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Archiver > PACAMBRI > 2003-07 > 1057904457
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Subject: Re: [PaCambri] Andersonville POW'S
Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2003 02:20:59 EDT
I think the problem of receiving a pension after the death of a civil war
soldier was wide spread. My great-great grandfather died of smallpox in the
hospital in Winchester VA and his poor wife in Bedford County spent years trying
to get her pension for herself and their six children. First she had to prove
that he served and died in service, and that they were really married and then
find witnesses who would vouch that the children were his. But all of this
took years and in the meantime she lost all but the youngest two children. The
others were put into homes of "guardians" or foster homes.
Genealogically, these pension papers are a treasure! But I have felt the
tears more than once reading through them and picturing these poor people,
unable to read and write and working their way through all this red tape, after
losing their husband and then their farm.
Lynda in New Mexico
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