Thursday, April 21, 2011

Treasure Chest Thursday - Isaac Seaver's Civil War Pension File: Claim for Increase in Pension

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It's Treasure Chest Thursday, time to share one of the documents or artifacts in my family history collection.  In many previous posts, I have displayed documents from the Civil War Pension File of Isaac Seaver, my second great-grandfather. 

I received the complete Civil War Pension File for Isaac Seaver on 3 January - see my post My Christmas Present Came Today - Oh Boy! - and it has 81 pages in the file.  Some of them have little or no information on them. 

The compendium of previous posts for this Pension File is in Treasure Chest Thursday - Isaac Seaver's Civil War Pension File: Compendium of Posts.

This week I'm posting the Claim for Increase in Pension, dated 20 June 1900 (pages 44 and 45 of the pension file sent by NARA):


The transcription of the page shown above is (blanks filled in are italicized and underlined):

Act of June 27, 1890
CLAIM FOR Increase of Pension
on account of reaching the age of 75 years

State of Massachusetts, County of Worcester, SS:
ON THIS 20th day of June 1900 A.D., personally appeared
before me, a Justice of the Peace in and for the aforesaid County, duly author-
ized to administer oaths, Isaac Seaver 3d, aged 76 years, a resident of
Leominster, in the County of Worcester, and State of
Massachusetts, whose Post Office address is Leominster Mass.
#7 Cedar Street, and who, being duly sworn, declares as follows: That
he is a pensioner of the United States, enrolled
at the Boston, Mass Pension Agency by Certificate
No. 850,736 at the rate of eight dollars per month
by reason of disability "Varicose Veins of both
legs and disease of heart."  That he was a
member of Co H 4th Regt Mass Vol Hvy
Arty.  That he was born in Westminster
Mass on the 16th day of October, 1823 and
consequently was 76 years of Age on the
16th day of October 1899 - He makes this
claim for increse of pension to the rate
of $12 per month in accordance with ruling
by bureu of pensions giving soldiers as
pensioner $12.00 per month upon arriving
at said seventy (75) years of age.

The declarant hereby appoints, with full power of substitution and revocation,
Himself af Leominster, Mass.
his attorney, and authorizes himself to present and prosecute this claim, to receive and re-
ceipt for the certificates, check, draft or money that may be issued or paid in satisfaction of
this claim, and to do any and all acts necessary to effect the purpose of said appointment.

Nettie I. Smith  ..........................................  Isaac Seaver 3d
Abbie M. Campbell  ............................. (Signature of claimant)
(Two witnesses who write, sign here)

  The reverse of this page is shown below:

The transcription of the page shown above is (blanks filled in are italicized and underlined):

Also, personally appeared Nettie I. Smith, residing at Fitchburg
Mass., and Abbie M. Campbell
residing at Fitchburg, Mass., persons whom
I certify to be respectable and entitled to credit, and who, being by me duly sworn according to
law, declare that they have been for 10 years acquainted with Isaac
Seaver, the above-named applicant, who was a Private in Company
H of the 4 Regiment of Hy Arty, Mass. Volunteers, and
know him to be the identical person named in the foregoing declaration; that they have no in-
terest whatever in the claim, and their Post Office address is Fitchburg, Mass.

IN PRESENCE OF

...................................................... 1 Nettie I. Smith
...................................................... 2 Abbie M. Campbell
..................................................... (Signature of Witnesses)

Sworn to and subscribed before me, this 21st day of June 1900
and I hereby certify that the contents of this paper were fully made known to the affiants before
the execution; that they are credible persons, and that I have no interest, direct or indirect, in this application, nor am I concerned in its prosecution.
.............................................................. Charles W. Kendall
.............................................................. Justice of the Peace

This document provides Isaac Seaver's address, birth date and birth place, in addition to the names and post office of two persons that had known him for over ten years. 

Who were Nettie Smith and Abbie Campbell?  I don't know, but I suspect that they are long-time friends of Isaac Seaver or his third wife, Alvina (Bradley) (Lewis) Seaver.  Isaac never lived in Fitchburg (a town just to the north of Leominster), but Alvina had and would again after Isaac died.

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