$4.51 and a gold watch - The value of a military pension

I’m headed to Washington, D.C. at the beginning of October to do some research at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). One of the most frequently requested types of records from NARA is the military pension file. People who haven’t looked at a military pension before might not know what a treasure trove of information it can provide for genealogy research.

Pension folder for Isaac N. Melton’s Civil War pension application file

“Like what?” you ask.

Let me tell you about the pension file of Isaac Newton Melton, a Private in Company “D”, 14th Illinois Infantry during the Civil War.

Military service details

Isaac enlisted in the Union army on 25 May 1861, barely a month after the First Battle of Bull Run. He was 24 years old at the time. He was wounded by a gunshot to the right arm, below the elbow, during the Battle of Shiloh on 7 April 1862. His initial service was completed on 31 Dec 1863 but he re-enlisted in the Volunteer Illinois Infantry the next day and was discharged at Leavenworth, Kansas, on 15 September 1865.

Pension information

Isaac applied for the invalid pension citing rheumatism and the gunshot wound in his arm. His initial application was denied because he did not respond with proof of his disability within, “a reasonable time.” He was later approved and in 1892 began receiving $12 a month. In 1908 his payment increased to $15. He continued to see increases every few years, eventually receiving $40 per month, beginning on 10 June 1918.

This was all great information, and exactly what most of us would expect to find in a pension file.

The gold mine was in the information that Isaac and his relatives had to submit to attempt to be reimbursed for Isaac’s funeral expenses when he died.

The death of I.N. Melton in Eureka Springs

Isaac lived in Illinois, Kansas, and Oklahoma as an adult, but I wasn’t able to locate any death record for him in those states. All I could find was a vague death certificate for an I.N. Melton who died in Arkansas in 1919. Not only was it for a death in Eureka Springs, where I had no record of him living, but it included only first and middle initials, his age was a guess, and his birthplace and the names and birth places of his parents were left blank. Could this be Isaac N. Melton of the 14th Illinois Infantry?

The death of Isaac N. Melton, veteran

Sure enough, the pension file included the application for reimbursement on funeral expenses, filed by one of Isaac’s daughters. It included a statement from J.F. John, M.D., the physician who attended Isaac’s death in a hotel in Eureka Springs. Isaac was found dead by a man who was staying in the same place and who called a doctor and paid for his services.

Isaac had no will and no property except what was with him when he died: $4.51, one gold watch and chain, one money purse, one small bill book, and one small pocket knife.

Receipt for possessions found on Isaac Melton upon his death

The file also included numerous communications from the veteran’s family after his death, confirming Isaac’s death in Eureka Springs, and painting a pretty grim picture of his life.

“This man was my father, but as there has been an estrangement in the family for eighteen years, and I was not notified of his death until after his burial, at which time the undertakers bill was sent me for collection…My advice from the undertaker at Eureka Spring, Ark., is that Mr. Melton, dropped dead of heart desease [sic], and had only $4.51 in change in his pockets.” [Letter from Mrs. F. R. Gill to Commissioner of Pensions, 31 March 1919]

“Can you tell me if the pension of the late I. N. Melton has been paid He was my mothers bro. and has been spending his winters at Eureka Springs Ark. and last Feb. he died very suddenly and the people at the hotel on which he has rooms said he had on $4.00 on his person so my mother had to stand good for his funeral exp. Now the 1st of April she died very suddenly and as yet she had not done any thing about the bill We want to find out now if he had gotten his pension which was due some time in Feb. And are the pensioners allowed $50.00 on funeral expenses if they haven’t any other means of making there [sic] way. He depended all on his pension.” [Letter from Mrs. John A. Connole, 20 April 1919]

“As I have not known anything of my father’s affairs since 1907, I did not know of his whereabouts until after his burial, when I was notified of same by his relatives, and the Undertaker forwarded me the bill for funeral expenses. The funeral arrangements were made and authorized by my father’s sister, who has since died…In filling in the blanks for two witnesses on page 3, it was impossible for me to give but one, (which is my husband) as there is no one living here that ever knwe [sic] my father.” [Letter from Mrs. Ada M. Gill to Commissioner of Pensions, 20 May 1919]

This was only SOME of the information that I found in the pension file. In all, I not only had a good picture of the time Isaac spent in the Army, his physical appearance, his birth date and residence locations…but I also learned that he had family troubles that caused him to be estranged from his children for 18 years. He was separated, though not divorced, from his wife. His sister was living Illinois when Isaac died, but she died a few months later. He had no possessions except for what fit in his pockets.

All this from a military pension file.

Curious about your ancestor’s military history? Contact me to discuss how I can help you learn more!

Sources:

"Arkansas, Death Certificates, 1914-1969," database with images, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 10 June 2022), entry for I.N. Melton; citing Arkansas Department of Vital Records, Death Certificates, Little Rock, Arkansas.

Isaac N. Melton (Pvt., Co. D. 14th IL Infantry, Civil War), pension no. 718,774, Case Files of Approved Pension Applications..., 1861-1934; Civil War and Later Pension Files; Record Group 15: Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs; NationalArchives, Washington, D.C.