Captain George W. Ryan of the Independent Guards of Fredericksburg issued this discharge certificate to his brother-in-law Simon Stroh, who had served as a corporal and drummer for seven successive years from May 2, 1842, to May 7, 1849. With this certificate, Stroh was discharged from compulsory militia duty, “except in time of an Invasion, Insurrection, or Actual War,” according to the Pennsylvania militia law of 1818.
