Directory: Susan (Stillwell) and Jacob Haviland and Family

Susan's names have been many and varied. Probably originally named Susannah B., often known simply as Susan, her name also has been spelled as Susanna and, toward the end of her life, she specifically stated her preference that it be spelled Susana. We have no indication of what the B. stands for. Susanna married Jacob Haviland about 1866. We do not know the date or place. We have one picture of Susan and two pictures of their son Joe, but no picture of Jacob or their younger son Homer.
       Last fall we had a contact from Kay Staub, who is a relative of the Haviland family. Knowing we were researching Jacob's wife's family, she offered to send materials she had obtained concerning applications for veteran's benefits from Jacob's service in the Union Army during the Civil War. Of course we were interested, so she sent us a large packet of correspondence and photocopies of documents. They contained so much family history that I decided to sample them and put together an overview of those materials. I had two purposes in mind: (1), to reflect a bit on the lives of Jacob and Susan, and (2), to show the broad expanse of time over which this process was spread. Jacob first received a pension of $4 per month, which appears to have been for a 50% disability, in 1872. Off and on until his death, he was trying to get his pension increased. After his death, Susan worked on getting a pension for herself. I find the story these documents reflect quite interesting, and hope you do also.
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Photographs of Susan's family and burial sites

Glimpses of the struggle over a pension for service in the Civil War