Widow’s Claim for Pension

Widow’s Claim for Pension

Widow’s Pensions File

American Civil War, 1861-1865

Veterans--Florida

The widow's claim for pension for Letty Buchanan. The government record served to prove relationships and dependency for widow’s of those who died in the American Civil War. It contains specifics about how the couple met, who wed them, where they were wed, the birth and names of their children, and any other information that corroborates that they were married. It also guarantees that if the widow remarries, she will lose pension benefits. In the case of this pension, Letty Buchanan received seventeen dollars a month, plus an additional dollar per child under her care born to Thomas Buchanan.

Thomas Buchanan was born on January 21, 1823, in Williamson County, Tennessee. Buchanan eventually moved to Kentucky, married Letty Greene on November 5, 1846, and fathered six children with her. According to a letter to his parents, Buchanan may have been a member of the Kentucky Home Guard in 1861, as he fought off secessionists. Later, when Kentucky’s neutrality was violated by the Confederacy, Buchanan was mustered into the 7th Kentucky Infantry U.S. He fought in a number of battles, including the Siege of Vicksburg, where he was mortally wounded. Buchanan passed away in a Union hospital a few weeks later. His widow, Letty, went on to collect his pension until 1916. She passed away in 1936. Thomas Buchanan is buried in the Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell.

In 2017, the University of Central Florida was one of three universities selected to launch the National Cemetery Administration’s Veterans Legacy Program Project. The program engaged a team of scholars to make the life stories of veterans buried in the Florida National Cemetery available to the public. The project engages UCF students in research and writing and fosters collaboration between students, faculty and local Central Florida schools to produce interactive curriculum for k-12 students. The corresponding website exhibit uses RICHES Mosaic Interface to create a digital archive of related data. The public can use the project-developed augmented-reality app at more than 100 gravesites at the Florida National Cemetery, where they can access the UCF student-authored biographies of veterans.

Buchanan, Letty

Robert Clarke &

Co., Law Publishers

Digital reproduction of original widow’s claim for pension, September 2, 1863.

Robert Clarke &

Co., Law Publishers

1863-09-02

Veterans Legacy Program Collection

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1 widow's claim for pensions

eng

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Whitley County, Kentucky

Donation

History Teacher

Originally created by Letty Buchanan and published by Robert Clarke &

Co., Law Publishers.

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Stoddard, James

Cravero, Geoffrey

Ancestry.com

Veterans Legacy Program Project

Abney, Barb. "VA Selects UCF Historians to Archive Stories of Deceased Veterans Veterans." UCF Today, March 13, 2017. Accessed August 9, 2017. https://today.ucf.edu/va-selects-ucf-historians-archive-stories-deceased-veterans/.

McPherson, James M., and James M. McPherson. The Illustrated Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era. New York, N.Y.: Tess Press, 2008.