The Rest of the George W. Seaver Story - Part IV: Military Records

I wrote Seavers in the News -- George W. Seaver Disappears in 1899 last week about a man disappearing from his home in Santa Monica, California.  It was an interesting story, and I found no other newspaper articles about him in the online newspaper resources that I searched.  Since then, I've posted these articles about this case:

*  The Rest of the George W. Seaver Story - Part I: Newspaper Articles about George's disappearance
*  The Rest of the George W. Seaver Story - Part II: More Newspaper Articles about George and his wife, Lida J. Crocker.
*  The Rest of the George W. Seaver Story - Part III: Census Entries with census records.
*  Seavers in the News - Vice President George W. Seaver Drives a Horse Car with a story and photo of George in Santa Monica in 1904.

In this post, I want to document the information found in the U.S. National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers record:

The information for George W. Seaver is on the left-hand page of the image above.

The extracted information on this record includes:

MILITARY HISTORY

*  Time and Place of Enlistment:  Dec. 8th 1863, N. Andover, Mass.
*  Rank:  P[rivate]
*  Company and Regiment:  H, 2nd Mass. H.A. transferred to Co. H
*  Time and Place of Discharge:  July 11th 1865, Boston, Mass.
*  Cause of Discharge:  Close of War
*  Kind and Degree of Disability:  Piles

DOMESTIC HISTORY   Protestant

*  Where Born:  Wisconsin
*  Age:  48
*  Height:  5' 7-1/2"
*  Complexion:  Dark
*  Color of Eyes: [blank]
*  Color of Hair:  [blank]
*  Occupation:  Teamster
*  Residence Subsequent to Discharge:  San Luis Obispo, Cal.
*  Married or Single:  Single
*  P.O. Address of Nearest Relative:  Mrs. Lucinda M. Fields (Aunt), Santa Barbara, Cal.

HOME HISTORY

*   Rate of Pension:  $6.00  $12.00  $16.50  $21.50  $27.10   May 31, 1920
*  Date of Admission and Re-Admission:    a)  October 17, 1893
                                                                      b)  Aug. 8, [19]01
*  Condition of Re-Admission:  [blank]
*  Date of Discharge:    a)  July 6th 1899
                                      b)  June 13, 1918
*  Cause of Discharge:  a)  His request
                                      b)  Dp'd G.O. ??
*  Date of Death:   31.10.[19]18  Died T.A.P.
*  Cause of Death:  Pneumonia

GENERAL REMARKS

*  Admission Paper:  1
*  Army Discharge:  [blank]
*  Certificate of Service:  1
*  Pension Certificate:  919,589

*  Labor Money, Cash:  $ 9.08
*  Pension Money:  [blank]
*  Personal, Appraised at $2.45 and 1.75 sold for [blank]
* How disposed of:  [blank]

The source citation for this record is:

"U.S. National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, 1866-1938," indexed database with record images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 4 February 2018), Sawtelle > Registers > S, No. 2087 (image 189 of 4037), George W. Seaver entry.
                                      
This record fills in some blanks in the life history of George W. Seaver, including:

*  He served in the Civil War, enlisting in Massachusetts in 1863 and discharged in 1865 after the end of the war.
*  He was born in Wisconsin
*  He resided in San Luis Obispo after his discharge from the Army (probably in 1893 before he was admitted to the Soldiers' Home).
*  He entered the Sawtelle Soldiers' Home in Los Angeles on 17 October 1893 at age 48, and left on his own request on 6 July 1899 (after he married Lida Crocker in 1898).
*  He received a Pension for his Civil War Service - certificate number 919,589, starting at $6/month in 1893 and receiving $27.10 at the time of his death.
*  He re-entered the Sawtelle Soldiers' Home on 8 August 1901 and was kicked out on 13 June 1918.
*  He died on 31 October 1918 of Pneumonia.
*  His nearest relative (in 1893?) was his Aunt, Mrs. Lucinda M. Fields of Santa Barbara, California.

So there is a clue to my most enduring mystery about George - his Aunt was Lucinda M. Fields.  She could be his father's sister or his mother's sister.  If she was the father's sister, then she would be a Seaver surname.  If she was the mother's sister, then that becomes more difficult to research.

I found a Lucinda R. Fields (born about 1834 in Vermont) married to Alexander N. Fields (born 1833 in Canada) in about 1862, and they were in the 1900 U.S. Census in Santa Barbara.  I also found them in Los Angeles in  the 1910 U.S. Census.  Alexander Fields entered the Sawtelle Soldiers' Home in 1908 and died in April 1910.  

A death certificate for Lucinda R. Fields may provide parents names.  However, I can't find a death record for her in California.  She may have married again and died with a different surname.  

I did not find a public Ancestry Member Tree with an entry for Alexander N. Fields born about 1833 in Canada and a wife named Lucinda (or similar).

The FamilySearch Family Tree profile for A. N. Field (born 1833 in Nova Scotia) shows his wife's name as Lucinda R. Pease (1834-1922), born 20 February 1834 in Weston, Windsor County, Vermont, but no parents are listed for Lucinda.

I will search some more.  

Another potential record for the parents of George W. Seaver is the Civil War Pension File, which may list his parents, birth date, birth place, etc.  How much do I want it?  

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