The record-union., 1896-05-17
VETERANS OF THE CIVIL WAR
Statistics That Throw Side Lights on
Their Destiny.
Figures of the Census of 1890 Just
Tabulated-Number of Surviving
Veterans on Both Sides.

United States by the census takers of
1890. The results have only recently
been tabulated, in reply to a resolu-
tion of the Senate, and they throw many
interesting side lights on the destiny OF
the men who met in arms in the great
civil war. The surviving widows OF
Union soldiers and sailors number l4o,-
3o3, while the widows of the Confed-
crate veterans are only GOSH.
The facts have been classified in an
interesting manner by Colonel Carroll
D. Wright, the Commissioner of Labor,
who is now in charge Of the work, and
he has explained to the Senate why
they have not been published in full.
1t appears that it would require more
than seven quarto volumes to carry
the /, ,4000 600 names of the veterans,
with the organizations in which they
served, and the cost of the work would
preclude its distribution to individual
veterans, merely for the benefit of find
ing their own names in the long list. 1t
was, therefore, recommended by Colo
mel Wright, soon after he took charge
of the census work. that the complete
records be turned over to the Commits
sioner of Pensions, for use in the army
and navy survivors division, where
they could be consulted by anyone hav-
ing special interest in the subject.
The facts which Colonel Wright has
prepared for the Senate involve a clas-
sification by States, ages and other
particulars of the great mass of data at
his command. The exact figures show
that on June /, 1890 there were 1,034
OI3 surviving United States soldiers,
sailors and marines; 432, ,020 surviving
Confederate veterans of the civil war,
and &C, ,564 surviving widows of Confed-
crate veterans.
The politicians are likely to find in
teresting food for thought in the geo.
graphical and race distribution of the
veterans of both armies. The Union
veterans were Caucasians TO the ex-
tent of nearly % per cent. of the en-
tire number, the exact number being
9S0,214 of whom S07, ,701 were native
whites; rs, ,446 were born of native par
ents 50, ,25o We're born of foreign par
ents and 1I2,513 were foreign whites.
The total of negroes. Chinese, Japan
ese and civilized Indians were 53, l99,
or > 2-10 per cent. of the whole number.
Turning to the widows, a slightly
smaller percentage were Caucasian de-
scent, the number being 135. S92, Of
whom JOS. .36S We're native white. 96 COB
born of native parents, and 1866 of
foreign parents. The foreign white
widows were ~ ,524, and the total of
other races were 9,461. The fact that
the percentage of surviving Caucasian
widows is a little more than one per
cent. less than the surviving proportion
of surviving veterans does not indicate
mixed marriages, but is merely an ac-
cident, resulting from the much smaller
number of surviving widows than of
veterans. The veterans returned have,
of course, no connection with surviving
widows.
Upon the Confederate side the per-
centage of Caucasian veterans was
more than 30, the number being 42S, III,
OF whom 415234 were natives, 405, ,G94
were born of native parents, and only
9,540 were born of foreign parents, and
only 1888 were themselves foreign
Caucasians.
Of the widows, G0,021 were Caucasi-
ans. of whom 5S366 were natives. and
$500 born of native parents. The
widows born of foreign parents were
l ,167, and those entirely foreign were
/ $50. The colored Confederate veter-
The geographical distribution of the
veterans indicates that many of those
from the East settled in the West after
the war; for the proportion is much
smaller in the Eastern States to the
population than in the new States Of the
West. The number is large enough,
however, to be a terror to the politi-
clans, even in the East, if their votes
were cast solidly on one side Even
Massachusetts, where the sentiment in
favor of pension legislation is not usu-
ally an active factor in political con-
tests, shows 1906 surviving veterans,
or an even 5000 to each Congressional
district New York, although standing
third in the list of aggregate numbers,
ranks among the lowest of the North
ern States in proportion to the pOpula-
tion her veterans numbering only
little more than $500 to a Congressional
district. Indiana, on the other hand,
contained in 1890, nearly 5000 surviv-
ors to a Congressional district. Kansas
showed more than COCO, and Missouri,
with her divided allegiance, showed
more than 1000
Union veterans are sprinkled all over
the South, from 80 $50 in Kentucky
down to 2.063 in Georgia, but the num-
ber of Confederate veterans in the
North is much smaller. The entire
Northeast, including New Jersey and
Pennsylvania, contained in 1890 only
2, 433, of whom 1014 We're in Pennsyl-
yania and 1ST in New York. There
were only eleven lonely upholders of
1.-The lost cause in Vermont, but they
had the sympathy Of fourteen Confed-
crate widows
The Western States along the Ohio
River make a little better showing for
the Southern veterans, Ohio containing
1,277, Indiana 1853, Illinois 1,159 and
Kansas 1916 but the number dwin
died to 115 in Wisconsin and 4S in
North Dakota. Southern widows were
very much fewer in these Western
States outside of Missouri where they
numbered 1910. against 1858 South
ern veterans The number of widows in
Illinois was 239; Ohio, 49, Indiana
16O, and North Dakota only five.
The ages of surviving veterans and
widows naturally show the largest
number of survivors under 80 years of
age, but this does not imply that the
majority of those who came out of the
armies were so young as this classifi-
cation would indicate, for many of the
older ones have doubtless left the army
of survivors for the great army of their
comrades who have crossed the river
The number of Union veterans sur
viving in 1890 under 45 years of age was
129. 43S: from As to 54 years, 575. 746:
years, 71,214: IS years and over, IL ,149
1f A