Letters of Henry Newton Mahanay, Missouri 1898. Find your ancestors and learn their history.

Henry Newton Mahanay, Letters 1898

August 1, 1898

Kirkwood, MO

Mr. H Clay Evans Commissioner of Pensions

Dear Sir,

Will write you in regard to my Pension Claim children No J 575889, CO I, 50 Reg. Mo Inft.

As I have had so much bad luck since I wrote you I thought I would write you again. My little girl that has bin sick for time died last Wednesday night and was buried Friday. Our little baby is awful bad sick and may not live and I am in debt so much that it is almost impossible to get out--unless I get my pension soon which I know is justly coming to us. I have had good lawyers to tell me we couldnt be beat out of it and they couldant be a time when I could kneed it any worse for I had to borrow the money to bury my little girl with. And if the baby should die I dont know what I will do.

I have had to be at home since the children has been sick and havent got to work any in about two months and have been going in debt ever since. If you can allow any pension on the evidence I have sent you for God sake do it- at once. If the evidence is not sufficient-please let me know at once. It will cheer my eyes even to get a letter from you but I hope you allow my pension so I can get out of debt and feel a little more free. I am almost worn out getting up so much at nights. If you have any doubt to any honesty, send the pension examiner to see me and you will find that I have told you the truth. I trust you will do all you can for me.

I remain yours truly,

Henry N. Mahanay Kirkwood, MO

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Date: Tue Dec 3 2002
Name: Sharon Lamkin
E- mail: nannysilver@excite.com
Notes: Henry Newton Mahanay B: 2 Feb 1872 in Bourbon, MO. He was the son of Jobe M. Mahanay (A Civil War soldier) and Manerva Stites Mahanay. Henry was three years old when his father died from an "affliction of the kidneys" he developed while in the Mo Vol. The original pension claim was filed in 1893 and denied one year later because the children did not file for benefits until after they reached the age of 16. No notification was sent to the family when the original claim was denied. The attorney, J.W. Morris, wrote an appeal and the decision was reversed and the claim was sent for reconsideration. The claim was eventually denied but the process took over ten years before the children "gave up" on any help from the Government. Henry's mother, Manerva Stites Mahanay, died in 1877 just two years after her husband's death. Francis M, Rosetta J. and Henry N. Mananay were orphaned after their mother's death and were raised by their sister, Martha, and her husband Rev. John F. Hethcock.