Spanish-American War Veterans from Pennsylvania

Ancestry has a database related to the Spanish-American War that can give you some great details about relatives. It's called "Pennsylvania, Spanish War Compensation, 1898-1934," and it contains veteran applicants who enlisted while living in Pennsylvania, even if they later moved to another state.

The database description explains that the "Pennsylvania Veterans’ Compensation Act of 1934 authorized payments to veterans who had given Pennsylvania or anyplace in the Commonwealth as their place of residence at the time they entered the service and who had served in at least one of the following conflicts: World War I, Spanish-American War, China Relief Expedition or the occupation of the Philippines or Guam from 1898 to 1902. Veterans’ widows or children were also eligible to receive the benefit."

I had a 2nd-great uncle who served during the Spanish-American War and I even have a photo of him wearing his uniform, but he's not in this database. He did not apply for compensation because both he and his wife had died by the time this Act had passed, and they had no children.

However, Paul Edgar Kiebler has an application in this database. He was the stepson of my husband's 3rd-great aunt, Fannie Gamble Kiebler. Here are some of the details provided about Paul:

1. Place and date of birth - Paul was born in Saltsburg, Indiana County, Pa., on January 2, 1879
2. Legal residence at entry into service - Saltsburg, Pa.
3. Residence when application was submitted - Clayton, St. Louis County, Missouri
4. Name of father - Samuel M. Kiebler
5. Name of mother - Ellen Grey Kiebler
6. Names of wife and children - Frances Sargent Kiebler (wife) and Helen Grey Kiebler (daughter)
7. Details of service, including wounds - His service included time at camps in Mt. Gretna, Pa., Chickamauga, Ga., and Lexington, Ky.
8. Actual signature of applicant (shown above)

If you have members of your family tree who may having been living in Pennsylvania when they would have been old enough to enlist during the Spanish-American War, you may want to search this database.