Thursday, December 2, 2010

Treasure Chest Thursday - Isaac Seaver's Civil War Pension File: General Affidavit #1

For Treasure Chest Thursday, I am presenting and transcribing papers from the Civil War Pension File of my Second Great-Grandfather, Isaac Seaver (1823-1901). I presented Isaac's Declaration for Invalid Pension and Treasure Chest Thursday - Isaac Seaver's Civil War Pension File: Widow's First Declaration in past weeks.

Alvina M. (Bradley) (Lewis) Seaver filed an affidavit at the same time as she filed the Widow's Declaration after Isaac Seaver's death. 




The transcription of this document is (handwritten information in italics and underlined):

GENERAL AFFIDAVIT
State of Massachusetts, County of Worcester, SS:
In the matter of Widow's original pension claim No. 738,086 Alvina M. Seaver,
widow of Isaac Seaver, 3d - Co. H 4th Regt Mass Vol H A
ON THIS 20 day of April, A.D. 1901, personally
appeared before me -- a Special Commissioner -- in and for the afore-
said county, duly authorized to administer oaths -- Alvina M. Seaver --
aged 51 years, a resident of Leominster, in the County
of Worcester, and State of Massachusetts
whose Post-office address is #7 Cedar Street - Leominster, Mass.
_______________, aged _____ years, a resident of ___________
________________, in the County of ______________________
and State of _________________, whose Post office address is ___________
__________________________________________
well known to be reputable and entitled to credit, and who, being duly sworn, declared in relation to aforesaid
case as follows:  that I had been married once and the
soldier twice prior to our marriage with each other
My first husband, Joseph P. Lewis, died Jan. 5, 1882.
The first wife of the soldier, Juliett (Glazier) Seaver
died Sept. 25, 1847, and his second wife, Lucretia
T. (Smith) Seaver died Mar. 24, 1884.
That my property consists of one small dwelling house
and the lot upon which it stands, located in Leom-
ister, Mass., cash value $1700.00.  this is my home, no
part of it is rented.  I do not have any boarders and no
income derived from my property.  There is no in-
cumbrance upon it.  The annual expenses which
I pay out for said property is $35.75 for taxes,
$11.00 for water rates, $3.60 for insurance, and $50.00
for repairs.
I also have $700.00 in Fitchburg Savings Bank, $700.00
in Worcester North Savings Institution, both located in
Fitchburg, Mass., $909.32 in Clinton, Mass. Savings Bank,
$500.00 in Worcester Co. Institution for Savings, $500.00 in
Peoples Savings Bank, $500.00 in Worcester Mechanics Sav-
______________________________________
______________________________________
I further declare that I have no interest in said case and I am
not concerned in its prosecution.

_____________________    Alvina M. Seaver

[Pension Office seal dated May 3, 1901] 

The death dates of the former spouses are useful information, as is Alvina's "wealth" in the banks.  I summarized the probate records of Isaac Seaver in Amanuensis Monday - Probate Records of Isaac Seaver (1823-1901).  The real estate was sold before 21 June 1901 and the heirs received their portions on 21 June 1901.  Alvina received a total of $1,500 from her husband's estate.  She may have had her own bank accounts that were not impacted by the death of her husband.  However, she now needed a place to live.

Was Alvina too rich for the Pension Office's taste?  Stay tuned for future installments of Isaac Seaver's pension file.

1 comment:

Cynthia Shenette said...

I enjoyed reading this. While we are not "related," Leominster and Fitchburg are in my neck of the woods, so it was a fun document to read. Thanks for posting it!