My 2nd great grandfather was James Buckley Terry. That name has been known to me since I was very young. He was a man that had served in the civil war and was remembered for that. That became his legacy. When he was nineteen years old, in 1862 he was mustered into the 127th regiment of the New York Volunteers. He rose to the rank of corporeal while in Company G. In my research I can find where he was in no famous battles. He did spend a good portion of his time in hospital, being afflicted with the disease and sickness so associated with that time. A man small in stature and ill health. While in hospital he did learn practical nursing, something he would practice the rest of his life. I can recall seeing a black leather bag, a doctors bag, at his home and being told that had been his. I have a belt and buckle that belonged to him, worn I suspect to his meetings with the Grand Army of the Republic. It is a civil war buckle and belt, whether it was worn by him while on active duty I just don't know.
While going through some papers I rediscovered his obituary. It is quite a lengthy one and speaks to how much the community will miss him. It's obvious he was held in high regard. That obituary was a gold mine for researching the family tree. His children spread out across the country. His son Fred living in Florida, another son Gilbert in Oregon and Samuel living in East Hampton, Ct. He had a brother Thaddeus living in New Jersey and another named Caleb living in Colorado. There were daughters as well, Sarah who would marry and move to California. Lucy who became my great grandmother and would pass away in 1956. That obituary also told of his various occupations and residences over the years.
The story closes with the telling of his last years. It is here that I discovered he passed away from what was described as, a nervous breakdown. It was reported that he often over exerted himself in taking care of his fellow man. His duties as a practical nurse surely took a toll on him. I was told that he often spent days beside the bed of a patient, nursing them ,caring for them. They say he suffered his first breakdown while attending to someone. Over a period of five years his health declined, his nervous state became worse. His obituary ends with the telling of his compassion for his fellow man, how beloved he was by the community, and how much his loss will mean to everyone.
He passed away in 1916. At that time having a nervous breakdown, or any mental health issues carried a bit of stigma. You didn't talk about that. I was surprised to see that mentioned in that obituary. But reading that I couldn't help but wonder if what he really suffered from wasn't what we call PTSD today. I can only imagine the horrors he witnessed while in that war, maybe not so much on the battlefield as in the hospital. That he became a practical nurse and continued in that profession speaks to that. It certainly seems reasonable enough to me. He lived for another fifty years after the war. He was active in the Grand Army of the Republic and attended reunions and meetings. He was active in securing benefits for the veterans of that war and their widows. How many must he have attended to over those years that had lost arms, legs, eyes and suffered horrible wounds.
Back in those days, during the civil war, it wasn't called PTSD or battle fatigue. Doctors knew little about any of that and simply called it, "soldiers heart" or "irritable heart" and sometimes nostalgia, depending upon the symptoms exhibited. I suspect that he suffered from that his whole adult life. I suspect that many did and nothing was ever said about that. It was often viewed as a weakness. I'm thinking he suffered from "soldiers heart." It's a term that strikes a chord in me as it seem so appropriate. Seeing the things that he did, having lived through that hell, it surely would have an effect on your heart. So I'm saying that the civil war did cause his death. He was a casualty of that conflict. He was a soldier.
James, his wife Agnes and granddaughter, Sarah.
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