Sickness After the War

After the war, when John Beck went to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he remained in poor health and could not work for a full six months. He saw physicians for his heart condition for the remainder of his life in Philadelphia. He experienced trouble with his heart off and on, with increased severity every year, for the rest of his life. His sickness caused him to be frequently be confined to his residence as it became worse, and it also caused him miss a considerable amount of his work (sometimes two to three weeks at a time) as a Carpenter.

Letter by John Beck Page 2

Letter written by John Beck to the Commissioner of Pensions in which he describes the history of his condition.

Affidavit by J. Van Buskirk, who was John Beck's physician for about 19 years at the time he wrote this. He claims that John Beck experienced sudden attacks with severe pain and fluttering over the region of his heart, with severe nervous prostration and weakness. He says that this is attributed to his enlistment in the Civil War, due to the fact that he had no problems prior to his military service.

Affidavit by John Eemhart, a man who was intimately acquianted with John Beck after he was discharged from the war, attests to the fact that John Beck was experiencing problems with his heart disease off and on since he had been home from the war, interfering with his ability to work.

Affidavit by Mary Blum, a woman who was intimately acquainted with John Beck before he enlisted in the war and also was neighbor to him after he was discharged continuing to the point she wrote this in 1890. She writes that as a person who knew him and saw him frequently before the war, he was a man of good health at the time of enlistment. She then says that after the war, he has been suffering from heart disease off and on the entire period, causing him to miss a lot of work.

Affidavit by William Lambrecht

Affidavit by William Lambrecht, a man who was acquintated to John Beck from 1865 on. He states that he was a neighbor to John Beck, and therefore knows that he had been suffering from his heart troubles off and on over the entire period that he had known him. He states that it has been so poor at times that he has been contricted to his residence, and has missed considerable work due to it.