Confederate Pension Application of Nathan S. Brown
Questions for Applicant.
State of Georgia,
Banks County.
I, N. S. Brown of said State and
County, desiring to avail himself of the Pension Act (Section 1254, Code),
hereby submits his 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.)
N. S. Brown in Banks County, Ga.,
Cheap P. O.
2. How long and since when have
you been a resident of this State?
All my life.
3. When and where were you born?
In Franklin County, Ga., April 12th
1842.
4. When and where and in what
company and regiment did you enlist or serve?
10th April 1861 at
Jefferson, Ga., Hewit’s (?) Battalion Co. E., until Spring 1863 when it was
changed to a regiment.
5. How long did you remain in such
company and regiment?
Until the Surrender.
6. When and where was your company
surrendered and discharged?
Surrendered on the 11th
day of April 1865, near Richmond, Va.
7. Were you present with your
company and regiment when it was surrendered?
I was.
8. If not present, state
specifically and clearly where you were, when you left your command and by whose
authority?
I was at my post 4 years without
detention of any kind.
9. How much can you earn (gross)
per annum by your own exertions or labor?
Not more than $1.50 a month.
10. What has been your occupation
since 1865?
I have had none.
11. Upon which of the following
grounds do you base your application for pension, viz: first, “age and
poverty”, second, “infirmity and poverty,” third, “blindness and poverty”?
Infirmity and poverty.
If upon the first ground, state
how long you have been in such condition that you could not 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?
I was twice wounded in a battle at
White Post Tenn. in right ankle once and in right testicle once which seems to
impair me a great deal more than the first.
13. What property, real or
personal, or income, for you possess, and its gross value?
No realty or personal property
except bedding. No income at all.
14. What property, real or
personal, did you possess in 1894, 1895, 1896, 1897, 1898, 1899 and 1900 and
what disposition, if any, by sale or gift, have you made of the same?
I had a little but had to dispose
of it to live on. I had nothing to
give. I have been broke down in the 4
years of war.
15. In what County did you reside
during those years, and what property did you return for taxation?
In Banks County. I do not remember. I gave it in too high did not sell it.
16. How were you supported during
the years 1899 and 1900?
By my invalid wife and 2 minor
children, both girls.
17. How much did your support cost
for each of those years, and what portion did you contribute by your own labor
or income?
Not more 12 or 15 Dollars.
18. What was your employment
during 1898 and 1899? What pay did you
receive in each year?
No employment. My right testicle hindered me.
19. Have you a family? If so, who composes such family? Give their means of support? Have they a homestead?
A wife and 2 minor children both
girls. They have no homestead.
20. Are you receiving any pension?
No Pension.
21. Have you ever made an
application for pension before?
Yes, in June 1903.
22. How many applications have you
ever made and under what class?
1-Indigent.
Signed: N. S. Brown, Applicant.
Sworn to and subscribed before me,
this the 21 day of May 1904.
T. F. Hill, Ordinary of Banks
County.
Questions for Witness.
State of Georgia,
Banks County.
W. C. Richey of said State and
County, having been presented as a witness in support of the application of N.
S. Brown for pension under Section 1254, Code, 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?
W. C. Richey in Banks County.
2. Are you acquainted with N. S.
Brown, the applicant; if so, how long have you known him?
I am. All his life.
3. Where does he reside, and how
long and since when has he been a resident of this State?
In Banks County and has been a
resident all his life.
4. When, where and in what company
and regiment did he enlist, and how do you know?
Enlisted 10th day of
April 1861 at Jefferson, Ga., Hewit’s Battalion, Company E.
5. Were you a member of the same
company and regiment?
I was.
6. How long did he perform regular
military duty?
About 4 years.
7. When and where was his command
surrendered?
11th day of April 1865
near Richmond, Va.
8. Were you present when it surendered?
I was.
9. Was the applicant present?
He was.
10. If he was not present, where
was he?
He was present.
When and where did he leave his
command?
Was there.
For what reason?
Was there.
By what authority he left?
Was there, never absent.
How do you know all of this?
I was present with his almost all
the time, myself-N. S. Brown & W. C. Thomas ever together.
11. What property, effects or
income has the applicant? (Give your means of knowledge.)
He has no property or income.
12. What property, effects or
income did the applicant possess in 1896, 1897, 1898, 1899 and 1900, and what
disposition, if any, did he make of same?
Did not have but little and had to
dispose of it to live on.
13. Has he conveyed away any of
his property in the last four years, if so, what was it, and to whom?
He has had nothing but an old mule
and cow and had to sell them to live on.
14. What is the applicant’s
occupation and physical condition?
He is very feeble & can do but
little if anything by labor of any kind.
15. Is the applicant unable to
support himself by labor of any sort, if so, why?
He is.
16. How was he supported during
the years 1898, 1899 and 1900?
He has some girls that cultivate a
little land.
17. What portion of his support
for these three years was derived from his own labor of income?
Almost none.
18. Give a full and complete
statement of the applicant’s physical condition that entitles him to a pension
under Section 1254, Code?
He is broke down in the war, has
never had any health since, and the two wounds he received has ruined his
health.
19. What interest have you in the
recovery of a pension by this applicant?
None whatever.
Signed: W. C. Richey, Witness.
Sworn to and subscribed before me,
this 21 day of May 1904.
T. F. Hill, Ordinary.
Affidavit of Physicians.
State of Georgia,
Banks County.
Personally came before me H. P.
Quillian, M. D. and O. N. Harden, M.
D., both known to me as reputable physicians of said County, who, being
severally sworn, say on oath that they have examined carefully N. S. Brown,
applicant for pension under Section 1254, Code, and after such personal
examination say that his precise physical condition is as follows:
During the late war he received 2
wounds, 1 in the right leg just above the ankle joint and the other an injury
to the right testicle. The ankle gives
him great pain. His testicle is
atrophied and painful. He suffers from
Rheumatism, Neuralgia & general debility.
He is not able to maintain himself by manual labor.
They further say on oath that the
physical condition of the applicant renders him unable to labor at any work of
calling sufficient to earn a support for himself, and that we have no interest
in said pension being allowed.
Signed: H. P. Quillian, M. D., O.
N. Harden, M. D.
Sworn to and subscribed before me,
this the 21st of May 1904.
T. F. Hill, Ordinary.
Ordinary’s Certificate.
State of Georgia,
Banks County.
I, T. F. Hill Ordinary in and for
said County, hereby certify that the applicant N. S. Brown resides in said
County, and has been a bona fide resident of this State since his birth 1842
and that the witnesses, viz: W. C. Richey are on trustworthy character, and
that their statements are entitled to full faith and credit.
I further certify that the tax
digests of Banks County show that applicant returned for taxation in his name
in 1899 $110 Dollars of property, and in 1900 [blank] Dollars of property.
In my opinion the foregoing claim
is $135 [this amount may have been meant for the blank amount on the previous
line] made in good faith.
Witness my hand and seal of
office, this 21st of May 1904.
T. F. Hill, Ordinary of Banks
County.
Note-The Confederate Widow’s
Pension record of Elizabeth H. Brown, spouse of Nathan S. Brown, stated his
company and regiment was Company E 16th Georgia Regiment and his
death date was 05 July 1905. N. S.
Brown is buried at Nails Creek Baptist Church cemetery in Banks County,
Georgia.
Transcribed 2006 by Jacqueline
King