There’s an entry for Catherine Blaine in volume S of FamilySearch‘s “United States Revolutionary War Pension Payment Ledgers, 1818-1872.”
Most of the entry is regarding how much she was paid. There is a notation indicating she died 13 January 1856. The date could easily be slightly off, after all the pension office was more concerned about the fact that a veteran’s widow receiving a pension was dead and not whether she died on 13 January 1856 or 14 January 1856–the crucial thing is that she died and a pension payment should no longer be sent to her. There’s no reason to doubt the date, but this record is not a death record and does not serve the same purpose as a death certificate–just something we need to think about.
“United States Revolutionary War Pension Payment Ledgers, 1818-1872.” Database with images. FamilySearch. http://FamilySearch.org : 22 September 2016. Citing NARA microfilm publication T718. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1962.
These records are organized by veterans and widows and then by state or large city near where the pensioner lived. Beyond that, they are alphabetical by first letter of the last name.
They provide the name of the veteran for widows who were receiving a pension.
As of this writing FamilySearch has not indexed these records, but given their organizational nature and the relatively small number of pensioners during this time period, they are not difficult to use.
2 Responses
These ledgers are indexed on Ancestry.com.
Elaine says,
The actual date of death was sought by the War Department because if the pensioner or widow was due any money not already received, then a heir could apply for the remainder of funds due the estate. Often the department was only told that the person had died not exactly when. I have used the heirs of such an estate to prove a lineage for a Revolutionary War soldier ancestor.