Roy, I don't know if you can still be contacted via this site, but I have been attempting to garner more data on Peter Williams, the quartermaster aboard the USS MONITOR, and who was later appointed acting masters mate, and then, after the loss of the MONITOR, as acting ensign. As you are aware, he was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions at Hampton Roads.
I had always assumed that those recipients of the Medal would have been tracked throughout their later careers and into civilian life, as, from what little knowledge I have on the MOH recipients, they were either provided a one off payment, or else a regular payment for the rest of their lives. However, it seems that I was wrong in this assumption (could anyone please enlighten me on this matter), as, on attempting to research the post war activities of Peter Williams, I have struck a brick wall, and no one seems to be aware of where he subsequently settled down, or where he died and is buried, and there does not seem to be any documentation at the National Archives or elsewhere, on this.
Additionally, and this may be of importance to you, especially, Roy, I have found some official documentation showing that Peter Williams was not a native of Norway, but rather of Germany, and that he was also not a citizen of Pennsylvania, but of California. I do realise that all MOH accounts seem to point to his Norwegian birth and his having been a citizen of Pennsylvania, but the United States Navy Register for 1865 clearly indicates that he was born in Germany and was a citizen of California. I do believe that the data included in these Navy Registers, issued at the beginning of each year, was based on the paperwork and appointment forms for each Naval officer, as filled out by each officer, when being appointed into the USN. I am assuming that information on his Norwegian birth and Pennsylvania citizenship were obtained directly from the first muster roll of the USS MONITOR, if such a roll exists, as I can think of nowhere else that such data would have been derived from.
I did come upon, in post war census records of the United States, a German born Peter Williams, who was working as a waiter in California after the war, but have not been able to verify if this was our MOH recipient.
I certainly would like to find out a lot more about Williams, and where he is laid to rest. There are a large number of references to him, not only in several volumes of the Naval Official Records, but also in accounts of those who served with him, on the USS MONITOR, and elsewhere (e.g. the two volumes by paymaster William Keeler, ABOARD THE USS MONITOR and ABOARD THE USS FLORIDA), but nothing further about his nativity or where he ended up after the war, and if anyone knows any additional data on Williams, please advise. Thanks for any help.