Confederate Widow’s Application of Margaret L. Osborne Brown

 

Questions for Applicant.

State of Georgia

Banks County.

Margaret L. Brown of said State and County, desiring to avail herself of the Pension allowed to Indigent Widows of Confederate Soldiers, under Act of General Assembly passed ____ 1900, hereby submits her proofs, and after being duly sworn true answers to make to the following questions, deposes and answers as follows:

1. What is your name and where do you reside? (Give State, County and Post Office.)

Margaret L. Brown, Banks County Ga., Narrows, Ga.

2. How long and since when have you been a resident of this State?

64 years.

3. When and where were you born?

In 1827 in Habersham County, Ga.

4. When and where was your husband born-state his full name, and when you and he married?

In 1833 in Habersham County.  Robert J. Brown.  Married in 1856.

5. When and where, and in what Company and Regiment did your husband enlist or serve during the war between the States?

March 1862.  Co. D 43 Georgia Volunteers.

6. How long did your husband serve in said Company and Regiment?

3 years.

7. When and where did your husband’s Company and Regiment surrender and was discharged?

26 April 1865.  Greensborough, N. C.

8. Was your husband present at the time and place when his Company and Regiment surrendered?

He was.

9. If not with his command at surrender, state clearly and specifically where he was, when he left command, for what cause, and by what authority?

[Blank]

10. When and where did your husband die?

10th Sept. 1880.  Banks County, Ga.

11. Which of the following grounds do you base your application for Pension, viz: First-Age and Poverty; Second-Infirmity and Poverty, or Third-Blindness and Poverty?

Age and Poverty.

12. If upon the first ground, state how long you have been in such condition that you cannot earn your support.  If upon the second, give a full and complete history of the infirmity and its extent.  If upon the third, state whether you are totally blind, and when and where you lost your sight.

 Age and poverty.  I have not been able to do work to make a living for several years past.

13. What has been your occupation since your husband’s death?

A little house work.

14. How much can you earn gross, by your own exertion or labor?

Nothing.

15. What property, real or personal, or income do you have or possess, and its gross value?

I own no property or income.

16. What property, real or personal, did you possess at death of husband or he left you, and of the year 1899-1900, and what disposition, if any, by sale or gift, have you made of the same?

1 old horse worth $30.00.

17. In what counties did you reside in 1899 and 1900, and what property have you returned for taxation?

In Banks County, Ga.

18. How have you been supported since death of husband, and especially for 1899 and 1900?

My son supported me who is now got Consumption.

19. How much did your support cost for each of those years, and how much did you contribute by your own labor or income?

I suppose 30 or 40 dollars.

20. What was your employment during 1899 and 1900-how much did you receive for each year?

I had no employment.

21. Have you a family?  If so, who composes such family?  Give their means of support.  Have they any lands or other property?

2 cows and not able to do anything.

22. Have you ever made an application for pension before?

I have made.

23. How many applications have you made for a Pension, and under what class?

Under the Invalid Act in 1891 or 2.

 

Signed: Margaret L. Brown (X her mark)

Sworn to and subscribed before me, this 20th day of February 1901.

T. F. Hill, Ordinary of Banks County.

 

Questions for Witnesses.

State of Georgia

Banks County.

James Acry & J. H. Caudell of said State and County, having been presented as a witness in support of the Application of Mrs. Margaret L. Brown for a Pension under the Act of ___ 1900, and having been duly sworn true answers to make to the following questions, deposes and answers as follows:

1. What is your name and where do your reside?

James Acry and J. H. Caudell.  We reside in Banks County, Ga.

2. Are you acquainted with the applicant, Mrs. Margaret L. Brown?  If so, how long have you known her?

We have known her 40 years.

3. Where does she reside, and how long and since when has she been a resident of this State?

In Banks county, Ga.  All her life-.

4. When and where was she born?

In 1837.  Habersham County, Ga.

5. Were you ever acquainted with her husband?

We were.

6. Where did he reside in 1861?

Banks County, Ga.

7. When and to whom was he married?

Margaret L. Osborne in 1856.

8. When and where was he born?

In 1833 15 Oct.  Habersham County, Ga.

9. How long have you known him?

All his life.

10. When and where did R. J. Brown enlist in the war between the States, and in what Company and Regiment did he enlist and how do you know this?

March 1862.  Banks County, Ga.  Co. D 43rd Regiment.

11. Were you a member of the same Company and Regiment?

We was.

12. How long did he perform regular military duty?

3 years.

13. When and where was his Company and Regiment surrendered and discharged from service?

26 April 1865.  Greensborough, N. C.

14. Were you with the command when it surrendered?

We was not.

15. Was R. J. Brown the husband or the applicant present?

He was.

16. If not present, where was he?

[Blank]

17. When and where did he leave his Command?

[Blank]

For what cause?

[Blank]

By whose authority he left?

[Blank]

How do you know this?

We was at home on furlough when the surrender was made and he came home after the surrender.

18. When and where did R. J. Brown die?

In 1880 10 Sept.  Banks County, Ga.

19. Where did he reside at the time of his death and how long had he been a resident of Georgia at his death?

Banks County, Ga.

20. Do you of your own knowledge know that the applicant is the lawful widow of...

We do.

21. Has she remained unmarried since her soldier husband’s death, and is now his widow?

She has not remarried since April 26, 1865.

22. What property, effects or income has the applicant, if any, and how do you know this of your own knowledge?

She has nothing but a little Household goods.

23. What property, effects or income did the applicant possess in 1899 and 1900 and what disposition did she make of it?

Nothing except the little household goods.

24. Has applicant conveyed any property in last two years or given any away, if so what was it and to whom?

She has not.

25. What is applicant’s physical condition and her chance and ability to earn a support?

She is old and feeble, not able to do any labor to make a support.

26. Is applicant able to earn a support at labor of any sort, if not why?

She is not able to work for a support.

27. How was she supported for 1899 and 1900?

She was supported by her son.

28. How much did applicant contribute to her support for the last two years?

Nothing.

29. Give a full and complete statement of applicant’s physical condition?

She is old and worn out and is not able to work to make a support for herself.

30. What interest have you in the recovery of this pension by the applicant?

None.

 

Signed: James Acry, James H. Caudell, Witnesses.

Sworn to and subscribed before me this 20 day of February 1901, T. F. Hill Ordinary, Banks C0unty.

 

Affidavits of Physicians

State of Georgia

Banks County.

Personally comes J. A. Nabers and L. N. Osborne both known to me to be reputable physicians of said county, who, being severally sworn, say on oath that they have examined carefully Mrs. M. L. Brown applicant for Pension in the Act of 1900, and after such personal examination say that her physical condition is this

“Palpitations of the heart whenever attempting to labor at such work as is necessary to make a living, also shortness of breath and a smothering sensation which symptoms very properly put her on the disability list.  She is extremely old.” and we have no interest in said pension if allowed.

 

Signed: J. A. Nabers, M. D.

              L. N. Osborne, M. D.

Sworn to and subscribed before me this 20th day of February 1901, T. F. Hill Ordinary , Banks County.

 

Ordinary’s Certificate

State of Georgia

I, T. F. Hill, Ordinary in and for said county, hereby certify that the applicant, Mrs. M. L. Brown resides in said county, and has been a bona fide resident of this State since all her life 1837, and that the witnesses, Mr. Jas. Acry and J. H. Caudell are of trustworthy character, and that their statements are entitled to full faith and credit.

I do further certify that before answering the foregoing statements, the applicant and said witnesses took the oath herein prescribed, and the full text of the affidavits was read to the applicant and witnesses before the same was signed and subscribed.

I further certify that the tax digest of Banks county shows that applicant returned for taxation in her own name in 1899 nothing dollars worth of property, and in 1900 nothing dollars worth of property.

Witness my hand and official seal, this 20th day of February, 1901.

T. F. Hill Ordinary,

Banks County

 

Note: Robert J. Brown, Oct. 15, 1833-Sept. 10, 1880 is buried in the Brady/Brown Cemetery in Banks County, Ga.  Other Brown graves are Hugh Brown, died Jan. 18, 1885 at age 78, Mary Brown, born 1812 death date unknown, and six additional adult graves and four children’s graves.  Source: “Cemeteries and Deaths in Banks County, Georgia” compiled by Richard J. Chambers.

 

Transcribed 2006 by Jacqueline King