Sumter County FlArchives Military Records.....Griffin, Caleb February 15, 1891 Indian - Pension Capt. Wm. Reed's Co. Florida Volunteers ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/fl/flfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Teresa McGowin tmcgowin@earthlink.net July 4, 2007, 4:42 pm Special Examiners Report Page One Index to Special Examiner's Report Claim of Caleb Griffin No. 23,836 Pages Names of Witnesses, etc. Exhibits Depositions Reputation 1 Index 2 Notice to claimant 3 to 8 Summary 9 to 14 Claimant's statement A. Good 15 to 18 George E. Mills B. Good See brief Jacket 12 19 to 20 Granville Beville C Excellent See brief Jacket 14, 15, & 17 21 to 22 Claimants final statement D. Good Page Two (3 -459.) DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR OFFICE OF SPECIAL EXAMINER U.S. BUREAU OF PENSIONS AT Center Hill, Sumpter Co. Fla. February 15th, 1891 NOTICE OF SPECIAL EXAMINATION Case of Caleb Griffin No. 23,836. To " ", Claimant: You are hereby notified that by order of the Commissioners of Pensions, the undersigned will, on the 15 day of February, A.D. 1891, and continuing thereafter as long as may be necessary, at Center Hill, County of Sumpter and State of Fla., and elsewhere if necessary, conduct a special examination of the aforesaid pension claim, at which time and place all material witnesses will be heard. And you are further notified that you have the privilege of being present, in person or by attorney, during said special examination, and of cross-examining said witnesses and of introducing any material evidence on your own behalf, if you so desire. George T. Baxter (Signature) Special Examiner Sir: I acknowledge service of copy of above notice this 15th day of February, 1891 and desire examination to begin on this date. Caleb Griffin (Signature) Page 3 Claim No. 23,836 Caleb Griffin Service Comp. Capt. Reid's Company Florida Vols of 1837 Enlisted Sept 23, 1836 and discharged Jany 27, 1837 Basis of Claim Asthma contracted on the Suwannee River, fall of 1836. Clmts P.O. Address Center Hill, Sumpter Co. Fla Notice of further examination waived Ocala, Fla. Feby 17, 1891 Hon. Comm. of Pensions. Washington, D.C. Sir: Herewith I have the honor to return all the papers in the above cited claim which was referred to the S. E. Division for special examination upon the merits, and especially for cross examination of all witnesses to origin, and to submit the following report for your consideration: This claim was only received on Feby 9, 1891, but I took it up at once in order to comply with special instructions to do all work in the Southern portion of my district first, without regard to date when received. Claimant lives in the flat woods of Sumpter County and had left his house to drive to his son's house in Lake County Fla, and I had to make the trip there to notify him, and it compelled a drive of over fifty (50) miles for me before I could secure his statements; and then I only found him by leaving word at several houses in the Page 4 woods for him to meet me the following day (Sunday) where I took his depositions. James L. Anderson, one of his witnesses, lives in the soutwestern part of Lake County about twenty eight miles from Center Hill, from which point I made the drive, but he was not at home on that day, the 14th, his house being closed, and I did not consider his testimony of sufficient importance to make the long trip once again. He lives 16 miles south of Mascott City, and I could have reached his house by driving from that point yesterday, but he did not serve with claimant's company in the Seminole War. (See Claimant's Statement - Deposition A. page 10), and hence he could only testity to continuance from about 1856 to the present time, and that is fully established without further testimony being taken. In Anderson's original affidavit (see P. T. page 13) he only testifies to the fact that he himself was in the Seminole War and that he has known Caleb Griffin off and on ever since, and that he has been suffering from a disease called asthma. Now as a matter of fact claimant left Fla and moved to Georgia and was gone from about 1837 to 1855 or 1856 when he returned to live in Sumpter Co. Fla and Anderson, not having served with claimant, has no knowledge of him Page 5 prior to about 1856; and this presumption is corroborated by claimant's own testimony as to Anderson's service and personal knowledge of his condition during the war. He admitted to me that Anderson did not remember anything about his having asthma in the service, and that so informed him. See page 10 of claimants statement. There again Anderson from 1856 to the present time has always lived a distance of fifteen or twenty miles from claimant, and hence his personal knowledge of claimant's condition must necessarily be very limited. Claimant is very much in earned about his claim, and has ridden and driven all over his and adjoining counties, asking and importuning people to testify for him and the fact that he has not established his claim is not due to any lack of prompting or want of individual effort on his part. His reputation and standing is good, and so is that of all his witnesses - three of whom are now dead, so he informed me, viz: Wm. L. Mobley and Wm. Griffin a brother, both of whom testified to origin - and Jacob Godwin who certifies to continuance. From information received from claimant and others I am convinced that Mobley did serve in the war, in some of the companies Page 6 specified in claimant's deposition, see page 10. Claimant did not aid nor abett the rebellion, but so far as I am informed ALL of his witnesses did, and those whom I interviewed admitted and specified service in the Confederate Army. By the testimony before me claimant has established origin of asthma, contracted in the service, and continuance from 1856 to present time, but he has not offered one single particle of testimony as to his condition from discharge to 1855 or 1856, a period of nineteen years._ Can this claim be admitted with such a long period not covered by any evidence? Claimant states his inability to furnish any evidence from 1836 to 1855 (see Dep. A, pp 10 & 11.) Then is the testimony to origin conclusive or merely presumptive? Claimant served when he alleges, that he contracted the asthma, the short period of four months, which in that season of the year and in the climate of Florida could not have been very conducive to that or any other disease, unless the climate of Florida over fifty years ago was very different from what it is now. Then claimant alleges that he contracted Page 7 the disease while stationed on the Suwannee River in the fall of 1836. His principal witness to origin, George E. Mills, testifies to service in a different company and that claimant contracted the disease at a different point, and that he never camped or scouted on the Suwannee River. Mills is very positive that he was never stationed on the Suwannee River, and was never anywhere near the river prior to about 1863 (See Dep. B, page 16) The presence or absence of said George E. Mills, as of Capt. Benjamin Mill's Co. of Florida Vols., should be verified from the records of the Second Auditor for the period of claimant's service and the station of company should also be obtained. Claimant was served with the usual notice, and his rights and privileges duly explained, but he did not care to be present when I took the testimony and he waives his rights to notice of further examination elsehwere. After carefully considering this case and all the evidence before me, I am of the opinion that this claim is not established, that claimant's disease is not properly chargeable to his military service, and that the claim is without merit. I therefore recommend its rejection Page 8 and that the papers be returned to the files. After the long lapse of years it would be a hopeless and impossible task to attempt a further examination of this case in Echols and Ware counties Georgia, as to claimant's condition from 1836 to 1854. I therefore have refrained from making the recommendation. Very respectfully, George T. Baxter Special Examiner Note in margin: See Memo on P. 18 of P. T. Note: I would respectfully request to be informed of the final action of the Bureau in this settlement of this claim, if such information be consistent with the rules of the office. George T. Baxter Special Examiner. Additional Comments: Depositions will be posted separately. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/fl/sumter/military/indian/pensions/griffin40gmt.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/flfiles/ File size: 9.0 Kb