The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-07-16
THE QUEER CASE or WAcKERLE.
The Courts Say He Is Dead, but the Cow
eminent Is Still Paying Him His Pension.

eminent Is still Paying Him His Pension.
From, he 81 Louis Globe. Democrat
WASHINGTON. July 10-This Government
with quarterly regularity. is paying pensions to
man who has been declared dead by United
States court. and whose life insurance has been
paid to his widow-that is. his widow de jure.
The Wackerle case Is stranger than fiction.
William Wackerle Of Company II. Ninth Regi-
ment Minnesota Infantry. still lives. in the
opinion of the Pension Bureau William
Wackerle. same company and same regiment.
was killed in railroad accident as long ago as
1872. according to the verdict and the decision
in the United States Circuit Court at St Louis
twenty years ago.
Basing her claim upon the evidence and the
finding Of the court that her husband was dead,
Waberga Wackere. the widow de Jure, has
been trying TO get pension. The case has
been investigated again and again. SPECIAL
examiners have visited various parts OF the
country and have collected roumlnous testi-
mony,,. The conclusion arrived at is that Will
liam WackerIe still lives. ana the Government
continues 10 pay the pension to HIM. denying tho
claim OF the alleged widow 4 decision to this
tent widow has continued to press the matter.
appealing the case through al! Of the stages
Pp9yds by "T she carried Il to the
and he has declared that William Wackerle is
Ill living.
the rolls as II pensioncr Before his name was
restored his case was special Iy examined. and
company AMI regiment was satisfactorily es-
taDllShcd.
satisfactory account Of himself and his
whereabouts. and the date of his earliest recol-
lection up to 1888 and subsequently. He bears
good reputation for truthuiness and sobriety.
His signature to his application for a pension.
May ~. 1861 to tho various vouchers for PEN
sion, to his payroll in service, to his two appli-
cations for Lille, insurance in 1876. and to his
subsequent anldarltS and pension application
have been carefully compared and shown to
1 Al n n
the opinion that the evidence III this case fails
to show the death Of The solder"
notwithstanding this final decision in the
case Mrs WalDerga Wackerle has continued
to insist that her husband is dead. and to press
Of as recent dates as January Of this year are
included in the great bundle Of records per-
s o to laS sFsfe ss TO tho is aas
TO, learn that Mrs. .Wackerle has been
taken into custody in St. r, Louis as a
ter OF not much aStoniShment to them that
the ,s1ualid room in which she lived was found
gold and silver to the amount of thousands Of
dollars: There has been amazing method In
Cove rnment to great expense to prove We that
her husband was alive after the court had de-
cded that he was dead and had rendered Judg-
! which he held policy.
The .rigeonhhole at the Pension ONCE de-
mass Of testimony there is an afldayit from a
y,
1886 TO 1886, He testified that he knew Will
am he inca %%d whc
| erie $ wife. His acquaintance continued until
the, Wackerles left Carver. William Wackero
Ninth Minnesota. The witness moved from
Carver county t" California in 1856 He saw
94Si 1873 IN HV company With #ScEsre was SD
| former Lteutenant OF Company II OF the Ninth
]
Wackerle IN San Frqncisco in June. 1873 and
recognized him as tho William Wackerle who
| was member Of that company.
| Photograph Of Wackerle, On the back of it is
This is my photograph, taken Il n ac 1875
nS SS WSs Eod BY on SIX yG4f to as
established in court yet the signature on tho
Of nS K 10 he Tn h
while he was in the army previous to 1854. and
%so VIII the q pension apDca-
=, Ono Of the special examiners who travelled
through IN, West TO determine the question
Ec%on tho "kHfH @acEpeers SF
dead in his widows suit said in his report to
II have taken the testimony OF some old
neighbors. acnuatntances and associates.
Every one whose deposition is submitted is an
DISPOSITIONS which / have obtained inter-
Invariably the same. l could secure 100 depo-
stions OF good neghbors to prove the identity
OF the pensloner. but selected some of the
most prominent and reliable men from, among
those who were in position to know all OF the
facts"
Mrs wackere. in her suit for the insurance
at St Louis produced Il skeleton which her
witnesses said was that Of William Wackerlc,
| killed on the railroad in 1872. She had much
other evidence which was sufficient to satisfy
the Jury that her claim against the insurance
company was Just.
money but she collected damages from the
railroad for the death Of her husband
To-day she is a widow de lure and her hus-
band " q living pensioner de facto.