Confederate Pension application of William James McElrath Transcribed by David A. McElrath 27-Jun-2001 Portions in quotes are what were filled in the blanks. ======================= 24298 APPLICATION OF "W James Mcelrath" "McElrath" P.O. "Randolph" County. Examined and ___________ and $"100-" allowed and Auditor authorized to draw warrant for same. FILED IN AUDITORS OFFICE JUL 29 1915 M.F.Dickinson This "21" day of "Aug" 191"5" "EW Hodges" Sec. of State "MF Dickinson" Auditor "JR Gibbons" [can't read title] ======================== [end page 1] VETERAN'S APPLICATION FOR PENSION STATE OF ARKANSAS, I "W. James McElrath" do solemnly swear that I served as a soldier in the army (or sailor in the navy) of the Confederate States, being a member of "Faulkner" [Number of Regiment or name of Colonel] Regiment of "Forrest" [Infantry, Artillery or Cavalry] from the State of "Tennessee"; that I was honorably discharged (paroled or released) from such service on or about the "30" day of "September" 18"63" and did not desert the same; that I am now, and for the past twelve months have been, a bona fide resident of this State; that I do not myself, nor does my wife, nor do we both together, own property, real or personal, or both, or money or choses in action in excess of the value of $500.00 (not including the value of homestead, or household goods, owned by either or both); no has either of us conveyed title to any property to enable me to draw a pension, and that neither I nor my wife is in receipt of any income, annuity, pension or wages for any services, the emoluments of an office, in excess of $250.00 per year; that I am incapacitated to perform manual labor in any of the ordinary avocations of life (or am totally blind), and that such incapacity (or disability) is the result of wounds received in the service, being "shot through the back which" "has unable me from manual" "labor" [here describe same generally] or of age, accident or disease, and that such disability is not the result of my own vicious habits still persisted in, so help me God. (Signature) "WJ McElrath" Subscribed and sworn to before me this "28" day of "april" 191"5" "E.T. Harrison" ======================== [end of page 2] STATE OF ARKANSAS, COUNTY OF "Randolph" We, the undersigned, sitting as a Pension Board for "Randolph do certify that we have examined the application of the within named "James" "Mcelrath" for pension, under Act of General Assembly of the State of Arkansas, as approved March 11, 1901, and subsequent amendatory Acts, and the proof in support of same, and find that said applicant is a wounded Confederate soldier, is in indigent circumstances, and wholly or partially incapaci- tated for manual labor, and that his claim is just, and that he should be allowed $"100.00" pension. "J D Jackson" [SEAL] "J C Pratt" [SEAL] "J.L. Haynes" [SEAL] ======================= [end of page 3] FOR ORIGINAL APPLICANTS PROOF OF SERVICE (By Comrades if possible) STATE OF ARKANSAS, County of Randolph On this day personally came before the under- signed, a "Justice of the Peace" within and for the County of "Marshal" and State of "Kentucky three" citizens of "Marshal County" whom I certify to be credible per- sons and worthy of confidence, who, being duly sworn, state that they are each, personally, well acquainted with applicant "up to 7 years after the war" and have known him "thirty" years, respectively. That he was a Confederate soldier, belonging to Company "H rigm 12" Regiment of "Fores Comma" That as such soldier he served from "June 15 1862" to "Septem 20 1863" That he was honorably dis- charged (paroled or released) from such service and did not desert the same. That we have no interest in this claim. "Wounded near" "Balerver tee" "Lee Thweatt" "Fed Thweatt" "Franses Thompson" Subscribed and sworn to before me this ____ day of "May 12" 191"5" "Sam Jones J.P." ======================= [end of page 4] FOR ORIGINAL APPLICANTS PROOF OF INDIGENCY STATE OF ARKANSAS, County of "Randolph" On this day personally came before the undersigned, a "County Clerk" within and for the County of "Randolph" and State of "Arkansas" citizens of "Randolph Co." whom I certify to be credible per- sons and worthy of confidence, who, being duly sworn, state that they are each, acquainted with applicant "W James McElrath" and have known him "25" years, respectively. That he is now and has been for the past twelve months a bona fide resident of Arkansas. That he is incapacitated for manual labor by reason of "age and" "wounds received during war." and that such incapacity (or disability) is not the result of his own vicious habits still persisted in. That to the best of our knowledge all property now owned by him and his wife, together, is not worth exceeding $500.00, not including the value of his or her homestead,*or household goods. That neither he nor his wife is in receipt of any income, annuity, pension or wages for any service, or the emoluments of an office, in excess of $250.00 per year. That we have no interest in this claim. "JG. Cou" [hard to read] "William Hudson" Subscribed and sworn to before me this "28" day of "April" 191"5" "E.T. Harrison Co Clerk" *In city or town homestead shall not exceed 1 acre in extent, or $2,500 in value; in country, shall not exceed 160 acres in extent, or $2,500 in value. ======================== [end of page 5] (ORIGINAL APPLICATION) EVIDENCE OF PHYSICIAN STATE OF ARKANSAS, COUNTY OF "Randolph" I, "Wm Carrens" a duly registered and practicing physician in "Randolph" County, Arkansas, do hereby certify that I am personally well acquainted with "James McElrath Warm Springs" Arkansas, who is an applicant for a pension under the Statutes of Arkansas. That at his request I have made and examination of his physical condition and find: State description and character of wound ____"There is a wound in" "back which appears to be from a gun shot. "The ball entering 3 or 4 in. to right of spine & out some 3 or 4 in." "on opposite side. From scar I judg it to have been a large ball &" "he to have been standing in a stooping posture, the ball passing" "entirely under the spinal column." Physical condition and to what cause is his incapacity for manual labor attributable___ "From the wound together with" "general debility I find him to be entirely" incapacitated for manual labor." and that said disability is not the result of his own vicious habit still persisted in____ Extent of disability "Total" (State whether total or otherwise) "Wm Carrens" M.D. Subscribed and sworn to before me, this "8th" day of "May" 191"5" "Isaac Whittenburg J.P." [hard to make out last name] ======================== [end of page 6] =========================================================================================== Transcribers note: As to the State for the regiment: that is an interesting and puzzling matter. William is buried in New Home Cemetery in Ripley Co, MO (just across the AR state line where they lived). His tombstone only has his name (misspelled "McEHATH") and his service unit. It reads "Co H 12th TENN INF REG CSA". I am 99% certain that this was NOT the regiment in which he served. My reasons to doubt this are: 1) that his service dates pre-date the inception of that unit, 2) I have found no references that tie Faulkner or Forrest to 12th TENN INF. I have become convinced that he served in an early command of Col Wm Faulkner's (partisan rangers or scouts). I believe the remnants of that unit later became Co H 12th KY Cavalry. My reasons for this belief: 1) Both Faulkner and Forrest are associated with the 12th KY Cav, 2) He mentions both on his application, 3) William's brother George served in Co H 12th KY Cav 4) At least two, and probably all three, of the witnesses to service on his application served in Co H 12th KY Cav. William's application states that he was wounded near "Balerver Tee" which I believe is Bolivar, TN. The action that occurred near there was in late 1862, which fits with his service dates. I have yet to find hard confirmation that Faulkner's unit served in that campaign. Also, William's dates of service pre-date the inception of Co H 12 KY Cav. But Faulkner did have some earlier units of partisan rangers and scouts. It is in one of these that I believe my ancestor actually served, some the men re-enlisting in the subsequent Co H 12th KY Cav under Faulkner. Also, the 12th KY Cav was almost half and half KY and TN men and apparently also went by other names indicating the dual make-up of the regiment. One of my correspondents wrote to me: "Faulkner's Cavalry was know by several different names: First Kentucky and Tennessee Mounted Rifles; First Kentucky and Tennessee Partisan Rangers; First Kentucky and Tennessee Cavalry; and First Kentucky and Tennessee Partisan Cavalry. I believe that William probably was in Faulkner's Twelfth Kentucky before it was known as the Twelfth Kentucky Cavalry. Company H was not formed until December 11, 1863. Records for the earliest unit that Faulkner had, Faulkner's Company of Kentucky Scouts, are relatively nonexistent. There is mention of his Kentucky Scouts as being attached to the Seventh Tennessee Cavalry during April 1862." Also, William probably added to the confusion by stating in his application his unit was from Tennessee. Given the association Faulkner's unit had with other TN units, the probably heavy TN constituent within Faulkner's unit itself, and possibly having been mustered in TN could have contributed to William's uncertainty as to the appropriate State designation. To him, he was probably fighting under Faulkner with a bunch of guys from home, with no real official name. So that's a long answer for "I don't know for sure" but I think it is the most likely explanation. I don't know the origination of the tombstone inscription, but I think it is almost certainly in error (considering that they misspelled his name, I take the unit inscription with a big grain of salt, too). David McElrath 6/30/2001 ************************************************************************ USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgwarchives.net ***********************************************************************