The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-12-02

LAST REVOLUTIONARY WIDOW
JUST DEAD.


Grams - Pension ROn Grass widows.
Plymouth Union, VT; on November II
OF Mrs. Esther Damon, the last OF the
widows Of Revolutionary soldiers, directs
attention to the fact that IL the widows OF
civil war veterans attain as great longevity
as the widows Of those who served IN the
Revolutionary Army the Government will
still be paying pensions TO them In the year
Of our Lord 1887.
As for the widows OF the veterans OF
the Spanish American war, no official OF
the Pension Bureau has been bold enough
TO attempt to compute when this roll OF
/ pensioners may end. But IL win certainly
be somewhere after the beginning OF the
next century.
In 1890 there were four widows Of Revolu-
tionary soldiers living. In 1908 two were
living.
Three daughters OF Revolutionary sol
diers still survive on the pension rolls, all
Of whom were pensioned by special act OF
Congress. They are Sarah c. Hurlbutt,
aged SO, OF Little Marsh, Pa, daughter OF
Elijah Weeks; Rhoda Augusta Thompson,
sged SIS. Of Woodbury., Conn. daughter OF
Thaddeus Thompson, and Phoebe M. Pal
| u1ctcT, dkCu cOs " AdlCttCp ~ 4s
OF Jonathan Wooley. The daughter OF =
Revolutionary soldier who had STAINED
the age Of 90, Mary Jane Lynn, Of Williams
port, Pa, died on February 10 last
The last Of the survivors Of the Wa OF
1912 died on May -, 1905, but widows OF
these veterans are still ON the pension
rolls to the number Of $50, although llo
died last year. Hiram Cronk OF New York
-. 49,. lo.k - Ahn a,trxf NOVA ~ NhA War Of
1912 and he was buried with considerable
ceremony
The widows Of Mexican Wal veterans
now on the pension rolls outnumber the
veteran pensioners nearly two to one,
there being 7,4ss OF the former and s,ss4
OF the latter.
The survivors OF the civil war Outnumber
the widows who are drawing pensions on
account Of that war more han two to one,
there being 0o8.45S soldiers and sailors OF
the civil war pensioned and 252 DAT widows
OF veterans OF that war. But the number
Of soldier pensioners is rapidly decreasing,
the net decrease last year amounting to
1875, while the number OF widows who
are drawing pensions was ased last
year by $50.
It will not be many years at this rate
DS1OTe the OWL war WluONb OutllhhbDA
the civil war veterans on the pension rolls.
One reason for the increased is that a major
ity OF the soldiers who die az pensioners
eave widows who, until the oldier' death,
have no reasonable status, but as o as
the soldier dies his widow goes upon the
pension payrolls either under the general
law or under the act Of June, 1890.
One can readily see that a woman who
10 - a AINia ~
the Revolutionary War or the War OF 1872
must have married the soldier on whose
account she is being pensioned when she
was young and the soldier very old.
A century and a quarter has passed since
the close OF the Revolutionary War and
nearly a century has elapsed since the War
OF 1872. Admitting that a Revolutionary
soldier was is at the close Of the war. he
would be at least 1876 years old il he were on
the pension rolls to-day. By the same
,-lculation a soldier pensioner Of the Wa OF
1912 would be past the century mark.
These figures suggested an inquiry at the
Pension Office as to whether there was any
suspicion that young girls married aged
veterans with a view Of securing a life PEN
sion from the Government as a soldiers
widow. It was explained that there we're
such cases existing. for the most part around
the homes for old soldiers maintained by the
Government, but that the number was not
as large as might be supposed. The largest
number OF marriages Of this sort occurred
at the soldiers home at Hampton, Va.
Until Congress passed the act Of March 3.
1900, il was quite common for young women
10 wed old veterans and then promptly
desert them, and "a soon as the veteran
died make application for pension as a SOL
dier's widow. The act Of March 3, 1899,
was passed to correct this growing vii.
The law provides:
That hereafter no pension under any law
OF the United States shall be granted, allowed
OF paid to the widow Of a soldier, sailor. officer.
ma val or military. marine, marine officer.
, or any other male person entitled to a pension
under any law OF the United states. unless
IL shall be proved and established that the
maria e OF such widow " was duly
and legally contracted and entered into prior
20 the passag e OF this act, or unless such
wife shall have lived and coha bited with
such soldier . " " continue usly from the
date Of the maria e TO the date Of his death
or unless the marriage shall take place here
after and prior to or during the military or
ma val service Of the soldier.
There il a section In the pension Office
u1QcT tHe ulECeb VI tAAC low
which has come to be styled the grass
widows division. 1t has TO do with the
application Of women who say they are
the deserted wives OF soldiers n who
make claim under the law to an allowance
| OF one-half the soldiers pension.
1t was stated at the bureau that the
Commissioner of Pensions has had more
trouble on account OF soldiers who have
deserted their wives after having secured
a pension and left them destitute than on
account OF women who a married sol
diers with a view to securing a widows
pension.
The truth Of thiss statement is emphasized
by the fact that the applications Of 4,s45
women who have submitted legal proof
that they we're the deserted wives OF soldier
pensioners and therefore entitled TO one
half the pensioners allowance have been
approved by the department, n $3.50
such applications which failed OF proper
proof were rejected.
There are many cases in which a veteran
- a 49, -