequently until his death.
witness: Henry Redder [?]
witness: Edward Winchell

Affidavit, Clyde NY, 22 Feb 1890
attest: Jarvis E. Smith M.D. states that he had been a duly licensed and practicing physician for more than 20 years and had treated John Welch during his last illness.

Affidavit, Clyde NY, 14 May 1890
attest: Jarvis E. Smith restates information in previous affidavit.

Affidavit, Clyde NY, 31 July 1889
attest: Patrick Kearin, age 78, states that, in 1879, he was the sexton of St. John's Catholic Cemetery and that he had buried John Welch in July of that year.
witness: Michael Mitt
witness: John Kinsella

Proof of Disability, Clyde NY, 22 May 1890
attest: John Kinsella, age 63
attest: Thomas Caine, age 56
State that they had served with John Welch in Co. K of the 9th N.Y.H.A and that each had been acquainted with him for at least 25 years. John Kinsella states that he shared a tent with John Welch for much of the war.

Secondary Proof of Marriage, Clyde NY, 28 June 1890
attest: Mary Welch states that she and John Welch were married 9 October 1855 in Lyons NY. Gives birth dates of children living at the time of husband's death.
witness: Patrick Cain
witness: John Kinsella

Widow's Declaration for Pension or Increase of Pension, Clyde NY, 6 March 1890
attest: Mary Welch
witness: Geo. A. Gregg
witness: W.R. Vrooman

General Affidavit, Clyde NY, 8 Nov 1890
attest: John Kinsella, age 63
attest: David C. Frahar, age 36
State that they have been acquainted with Mary Welch for more than 20 years and that she has not remarried since the death of John Welch.

Note: John Welch was my g-g-grandfather. John Kinsella who attested to or witnessed several affidavits and shared a tent with John Welch during the Civil War was also my g-g-grandfather. In 1917 Francis Jesse Welch, grandson of John Welch, married Mary Augusta Hatch, granddaughter of John Kinsella. They were my grandparents.

My grandfather Francis's grandfather (John Welch) died before he was born but he almost certainly knew his future's wife's grandfather (John Kinsella) when he was young. In the 1892 state census for Clyde (the year both my grandparents were born) his family (his father was James Welch) was listed right after John Kinsella. Also, John Kinsella was the godfather of my grandfather's twin brother. My grandmother never lived in Clyde, she was born in Lyons and her family (Nelson Hatch) moved to Solvay, Onondaga Co. about 1900. Sometime after 1915 the entire James Welch family, including three grown children, moved to Solvay within a block of the Nelson Hatch family. John Kinsella, who died in 1898, was born in Ireland.

I should have more pension files to put on eventually. I never did get the entire file for John Kinsella. I have a mystery relative, Jacob Sours from Huron, who was married 1/1/1860, enlisted in 1862 shortly after his daughter was born, and was killed in battle in 1864. I can't find any record of him outside those dates. The only Sours family that I know of in the Huron area was my 3g-grandfather Philip Sours and his children. One of the affidavits in the pension file for Jacob Sours' daughter is signed Philip Sours.

Some of the records that Father Gleeson quoted may have been lost since then. They were earlier than any I have been able to find for St. John's.

Gary Welch January 2001

Contributed by Gary Welch

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