Gen 1: Mary Jane Beal - James Henry's Military Service

What are the origins of Johann Nicholas Biehl?

We continued our Biehl research project with the end goal of identifying the German origins of Johann Nicholas Biehl. I continued research on the first generation, which is Mary Jane Beal. You can find that post here.

 

Military Service

 

James Henry’s FindaGrave memorial has a transcription of a newspaper notice that was published on 22 July 1910 in The Fayetteville News. The notice reads “Mrs. Alphurnia Henry, widow of James Henry of Springdale, has been granted a pension of $12 per month from June 5, 1910. Mr. Henry was a Mexican War soldier.[1] His tombstone states that he was in the Ark. Mounted Inf. Vol. from 1847 to 1848.[2]

 

Pension

 

Whenever there is military service, if there is a pension, it can provide some great genealogical information. FamilySearch has the index to Mexican War pension files. James Henry has two index cards. One relates to his request for a pension, and one is for Alphurnia’s request for a pension after James’s death in 1910. 

The first card provides the following information:[3]

 

MEXICAN WAR

Name of Soldier: Henry, James

Service: Rank Private, Enyarts Co Ark Mtd Inf

 

DATE OF FILING.	CLASS.	APPLICATION NO.	CERTIFICATE NO.	FILE NO.	ACT.	STATE.
1907 Feb 26					Age
1887 Feb. 11	Mex Sur	3025	3409		Jany 29, 1887	Arkansas
	“ Wid	19582	15486		“ “ “
REMARKS: Ind Sur. O 61 John Peerson (alias) Pearson Evan’s Co. [?] [?] Ark. Vols. Fla. War

 

The second card provides the following information:[4]

MEXICAN WAR

Name of Soldier: Henry, James

Name and Class of Dependent: Henry, Alphurnia     Widow

Service: Rank Pri., Enyart’s Indpt. Co. Ark. Mtd. Vol. Inf.

 

DATE OF FILING.	CLASS.	APPLICATION NO.	CERTIFICATE NO.	FILE NO.	ACT.	STATE.
	Mex. Sur.	3025	3409
1910, June 9	Mex. Wid.	19582	15486		Jan. 29, 1887	Ark.
REMARKS: Formerly Wid. of John Peerson alias Pearson. Ind. Sur. O. 61 Evans Co. Ark. Vols. Fla. War.

 

The pension file images are not yet digitized and online yet. That means either a request or a trip to the National Archives to obtain a copy of the files. 

 

James Henry was a member of an Independent Company of Arkansas Mounted Volunteers. Stephen B. Enyart was the captain. The company was received on 15 June 1847 and disbanded in June 1848. It mainly served in New Mexico and on the Rio Grande.[5] On 29 January 1887, Congress passed an act providing a pension to volunteers, among others, that 1) served 60 days in the Mexican War, 2) to widows that had not remarried, 3) and those who are 62 years old and/or disabled. It did not include any one who engaged in the “late rebellion” against the United States. The rate of pay was $8/month.[6]

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[1] Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 8 December 2025), memorial 32241713, James Henry (23 Sep 1822–5 Jun 1910), maintained by contributor 46510018, Rosa Cline; citing Friendship Cemetery, Springdale, Washington County, Arkansas, USA; accompanying marker photo from contributor 47287035, Gerry Stanley, added 16 May 2014.

[2] James Henry tombstone, Original Cemetery Section, Friendship Cemetery, Springdale, Arkansas; photographed by Debra A. Hoffman on 26 August 2024.

[3] “Index to Mexican War Pension Files, 1887–1926,” database and images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 17 March 2026), Griffin, William-Howard, Joshua, v. 6 1887-1926, image 2521 of 4075, James Henry; DGS no. 5,189,105, FamilySearch Library, Salt Lake City, Utah; citing NARA microfilm publication T317, roll 6, National Archives, Washington, DC.

[4] “Index to Mexican War Pension Files, 1887–1926,” database and images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 17 March 2026), Griffin, William-Howard, Joshua, v. 6 1887-1926, image 2522 of 4075, widow, Alphurnia Henry; DGS no. 5,189,105, FamilySearch Library, Salt Lake City, Utah; citing NARA microfilm publication T317, roll 6, National Archives, Washington, DC.

[5] William Hugh Robarts, Mexican War veterans : a complete roster of the regular and volunteer troops in the war between the United States and Mexico, from 1846 to 1848 ; the volunteers are arranged by states, alphabetically (Washington, D. C.: Brentano's, (A.S. Witherbee & Co., Proprietors, 1887), 41; digital image, Archive.org (https://archive.org/details/mexicanwarvetera00roba/page/16/mode/2up : accessed 2026).

[6] William Hugh Robarts, Mexican War veterans : a complete roster of the regular and volunteer troops in the war between the United States and Mexico, from 1846 to 1848 ; the volunteers are arranged by states, alphabetically (Washington, D. C.: Brentano's, (A.S. Witherbee & Co., Proprietors, 1887), preface, “The Mexican Veteran Pension Law”; digital image, Archive.org (https://archive.org/details/mexicanwarvetera00roba/page/16/mode/2up : accessed 2026).