Susan Barry

Pension File:  599141, 352072 (Special Act)
P.O.: San Francisco, CA
Service: served under Dix at at least 11 different hospitals from 1861 to 1864.
Applied: 1887
Status: Accepted

Susan Barry's file was really two files in one.  One was her husband's pension file; the other was hers.  Robert, the husband, emigrated from England as a child.  Susan was a native.  Robert enlisted in the Stokes Battery, Illinois Light Artillery; Susan was selected as a nurse in May of 1861 and began courses at Bellevue Hospital.  After two months, Dix assigned her to Alexandria, Virginia.  She stayed there for eight months before being transferred to Winchester.  From then on, every few months found her at a new hospital: Harpers Ferry, Georgetown, Aquia Creek, Murfreesboro--she was everywhere.  There's no indication in the records as to how Robert and Susan met, but the two were married in May, 1866, at Hoomer, New York.
Robert almost immediately began to suffer from neuralgia and a variety of other maladies which he traced back to his service.  The Bureau, however, didn't buy it until 1890, and in the meantime, Susan applied for a Special Act of her own.  In 1887, Congress granted her a $12 pension.  Once again, the file's a little sparse on exactly how Barry pushed through a Special Act, but given the trouble Robert was having getting his own pension, it was probably a good thing.  The Bureau didn't think his disabilities kept him from doing manual labor in any significant way, and there were allegations that his 'nervous prostration' was due to some excessive drinking.  Susan, however, supported her husband's claim, writing letters, signing affidavits, and helping with the special investigation launched in 1900.  Robert died in 1905 at the age of 67; Susan passed a few years later in 1912.
No big surprises, no intriguing mysteries or hints, just a simple story of a woman and her husband and their experiences.  Though...Susan has a special act file buried somewhere in the depths of the Archives--with four years of service, I bet there'll be some interesting finds!