The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1911-03-29
WRONG RICHTED
An Old Veterans Petition Turned Down
and BRANDED as False.
WANTS HIS PENSION

WANTS HIS PENSION
A. s. Salley, Jr., State Historian
Writes an Article in Which Be
Cites Bis Unbounded Faith in the
Honor Of the Gallant Old Confed'
crate Soldiers.
Confederate veterans ought to be
chary indeed about disputins claims
made for pensions by others, more
especially when their only reliance
for such action is upon their meu.
cries, after the lapse Of nearly hall
century. So thinks Secretary A.
s. Salley, Jr., Of the State historical
commission, who cites a recent n.
stance where the State board OF pen
sions, guided wholly by the personal
recollections Of a mem Der, dtsap'
proved an application for a pension
when examination of the records
showed the applicant to have made
a statement entirely truthful, even tc
have undervalued his own military
service; for he did not mention in
his papers the fact that he was cap
tured and kept for several months IN
a Federal military prison.
The applicant was Private J. W.
Crook, now living near st. George
who claimed that he served in Com
pany H, 18th South Carolina Volun-
teers. After his application had been
disa approved, a member o7 the boa1
who served in the 18th regiment ha7-
Ing declared he remembered no such
man in that command, Mr.. Saliey
wrote to Washington for infoTma.
ton and was advised that such a
person had been a member Of the
company and regiment as stated IN
the application.
In reference to the pension contro-
versy, the following signed article
has been given the press by Mr.. a. s.
Salley, Jr.:
AS the Confederate records Of this
State are in my custody as secretary
Of the historical commission Of South
Carolina, and as I am engaged In
working them into shape for practi-
cal use, feel that I should have
something to say in the matter Of the
controversy now going on in the
newspapers over the condition of the
pension rolls. 1t has been alleged
that there are men drawing pensions
who did not render service in the
commands which they claim on their
pension papers to have served In. In
every case officers or men who are
known to have served in those COM
mands swear that the applicant did
so serve. Therefore, If the claim Is
false the applicants have perjured
themselves. do not believe that
such is the case. No evidence bu,
the memory of individuals sustains
the charge. l have been engaged in
historical study now for over twenty
years and for over IL years historical
work has been my chief business oc-
cupation. NY experience teaches me
that the memory Of man is very
treacherous thing and that the hu-
man mind rebels at accuracy. An
old soldier can not possibly remem Der
man as being in his own company
II that man was not in that company,
but if the man was in the compauy
and one Of his former comrades does
remember him then that feat OF mem
ory Is much more reas able feat
of memory that that Of the man who
does not remember any such com
rade, yet is willing to assert that no
such man was in his company or reg
iment. I have just done little In
vestigating on a case that came to
my attention when the pension board
met last week and the result OF It Is
an excellent illustration Of the frail-
ty Of the human recollection Of such
matters. 4 member Of the pension
board for whom have a strong per-
sonaI liking came into my Office with
an application for pension from J.
W. Crook Of Dorchester county, and
said to me: "Now, here Is a man
from Dorchester county who says he
was member of Company H, Elev-
enth regiment, and I will swear that
there was no such man in that COM
pany, for was mem Der Of that reg
iment and 1 don't remember any such
man. Let's look on your rolls and
see if his name is there" I replied:
"My friend, these rolls were com
piled from memory after the war by
survivors Of the various commands,
and the people who handled them
before I took charge Of them were
/ uuITdluEu -
not to be relied upon. We looked
on t,>e roll of Company H. Eleventh
regiment, and, sure enough, MT
Crooks name was not there. That
convinced my friend Of the pension
board that Mr. Crooks claim was
false, but it did not convince me.
pointed out the fact that two men
whose names were on the roll in my
office had sworn that Mr.. Crook had
served in their company, but it seems
that their sworn statements would
not be received against the roll in my
Office, which was compiled from
memory some years after the war
and in which both the elements Of
clerical and typographical errors are
to be reckoned, as the application /:
marked: "Disapproved. Can't fne
name in historians Office" here /;
a special act on our statutes which