Frank To qualify for a pension he would have to met the requirements set up by the act passed by Congress. It is doubtful just age would qualify him in 1886, I believe that came about in early 20th century. He would have had to have been wounded and/or ill while in service and had it affect his life after the war. If he came through unscathed then he just did not qualify. Julia FamRSearch@aol.com

Julia said: > To qualify for a pension he would have to met the requirements set > up by the act passed by Congress. It is doubtful just age would > qualify him in 1886, I believe that came about in early 20th > century. He would have had to have been wounded and/or ill while in > service and had it affect his life after the war. > > If he came through unscathed then he just did not qualify. I suspect that is the case. Those files that I have where the soldier received money they had to tell a pitiful story of long time disability [constant diarerra seem to be an ailment of choice, probably hard to prove.] There was not much in the way of medical confirmation, rather neighbors testified about how debilitated the individual was. One mother's pension told how the father had gone to Knoxville from Illinois to nurse his son in the hospital. He had measles. When the son died the father brought both the body and the measles home. Everyone in the family had measles and a 10 year-old son also died, and, it was claimed, the family members could not work as hard or as long ever after. I have noticed that measles was a common ailment among Civil War pension records and that it was often fatal. Joan "Joan Best" <joanbest@earthlink.net>