Perhaps a relative of mine somewhere down the line, James W. Crawford was from Zanesville, Ohio. He joined the Union Cavalry in Neosha Rapids, Kansas in 1861. He was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and is buried in the small GAR plot at Evergreen Cemetery in Santa Cruz.
Four years after his death, Mr. Crawford was granted a veteran’s pension. The Santa Cruz Sentinel from June 10, 1898 reported “J.W. Crawford has been granted a pension of $16 a month. The pension comes too late, as Mr. Crawford is no longer among the living.” Evidently he had been denied benefits the first time he applied (arthritis, kidney disease, and a hip injury didn’t qualify him…), but the next time he applied he had piles (hemorrhoids), and that was sufficient for him to be granted a pension.
For more on Mr. Crawford: http://www.santacruzpl.org/history/articles/691/
For more on the GAR and their role in advocating for veterans: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Army_of_the_Republic
CC AttributionCreative Commons Attribution
Comments