The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1851-03-05
Pension Agency.-Frauds upon the Gov.
ernment.


On Saturday last, in the court house,
in this place. a preliminary hearing was
had before Judge Prentiss, in the case Of
Jacob Singerland and W. II. Stafford OF
Royalton, and Jno. NJ. Bennett of Stock
bridge, charged with procuring pensions
by false and forged certificates. The
design Of the agency was, it appeared
to secure pensions to certain widows,
residents Of Windsor county, (all suryi-
vors Of husbands entitled in their life.
time to PENSIONS under the act Of lS4s,
which act requires that the widows should
have been married previous to the year
$500. The facts concerning the mar
riages of these widows are, that all Of
them took place between the years 1920
and 1923, while the declarations, and al
other papers relating thereto, and for
warded TO The department at Washing>
ton, plead them in the years '03, '06 and
l'07.-The declarations, it appeared from
the testimony of Judge Danforth, before
whom they were sworn to, as well as
from the face of them, had been altered
so also had been the certified copy of the
marriage record from the Town Clerks
books, which in one case was given. In
the other two, no reliable record being
found Of the marriages, they were proved
by the affidavit Of persons who were pres
ent a, the time. These affidavits, made in
the presence Of several persons, and sub
scrbed and sworn to, actually read
q" 1893" SC, instead OF 1893" &c,
according to the truth, and the inten-
tions Of the several persons, whose Gepo-
sitlons they were. They were all in the
hand wiring of Slingcrland, and in the
opinion of the judge must have been
originally SO made, there being uDon
them no signs Of erasure or inlerlluug.
Messrs Bennett and Stafford were i'm
plicated with Mr. SIimgerland, FROM the
fact that both have acted with him in
the last few months in the pension agen-
cy, and Mr. Bennett alsoupon the ground
that he was the justice before whom some
Of the false dispositions were sworn to
but it appeared that he did not read the
dispositions, and only swore the witnesses
to what they had said and what Mr..
Slingerland had read over as being the
story which they had ju,ttold. Business
connections were not denied to have ex-
is,ed between Messrs SIingerland g. SAT-
ford, but it was clearly proved that their
partnership did not commence until after
the fraudulent proceeding Of Singer
land. Bennett aud Stafford were there
fore discharged, and Singerland held to
bail in the sum of $4,000.
Nothing appeared in the examination
tending to show that either Stafford or
Bennett had any participation in, or
knowledge of the fraudulent transactions
of Slingerland. They both bear the
highest character for honesty, which
this transaction, although vexatious, has
not in the slightest degree compromised
or impeached.
We learn from Washington, that a
hasry and limited examination proves,
already, some S20,0 900 fraudulently oh,
tanned by Slingerland; further examna-
ton will undoubtedly swell the sum to
much higher figure. Further payments,
we are also informed, upon papers ior-
warded by him, have been suspended at
the department. Singerland is an ell,
derly man aud came to Vermont from
New York about year since, and is said
to have been engaged in the pension bus
lness some twenty years. Vermont Pat
riot, Feb. 9Th.