This Civil War veteran was survived by his wife, Sarah Ellen Graves, who died in Macon, Missouri, in 1931.  Thomas’s card is from the National Archives’ General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934 (NARA microfilm publication T288). There is no notation for a widow’s pension on this card. The obvious reason for the omission is that Sarah did not receive one. It’s possible the omission was an error.

Thomas’ pension file has been requested–so we’ll have to wait and see.

The wife Sarah who survived him was the daughter of William and Rebecca (Tinsley) Newman and was born in Rush County, Indiana, and spent time in Hancock County, Illinois, when her parents lived there in the 1860s and 1870s. It’s hoped that there is a widow’s pension for her as it may document information on her three marriages and what happened to her first two husbands.

Stay tuned.

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4 Responses

  1. 1) Were there income restrictions on a widow’s pension that were not on a veteran’s ?
    2) she may have remarried.

    • Income might have been the problem–I’m not certain in this case. I do know that widows did have to establish need somewhat more than the actual veteran did. I do know that the widow died in 1931 with the last name of Graves and is referred to as his widow on the death certificate and in the obituary. Had she remarried in the interim (he died in 1911/1912), she would have forfeited her right to a pension.

        • That’s right. A CW widow could re-apply for a pension based upon a previously deceased husband’s service if a subsequent husband died. In this case, it turned out that she was never legally married to the soldier.

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