Hi, Susan! I don't know that I can answer all of your questions. I have 11 full Civil War Pension files, and can only remark, that some seemed to have an easier time than others getting pensions. Seems that most of mine had a harder time for the widows to get a widows pension. However, with few exceptions, they have contained a lot of valuable information, that answered a lot of questions for me! I have one that took a long, long time, because apparently a man, Mr. Vaden, from Butler Co. MO, contacted a Thomas G. Taylor in Arkansas regarding his service in the War, and his rights, based on his homestead application, to more entitlements from the Government because of his service. Turns out, that Thomas G. Taylor was a Confederate Soldier for a very short time, and became what was referred to as a Gray Back-----a group that did horrible things to Confederate Soldiers and families. He did act as a scout for the Union Co. that our Thomas Taylor was in, but never was seen in a uniform according to witness affadavits. Long story short, it was decided by the Pension Bureau, that Mr. Vaden & Thomas G. Taylor were attempting to defraud the U. S. Government, and all evidence was going to be turned over to the U. S. Attorney General's Office and they would determine whether or not they would proceed against the perpetrators! Long, long story, but a very interesting file!!! Wilma -------Original Message------- From: Susan Faulkner Date: 1/23/2008 8:27:17 AM To: mobarry@rootsweb.com Subject: [MOBARRY] Civil War Pensions I have two direct ancestors that were Civil War veterans that lived and served in Barry County. A year or so ago I ordered and received the complete Civil War Pension file of my third-great grandfather, Leeland Betterton. This week I received my fourth-great grandfather, Benjamin Whittington's, Civil War Pension file. These files are both fairly large and contain a lot of correspondence that covers a span of years. Leeland Betterton finally received a small stipend for a couple of years before he died in 1911. Benjamin Whittington, also a veteran of the Mexican War, was denied any pension. My question is this. did most veterans of the Civil War have to fight for their pensions? Were these pensions difficult to come by? I would like to know if my grandfather(s) are an example of the norm or an exception. Have other Barry County researchers looked at copies of their ancestors Civil War Pension files? Did their ancestors have to prove a lot in order to obtain a pension? Thanks for your input. I'm rather perplexed. ~Susan Faulkner Please tell us about your Barry county ancestors. The list-admin is Donna Cooper, address - (saarisr@sbcglobal.net) ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to MOBARRY-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

I know that a Dunkin relative of mine received his pension, but they had misspelled his last name as Duncan. Apparantly it was easier to change the spelling of one's name than to correct the error in the pension office. From then on, that branch of the family has spelled their last name Duncan. jay --- Wilma Fields <wfields55@hotmail.com> wrote: > Hi, Susan! > > I don't know that I can answer all of your > questions. I have 11 full Civil > War Pension files, and can only remark, that some > seemed to have an easier > time than others getting pensions. Seems that most > of mine had a harder time > for the widows to get a widows pension. However, > with few exceptions, they > have contained a lot of valuable information, that > answered a lot of > questions for me! > > I have one that took a long, long time, because > apparently a man, Mr. Vaden, > from Butler Co. MO, contacted a Thomas G. Taylor in > Arkansas regarding his > service in the War, and his rights, based on his > homestead application, to > more entitlements from the Government because of his > service. > > Turns out, that Thomas G. Taylor was a Confederate > Soldier for a very short > time, and became what was referred to as a Gray > Back-----a group that did > horrible things to Confederate Soldiers and > families. He did act as a scout > for the Union Co. that our Thomas Taylor was in, but > never was seen in a > uniform according to witness affadavits. > > Long story short, it was decided by the Pension > Bureau, that Mr. Vaden & > Thomas G. Taylor were attempting to defraud the U. > S. Government, and all > evidence was going to be turned over to the U. S. > Attorney General's Office > and they would determine whether or not they would > proceed against the > perpetrators! > Long, long story, but a very interesting file!!! > > Wilma > > -------Original Message------- > > From: Susan Faulkner > Date: 1/23/2008 8:27:17 AM > To: mobarry@rootsweb.com > Subject: [MOBARRY] Civil War Pensions > > I have two direct ancestors that were Civil War > veterans that lived and > served in Barry County. A year or so ago I ordered > and received the complete > > Civil War Pension file of my third-great > grandfather, Leeland Betterton. > This week I received my fourth-great grandfather, > Benjamin Whittington's, > Civil War Pension file. > > > > These files are both fairly large and contain a lot > of correspondence that > covers a span of years. Leeland Betterton finally > received a small stipend > for a couple of years before he died in 1911. > Benjamin Whittington, also a > veteran of the Mexican War, was denied any pension. > > > > My question is this. did most veterans of the Civil > War have to fight for > their pensions? Were these pensions difficult to > come by? I would like to > know if my grandfather(s) are an example of the norm > or an exception. > > > > Have other Barry County researchers looked at copies > of their ancestors > Civil War Pension files? Did their ancestors have to > prove a lot in order to > > obtain a pension? > > > > Thanks for your input. I'm rather perplexed. > > > > ~Susan Faulkner > > Please tell us about your Barry county ancestors. > The list-admin is Donna > Cooper, address - (saarisr@sbcglobal.net) > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email > to > MOBARRY-request@rootsweb.com with the word > 'unsubscribe' without the quotes > in the subject and the body of the message > > Please tell us about your Barry county ancestors. > The list-admin is Donna Cooper, address - > (saarisr@sbcglobal.net) > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email > to MOBARRY-request@rootsweb.com with the word > 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and > the body of the message > ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ