The Library of Virginia has made applications for pensions from Confederate veterans and their widows available online. Some are difficult to read, so if this is your relative, be sure to confirm these details for yourself. ---------------------------------------- John H. Garrison of Stafford County John H. Garrison applied for a pension as a disabled Confederate veteran on 6 June 1903 in Stafford County, Virginia. He stated that he was 65 years old and a resident of Mount, Virginia. He was born in Stafford County and had lived there all his life. For the past 15 years, he had worked as a Black Smith. He has "been able to do but little at my trade in the last 2 years," and his annual income has been $50. His disability is "siatic rheumatism," which he says he "contracted in the army," although he did not become aware of it until about 3 years ago. While in the army, he suffered from Typhoid fever. The application states that he enlisted in 1861 "at Clifton Camp." He served as a private for 3 years and left the service because of sickness. He served in A. P. Hill Division, Company A, 47th Virginia Regiment, under Captain Green and Lieutenant Black. The names of 2 comrades who served with him are particularly difficult to read -- they look like Rtta Suliward and Barnch Lupen. (They MAY be Richard Sullivan and Barnet Cooper.) The names of 2 others who could testify to his service and his disability look like R. W. Resear and William Perry. The application is signed by the applicant -- "John Garson" -- and witnessed by Justice of the Peace F. M. Mountjoy. R. E. Mountjoy and Wm. E. Robey signed a statement that they had known John Garrison for 15 years, knew him to be an honest man, and believed his disability to be total. The other page of the application includes the signatures of "comrades" G. R. Ashby and W. P. Mahoney, who swore that they had known John Garrison for 40 years and served with him in the Confederate Army under "Captain Charlie Green and Lutenant Black," and that he was a "true and loyal soldier." I am unable to decipher (at least from the online images) the names of the 2 "Witnesses, not Comrades." They testified that they had known John Garrison for 40 years, and believed that he had been a soldier and was now disabled. The names may be J. M. Meredith and W. E. Perry or Posey. Physician R. J. Payne wrote that Garrison suffered from sciatic rheumatism and acligmatism [? -- presumably not astigmatism]. Two ex-Confederate soldiers then signed to show that they had examined the evidence and approved the application. They were Lewis Garrison and Robert Doyle. The Commissioner of Revenue in Stafford County added a statement about John Garrison's real and personal property. The to! tal appears to be $102. The outside of the application says that it was approved. John appears to have received $15 a year. Summary by Laura Keyes Perry keyesperry@msn.com ----------------------- Pension applications can be accessed from the Library of Virginia site http://eagle.vsla.edu/conpen/virtua-basic.html This site has been having some problems with its server. If you cannot retrieve what you want, try again later.