Fort Gibson, Indian Territory,
January 9, 1871.
SIR: Herewith please find claim of Nakey, widow of C. Georges, Ap. No. 138,405, with papers, including declaration and additional evidence as to service and death of soldier, and marriage and widowhood of claimant, sworn to and attested this day, and the papers previously filed by J. W. Wright, with a memorandum indorsed upon the ticket of said claim, which was transcribed from the report of the Adjutant General under date of November, 1865, now on file in your office, upon rolls of the said Adjutant General furnished at said time, comprising record of the enlistment, casualties, discharges, &c., of all the soldiers of the three Indian Home-Guard regiments known to have been enrolled. No further evidence being available in support of said claim hereat, the same is respectfully submitted for the claimant as it is.
It is deemed unnecessary to add more concerning said claim, except that the claimant cannot procure the better evidence of marriage, and that the medical records at this post, where he died, are so defective as to preclude the possibility of ascertaining more certainly the cause of her husband’s death.
Herewith please find also an affidavit of Albert Barnes, a copy of which we retain for future use, which will be found interesting by reason of the light it sheds upon the manner of preparation of the former papers in these cases, the use of signatures, and relations of judges, clerks, and jurats to each other. All that relates to the case above-named to be found in said affidavit is set forth in a certificate, so that it might be kept separate from the case.
Respectfully, yours,
F. E. FOSTER,
GEO. E. WEBSTER,
Special Agents United States Pension-Office.
Widow’s claim for pension.
Cherokee Nation, SS:
On this seventh day of September, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, personally appeared before me, a district judge in and for the Cherokee Nation, Nakey E. George, a resident of Cherokee Nation, aged fifty years, who, being duly sworn, makes the following declaration in order to obtain the pension provided by the act of Congress approved July 14, 1862, and of the acts amendatory thereof: That she is the widow of E. George, who was a private in Company F, commanded by Ah-lee-cher, in the Second Regiment of Indian Home Guards, in the war of 1861; that her maiden name was Nakey, and that she was married to said E. George, deceased, on or about the first day of May, eighteen hundred and forty-five, at Dwight Mission, in the Cherokee Nation, by Rev. W. Willey, and that she knows of no record evidence of said marriage.
She further declares that said E. George, her husband, died in the service of the United States as aforesaid, at Fort Gibson, in the Cherokee Nation, on or about the twenty-fourth day of July, eighteen hundred and sixty-three. Said soldier died of fever.
She also declares that she has remained a widow ever since the death of said E. George, and that she has not in any manner been engaged in or aided or abetted the rebellion in the United States, and she hereby appoints John W. Wright, of Washington City, D. C., her lawful attorney, with full power of substitution, and authorizes him to present and prosecute this claim, and to receive and receipt for any orders or certificates that may be issued or paid in satisfaction thereof.
Her XX mark.
NAKEY E. GEORGE.
Witness:
Josh Ross,
Daniel Hicks.
Also personally appeared before me Albert Barnes and Worcester Willey, residents of Cherokee Nation, to me well known as credible persons, who, being duly sworn, declare that they were present and saw said Nakey E. George sign her name to the foregoing declaration, and that they have every reason to believe, from the appearance of said applicant and their acquaintance with her, that she is the identical person she represents herself to be, and know that said deceased recognized her as his lawful wife, and that she was so recognized by the community in which they resided, and that they have no interest, direct or indirect, in the prosecution of this claim.
ALBERT BARNES.
WORCESTER WILLEY.
F. E. FOSTER,
Sworn to and subscribed before me this seventh day of September, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, and I hereby certify that I have no interest, direct or indirect, in the prosecution of this claim.
[SEAL]
DANIEL R. HICKS,
District Judge Koo-we-skoo-we District.
All the writing is underscored.
Cherokee Nation, Illinois district:
On this 9th day of January A. D. 1871, personally appeared before me, a United States pension agent at Fort Gibson, in the district and nation aforesaid, Nakey George, who, being by me duly sworn according to law, makes the following declaration, in order to obtain the benefits of the acts granting pensions to widows: That she is the widow of E. George, who enlisted under the name of E. George. at Fort Gibson, on the – day of , A. D. 1863, in the Second Regiment Indian Home Guards, Company F, in the war of 1861, and died of bowel complaint at Fort Gibson, Cherokee Nation, in the summer of 1863, (corn was a foot or more high,) who bore at the time of his death the rank of private in Company F, Second Indian Home Guards; that she was married under the name of Nakey to the said E. George, at Dwight Mission, by Rev. Mr. Willey, between the time of her emigration (1839) and that of the great payment to emigrants, (1851,) there being no legal barrier to such marriage; that her husband had been previously married, his former wife having died prior to her marriage with him; that she has to the present date remained his widow; that he, the said E. George, left surviving no minor children or child by either herself or by any former wife; that she has not in any manner been engaged in, or aided or abetted the rebellion in the United States; that a prior application has been filed, to which, on account of informalities in it contained, this is supplemented; that the number of such application is 138,405; that being an Indian and ignorant in the English language, she was not aware of such informalities in prior declaration, until this time; that her post-office address is Nakey George, care of Albert Barnes, Esq., Fort Gibson, Cherokee Nation.
Her XX mark NAKEY GEORGE
Attest: F. E. FOSTER,
Special Agent Pension-Office.
Also, personally appeared before me, John Smith and Harman Boland, persons who appear to be respectable and entitled to credit, and who being by me duly sworn, depose and say that they were present and saw Nakey George make her mark to the foregoing declaration; and that they have every reason to believe from twenty years acquaintance with her, and her appearance, that she is the identical person she represents herself to be; that during the period of their acquaintance with her, before her husband’s enlistment, they know that said declarant lived with E. George, to them well known, as his wife, and was by him recognized as such; and further, that they have no interest, direct or indirect, in the prosecution of this claim.
His XX mark JOHN SMITH.
His XX mark HARMAN BOLAND.
Attest: F. E. FOSTER;
Special Agent Pension-Office.