SIMON CAMPBELL VEDDER -- 16th INFANTRY and U. S. ARMYFROM VOLUNTEERS TO REGULAR ARMY - Simon Campbell Vedder enlisted in the 16th Infantry in May 1861. His stepfather, Samuel Couch, fought in the War of 1812 in the local area, and has a street named after him in Plattsburgh. The family was well-connected, and he enlisted as a first lieutenant. By September of the next year, Simon was discharged from the 16th and went on to a career in the Regular Army. After his retirement, the childless couple settle in Fairfax, VA.In 1894, a bill was introduced before the Committee on Pensions in Washington, DC, to increase the pension of his widow, Dollie Waters Vedder to increase her Widow's Pension."Mrs. Vedder is the widow of the late Simon C. Vedder, who at the time of his death, December 5, 1892, was a captain of infantry on the retired list. The soldier was appointed Captain of Volunteers on June 22, 1864, and before his muster out on June 14, 1865, attained the rank of Brevet Major United States Volunteers. During his volunteer service he was stationed at Alexandria, VA.Mr. Vedder accepted appointment as second lieutenant 28th United States Infantry in April 1867 and was promoted to be first lieutenant 19th Infantry on March 18, 1878. He was retired from active service February 20, 1891, as a captain of infantry, on account of disability from organic disease of heart arising in line of duty.Capt. Vedder served with his regiment in Arkansas, Colorado, and Louisiana; on signal duty at Fort Whipple, VA; in charge of military telegraph lines in New Mexico; with his regiment in Washington Territory and in Kansas, and finally in charge of the construction of public buildings at San Antonio, TX.Mrs. Vedder married the soldier on November 25, 1863 and has remained his widow since his death. On December 10, 1892, she filed an application at the Pension Bureau, which was allowed January 18, 1893, at \$17 per month, that being the rate allowed by the general laws to the widow of a first lieutenant. It is reliably shown in the testimony which was filed with the bill that Mrs. Vedder is in delicate health, with but little, if any, means of support aside from her small pension, and that what little means she had were used in paying off her husband\'s debts. In view of the soldier\'s long and arduous services, and in the light of the widow\'s necessitous circumstances, the passage of the bill is recommended, with an amendment fixing the rate of pension at \$25 per month."Simon and Dollie are buried in the Fairfax City Cemetery. His parents, Samuel Couch and Mary Parker, are buried in Riverside Cemetery in Plattsburgh.
