The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-02-06
THE WIDoW yovEs,s PENSION.
rts InvestiEntIon Reveals Que or tho MANY
wartime ltemnucoa.

willow JOneS was uldtONoTou W nhNo uoch
backed up by q fraudulent certificate OF mar
rlagc. and tho Grand Jury Of tho District find.
ing n true bill. the widow left her place in the
Treasury and the city. Tho case fully appears
In tho following story:
During tho early part Of tho late war there
was located on the roadside, n few miles from
ono Of the pretty towns OF West Virginia. a
prosperous blacksmith, whose family, n wife
and several children. included several quite
handsome girls. just entering womnnhood. II
was not long before the Federal troops arrived
In tho noighborhood, and then somo troops
were raised in that section. For tho latter there
were a few officers taken from the Northern
regiments. and one of them, while his regiment
was cncamped near the b~lncksmith's, engaged
board With WIZ the family: This officer was a wild;
his mother, and although. the youngest Of the
girls was little more than Id years old they were
lily, however, looking on IL as u mere pastime on
their part, which would soon DO ended by tho
young officer going TO tho front. interposed no
walks ana on short carriage rides In tho vicinity.
One pleasant afternoon about the latter part
OF May, 1861, they sct out for n longer drive
than the family expected, and when night came
there were. conjecturcs that they may have
some trap and heon captured by the enemy. for
ut that time there was no telling who were
following day drew its slow length along. during
winch timo INQUIRIES aud search were
a na%e in N s irThih 10 the fnu jo eSW of Inc eV fa n th Ss
soon as they alightod the family received a sur.
prise. when tho sister was introduced as Mrs.
Jones, for that was the name of the young Lieu
tenant. and they related. how they had driven
oyer into Maryland and were married by a
to that effect. This was satisfactory to the
family. though tho mother and father would
have been better satisfied had ono of the elder
girls been his choice.
Tho situation was accepted by all concerned
rs one of tho fortunes of war. and the young
bride was in her old. home Mrs. Lieut.. Jones. u
boarder, and, for about q month tho husband
continued to board at the house, when. tho rcgi-
in Virginia came to an end. In this brief period
he had sent to his relatives, living in Now Jersey
his first wife-a girl of six or seven yenrs-and
she had been brought on by a fellow officer and
received in the charge OF the child wife. When
the gimen was ordered away both wife and
child were in tears. little dreaming that they
would never see him again. and they were in
laurels and promotion.
In the course of n few days. however, news
BATTLE mot not far away NSs,n' and. att aitho p@sil't tRe onion ,R a
arms were victorious, his name appeared rs one
of the wounded. This was supplemented by, the
confirmed tine intelligence she had received,
spoke of his slim chance of recovery from a
giving directions as to his daughter. confiding
her to his wife's care. Such was the condition
unsafe for her TO attempt to reach him. and a
few days later she received II letter from an
officer of the regiment describing his death at a
farmhouse and burial near the battlefield.
The war continued and the family homo was
sometimes surrounded by Union troops and at
danger between tho lines of the contcnding
forces. OF such surrounding, the family soon
followed the example of tho younger. and tho
the person of a Mississippi soldier and the other
Il New York soldier, wearing the chevrons Of a
sergeant. and. singular as it may seem. the
blacksmith's sons.in-law were all named Jones.
Lieutenant. with the sto~pdaughter dependent
on her, lived on mid the excitement of the
Late in the fall Of 1865 y member of Congress.
who had served in the West Virginia regiment
with Lieut.. Jones. stepped of a train for a few
minutes and it went on without him. Recalling
the days of 81 and having some hours to wait,
he visited some OF the scenes Of his military life.
the widow of his old companion in the
army: She reluctantly told Of her eircum-
Serves serRers, and Mn he Promised MSrH pP 70 secure e her sh a posi- 1a:
ton il she would come to Washington. This
che knew would enable her to better her condi-
ton, and she saw that she would have an OPP
portunity to send the stepdaughtcr to school.
The offer WAS gladly accepted, and when, a few
an official envelope containing an appointment
to- a modest position in the Treasury, it took but
the rsM tram nGu for '0 W easRRhinetaS 1 'nf In 3o "a fe9 e days 's she
was at work, the daughter was in school, and
hood of Washington Circle.
Soon after her settlement here an application
was filed by her for n pension as tho widow of
Lieut.: Jones and it was allowed. This. with her
pay ut the Treasury. enabled them to live very
comfortably. and in n short time the daughter
was one Of tho brightest of our public school
girls. and during, vacations they were enabled
occasionally to visit West Virginia. and she cor
rTesp3nndeTT, with her fathers relatives at tho
ful young lady. and. doubtless. in n year or two
would have had a large circle of Washington
admirers had she not settled down in the noun
tains of West Virginia us n farmers wife.
On one OF her visits to " the largest OF all States
mic. she met her destiny. She had attended
many rustic picnics in that section. and as for
bbe eiiSs' f6 ha6 bcs II al b her b ow INV way sSo o pesst the i9e al
the graceso Of the rustic girl with the accomplish
ments of a city lady; Her capture at this picnic
ing in that section, rcnuted to be, the owner
OF countless, acres OF land and tho pros
many others. seen service on tho Confed.
crate side. and had returned home with the
praise or ms comrades as one OF the most
ern army. While the girl well knew that her
father had fallen while fighting on the Union
her ndmircr. she could not reject his attentions.
and finally came, to the conclusion that it was
young mans slave."' As Tor tho old man. he
was her slave from the instant he was intro
was ended the time had been set for the wed.
ding-and it was not far distant. either. 1t
needed but II short time for preparations. and
before the year was ended the marriage took
place in Washington.
One of tho first duties the girl had to perform.
after she had changed her name. was to inform
her friends Of the fact. and In writing to her pa.
ternal grandmother she told her as much as she
know of her husbands history. not forgetting
his experience in tho Confederate service. This
was enough for the old lady. Tint the child OF
SO brave II Union officer as her son should marry
n rebel was horrible, and then, too. he may have
been the very man who ,hrd thrust his sabre
into her sons breast, pcrchRncc had killed him.
This letter had the effect TO cause an estrangc-
ment, and some few years aftor, the grand
mothers condition in life having changed. she
put in n claim for n pension on account of tho
sons service. This resulted in n rc.cxamina-
tion Of tho original case. and it was not long be.
fore the minister whose name was attached to
certificate filed by tho widow was found.
and he pronounced IL n forgery. The. case
was thereupon sent to the District Attor-
ney, and in a short timo an Indictment
was found by the Grand Jury. In some
way her friends became aware OF it, and
tho evening OF the date Of the return of
the Indictment Witnessed her departure from
the city. In her behalf It is nothing but Justice
to state that some of her Washington friends
ascertainod that shc was entirely innocent OF in.
fraud, for there was II pretended cerc-
mony. the certificate. was given her and she &C.
ccrted il In good faith; that. there was album
dance OF proof that she was introduced by the
ms his wife and lived with him AMI
a.EA.1 Ia ~ Nj NO uatnl. NNbtlA EIA1 nat naHata