Michael Feather was born on November 24, 1832, in Union Township (modern-day Pavia), Pennsylvania, to Philip and Mary Ann Feather. His father was a shoemaker. He grew up and attended school in Union, and he married Catherine Crist around 1854. They had at least six children: Ephraim, born around 1856; William, born around 1857; Joseph, born around 1859; Mary Ann, born around 1862; Simon, born around 1865; and Thomas, born around 1868. They lived in Union, and Feather worked as a carpenter. By 1860, he owned $300 of real estate and $100 of personal property.

 

 In October 1862, he was drafted into the Union army, and he mustered in as a corporal in Company I of the 171^st Pennsylvania Infantry on November 2, 1862. He fell ill in June 1863 from what he later described as “Scurvy and intermittent Fever.” Union officials sent him to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to recover. As he later explained, “my teeth ware all loose and the diet they gave me was raw potatos & venigar and other vegetables.” He remained in the hospital until he was discharged on August 8, 1863.

 

He returned to Union, but he remained in poor health. A friend observed that “he was not able to carry on the farm, and he was not able to do any manuel labour.” In early 1865, he was drafted into the Union army again, and he mustered in as a private in Company F of the 99^th Pennsylvania Infantry on February 25, 1865. He mustered out on July 1, 1865.

 

After leaving the army, he resumed his work as a carpenter in Union. His wartime illnesses, however, still plagued him, and he was “compelled to give up my occupation…[and] do only such light work as my physical condition would permit.” He treated himself with “pattent medicine & linement & teas.” He rarely saw a doctor, however, because “there was no Doctor closer than from 7 to ten miles and being a poor man and having a family to raise, I did not have a doctor as long as I could help it.” He applied for a federal pension in June 1880, but it took him at least four years to secure one, because he had trouble documenting his illness. His wife died in August 1908, and he died of “chronic interstitial nephritis” in Union on March 7, 1916.

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