Clues can be anywhere, even in medical reports documenting the location of bullet wounds. A June 1905 “Surgeon’s Certificate” for Charles Hartsell indicated where he had remaining scars from being shot while in the Civil War. Fortunately the picture was not overly graphic.
While my review of the Hartsell pension is not complete, I think this is the only image showing the location of his injury, although it is described in detail in several other reports and affidavits. Like most medical information in Civil War pension file this one does not give family details that genealogists are usually looking for.
However it does give a clue. It documented where Hartsell was living at the time of the examination.
Actually that’s not what the certificate provides documentation of. What it provides documentation of is where the examination took place: St. John, Stafford, Kansas.
At the risk of being really technical, that’s the post office for the surgeon who completed the examination. This certificate provides evidence that Hartsell was examined on 7 June 1905 in that location.
While he probably lived nearby, there is no guarantee his residence was actually in St. John.
But he sure had been shot in the arm.
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