Thursday, February 17, 2011

Treasure Chest Thursday - Isaac Seaver's Civil War Pension Papers: Widow's Second Application

It's Treasure Chest Thursday, time to share one of the documents or artifacts in my family history collection.  In 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.  I'm going to cherry-pick some pages for this and later Treasure Chest Thursday posts.

Last week, we saw that Isaac's widow, Alvina Seaver, listed all of her assets and it was apparent that she earned too much money each year to qualify for a widow's pension.  That affidavit was dated 23 December 1901.

The "Treasure" this week is the Declaration for Widow's Pension of Alvina M. Seaver in 1908, who once again requested a pension based on her husband's Civil War service.


The transcript of this page is (filled in lines underlined, handwritten items italicized, tables spaced by periods):

ACT OF APRIL 19, 1908
DECLARATION OF WIDOW'S PENSION

State of New York, County of Franklin, SS:
On this 29th day of July A.D. one thousand nine hundred and
eight, personally appeared before me, a Notary Public, within and for the
County and State aforesaid, Alvina M. Seaver, aged 58 years, a
resident of Dickinson County of Franklin, State of
New York who, being duly sworn according to law, declares that she is the widow of
Isaac Seaver, 3d, who enlisted under the name of
Isaac Seaver 3d, on the 26th day of August, A.D.
18 64 as a Private in Company H, in the 4th Regiment of
Mass Vol H'y Art'y and served at least ninety days in the late War
of the Rebellion, in the service of the United States, who was HONORABLY DISCHARGED June 17
1865, and died March 12, 1901.  That he was never employed
... in the military or naval service of the United States after the 17th
day of June 18 65.  That she was married under the name of
Alvina M. Lewis to said Isaac Seaver 3d, on
the 15th day of September A.D. 1888, by Rev. J.P. Dunham
at St. Regis Falls, N.Y. there being no legal barrier to such marriage; that she had not
been previously married; that her said husband had not been previously married. (4) See all
evidence on file in her previous claim for pension.
That she has not remarried since the death of the said Isaac Seaver 3d
That the names and dates of birth of all of the children of the soldier, now living, and under sixteen years of
age, are as follows:
That there are no children of the soldier
now living who are under sixteen years of age.
...
That a prior application for pension has been filed by herself or the soldier under
Act of June 27, 1890 Claim No. 738,086. That her
husband was a pensioner under Act of June 27, 1890 Cf No 850936
That she makes this declaration for the purposes of being placed on the pension roll of the United States,
under the provisions of the act of April 19, 1908.  She hereby appoints, with full power of
substitution and revocation,
Charles W. Kendall of Fitchburg, Mass.
her true and lawful attorney to prosecute her claim, the fee to be TEN DOLLARS, payable as prescribed by law.
That her POST-OFFICE ADDRESS is Dickinson Centre, County of
Franklin, State of New York
Attest:
H.E. Hathaway /s/ ............................... Alvina M. Seaver /s/
Anna C. Hathaway /s/

This doesn't tell me anything new, except that Alvina was living in Dickinson Centre, Franklin County, New York in 1908. 

Apparently, she thought that she qualified under the Act of April 19, 1908 and applied for a pension soon after.  What changed?

The back of this Affidavit includes the Act of April 19, 1908 (it's only one page!).  It includes:

"Sec. 2.  That if any officer or enlisted man who served ninety days or more in the Army or Navy of the United States during the late civil war and who has been honorably discharged therefrom has died or shall hereafter die, leaving a widow, such widow shall, upon the proof of her husband's death, without proving his death to be the result of his army or navy service, be placed on the pension roll from the date of filing of her application therefor under this Act at the rate of twelve dollars per month during her widowhood, provided that said widow shall have married said soldier or sailor prior to June twenty-seventh, eighteen hundred and ninety; and the benefits of this section shall include those widows whose husbands if living would have a pensionable status under the joint resolutions of February fifteenth, eighteen hundred and ninety-five, and of July first, nineteen hundred and two, and June twenty-eighth, nineteen hundred and six."

Alvina lucked out, didn't she? 

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