Amanuensis Monday: Eppard Pension Application

Amanuensis Monday is a daily prompt at Geneabloggers which encourages the family historian to transcribe family letters, journals, audiotapes, and other historical artifacts.


I found my great-great grandfather's application for a Civil War pension on Ancestry. 

Click on image to enlarge it

Application of Soldier, Sailor or Marine for a Pension,

Disabled by Reason of Disease or Other Infirmities

I, George H. Eppard , a native of the State of Virginia, and now a citizen of Virginia, resident at McGaheysville, in the County (or City) of Rockingham in said State of Virginia, and who was a soldier from the State of Virginia, in the war between the United States and Confederate States, do hereby apply for aid under an act of the General Assembly approved March 7, 1900, entitled “An act to give aid to soldiers, sailors or marines disabled in the war between the States, and to every such soldier, sailor or marine who by disease or other infirmities of age, is disabled from earning or is without the means of procuring a support, and to the widows of Virginia soldiers, sailors or marines who lost their lives in said war in military or naval services, or whose husbands have died since the war.”  And I do solemnly swear that I was a member of Company I 2^nd Virginia Regiment and that I am now disabled by reason of of having a broken leg which was broken in 1863 and Rheumatism in my lims [sic.] and that by reason of such disability I am entitled to receive, under said Act, the sum of thirty dollars annually.  I further swear that I do not hold any National, State, or County office which pays me in salary or fees over three hundred dollars per annum; nor have I an income from any other source which amounts to three hundred dollars; nor do I own in my own right nor does my wife own, property of the assessed value of more than one thousand dollars; nor do I receive aid or a pension from any other State or from the United States; and that I am not an inmate of any soldiers’ home.

I do further swear that the following answers are true:

1^st What is the applicant’s age? Ans. 60 years

2^nd What is the precise nature of the disability of the applicant?

Ans. Of having a broke leg

Rheumatism in my Lims

3^rd Is it total?  Ans. No

(a)    Is it partial? And if so, to what extent does it disable him from manual labor?

Ans.  Not able to do manual labor

Given under my hand, this 24^th day of April 1901.

                                                                                George H. Eppard

The rest is the legal stuff signed by W. J. Runkle, the Notary Public, and a few others.  Parts are difficult to read because apparently the original paper was wrinkled or folded when digitized. 

Click on image to enlarge it.

This second page is a series of testimonies which I have summarized:

1.       George H. Eppard repeats the information from the first paragraph claiming to have Rheumatism in his “lims” as a result of a broken leg suffered in the war.

2.       R.M. Runkle and J.O. Gibson swear that George H. Eppard is still living at the time of his application.

3.       J.W. Churchill, the Commissioner of Revenue, verifies that George and his wife meet the income requirements.

4.       Dr. H.H. Miller testifies that George Eppard is unable to do physical labor.

5.       D. H. Lee Maritz, Clerk of Rockingham County Circuit Court, will certify to the Auditor of Public Accounts that George H. Eppard is entitled to receive a pension of $30.