Hi, Thought I would try this again, I am not sure if it getting posted or not since no one answered the question.....But, here goes again.....If a parent files on a son's pension record does that mean the son was Killed or dead?....Thanks

----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, November 24, 2002 3:27 PM Subject: [MO-CW] Pension Record > Hi, > Thought I would try this again, I am not sure if it getting posted or not > since no one answered the question.....But, here goes again.....If a parent > files on a son's pension record does that mean the son was Killed or > dead?....Thanks > There are many issues concerning Civil War pensions. They differ tremendously, depending on service, side (Confederate or Union) State (Each state had different qualifications). I could go on for hours, about pension problems, who was exempt, who merited one. ETC. >From the best I could guess, seeing the little information provided here, I would guess that this father was dependent on his son, at the time the pension was filed. NOW, the pension could have been filed when the son, who served, was alive & after he died, the father applied to continue the pension, to help support himself. OR, as the veterans died off, the states became more generous & offered to help family members who were still alive, but the actual veteran had passed away. So, the veteran could have already been dead & when the father found out that he could apply, he did so. The Government or states, decided after the war, to help veterans who were alive, but suffered a disability & could not make a living because of being wounded in the war. This was the original concept of granting pensions for this conflict. Of course, people who were dependent on one who was killed in the war, was left behind, so they started raising a fuss. (Of course, they had a valid complaint) The veterans on the Confederate side, had more trouble, because the Federal government did not want to help it's former enemies. States started helping, because units raised in a certain state, was not covered under the Federal umbrella & they went without pensions for a long time. In 1911 Missouri began granting pensions to indigent Confederate veterans only; none were granted to widows. Missouri also had a home for disabled Confederate veterans. Most Union army soldiers or their widows or minor children later applied for a pension. In some cases, a dependent father or mother applied for a pension. To obtain a widow's pension, the widow had to provide proof of marriage, such as a copy of the record kept by county officials, or by affidavit from the minister or some other person. Applications on behalf of the soldier's minor children had to supply both proof of the soldier's marriage and proof of the children's birth. There were many who received the assistance, but many more who were denied (many, who should have received them, did not) There is no way, with what you provide, to determine if the son was killed during the war or died after. It could have been ether one. Desoto Joe/The Record Man