The Civil War Pension Bureau
All this time in Newark and New York talking to insurance company executives inspired me to go back and read the War Department's pension bureau file on my great-great grandfather and Civil War Veteran, George H. Suydam. He was a captain in the 162nd Regiment of the New York Infantry, mustering in to the Union army in 1862 on Manhattan and mustering out in 1865 at Savannah, Georgia. On his wartime swing throught the South, he met a Scots-Irish girl in China Grove, North Carolina (near the town of Salisbury, where Liddy Dole was born, which is near Charlotte, where my brother now lives), named Margaret "White" McRorie. After the war was over, he went back to China Grove instead of going home to New York, to woo her, and he and White McRorie were married at the Methodist Church in Salisbury on October 27, 1867. Imagine the wedding -- a southern girl marrying a Yankee soldier less than two years after the war ended...
Over forty years later and after raising 11 children, George died of pneumonia in Newark, New Jersey. He had become an insurance agent after the war. White promptly began filing for his pension, as she needed the money to meet daily expenses. What ensued was a remarkable example of early 20th Century red tape. First she had to prove she had been married to George. She could not produce a marriage certificate because none, apparently, existed. So the War Bureau asked her to get sworn affidavits from family members who were present at the marriage. She pointed out to the seemingly thick-headed bureaucrats that none of her children were present at the marriage because none of them had been born yet, and all her family relatives who were there, like her parents, were long-since dead. White by this time was almost 70 -- a fearsome age in 1914. Eventually she dug up two elderly men -- age 78 and 69 respectively -- still alive in Salisbury, N.C. who swore in affidavits that they were present at the marriage.
Still, the war bureau rejected them on the grounds that the affiants did not affirmatively state how old they wre, and how, exactly, they knew White Suydam nee McRorie. The two elderly men obliging re-swore their affidavits, including the two virtually pre-scripted sentence that the War Department claimed it needed. Still, time was running out. Utterly exasperated and almost out of money, White Suydam's son (my great great grand uncle), who's name was Frank Wilmarth Suydam and who worked for the Metropoliatn Life Insurance Company in New York, wrote in desperation to President Wilson.
The text of the (short) letter follows. Three days after President Wilson received the letter, the pension was allowed.
New York, N.Y.
February 6, 1915
In re -- Captain George H. Suydam -- Pension No. W.O. 1033295.
Honorable Woodrow Wilson
White House
Washington, D.C.
Honorable Sir:
My father, Captain George H. Suydam, died August 14, 1914 at his late resident - 433 Fourth Avenue, Newark, N.J. - after being a resident of that city for over forty years.
On August 21st, there was filed with the Pension Bureau certified forms requesting that his widow, Mrs. White McRorie Suydam, receive the amount allotted by your government.
To date, after nearly six months, the pension has not been forthcoming owing to the fact that the marriage certificate could not be furnished although certified statements have been made and forwarded to the Pension Office by two of the leading citizens of Salisbury, North Carolina (where the marriage took pace) who attended the ceremony on the 27th day of October 1867. It
transpires that in the town mentioned, there were no accurate records kept at that time, which is no fault of my mother but simply a lack of foresight on the part of the State of North Carolina.
I feel that by bringing this matter to your attention, you will insist on the usual red tape being dispensed with for your management of the governmental affairs has been such that I know you will not tolerate any injustice in a case of this kind.
The undersigned with many of my friends and neighbors voted for you at the last election, feeling as we did that the abuses of the past would be done away with and our expectations have been fully realized.As my ancestors were one of the first settlers of Long Island, and as they fought in the Revolutionary War as well as the Civil War, so does the subscriber stand ready to serve his country in time of need yet the shabby treatment my mothers has received does not denote the fairness that Uncle Sam is noted for when it comes to be his turn to reward the widow of a loyal, brave and ardent volunteer, one of the first to offer his life to the United States in the time of need to preserve the Union of this great country -- God’s chosen land, the Home of the Free.
One who has joined the Army as a volunteer and subsequently advanced as Captain, then retired after four long years of fighting, it is no more than right that these acts be rewarded.
Had our family roved about the country, there would have been some excuse for the shameful delay. On the contrary, my father lived in Newark for forty years and his biography appears in the volume entitled “New Jersey’s Leading Citizens.” Furthermore, we are known by most every citizen in the community who has been there for any length of time and for this reason, I beg you consideration, feeling that you will see to it that the delay already long is not continued.
In the hope that you will facilitate this matter, I beg to thank you and to remain you ardent supporter for a second term, which you so richly deserve at the hands of an appreciative nation.
Respectfully yours,
Frank Wilmarth Suydam
433 Fourth Avenue
Newark, New Jersey
posted by Anonymous @ 11:39 PM
1 Comments:
Hello, I enjoyed this post about your Suydam ancestors because I am descended from George Henry's sister Almira.
Ann B.
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