A Soldier By Any Other Name? Ancestors Serving Under Aliases During The Civil War

Zella, did he enlist under his mother's maiden name? Some of my relatives took mom's madien name if they couldn't get along with dad.
 
The ones I've seen have been for various reasons-- usually a spelling variation or a middle name/first name switch. The best one was a man who deserted his wife, moved away and re-enlisted under a totally different name in a different state. The pension bureau caught on though, and his pension file was over 500 pages long, filled with the details and depositions in the investigation. It had handwriting samples and a photograph of the soldier for comparison
 
The ones I've seen have been for various reasons-- usually a spelling variation or a middle name/first name switch. The best one was a man who deserted his wife, moved away and re-enlisted under a totally different name in a different state. The pension bureau caught on though, and his pension file was over 500 pages long, filled with the details and depositions in the investigation. It had handwriting samples and a photograph of the soldier for comparison
Very intriguing! Did it affect him receiving his pension?

Not a story featuring an alias, but one of my close friends had an ancestor who left either WV or TN to come to the Ozarks. He married and had a family. When he died, his wife filed for a pension and learned she was not eligible because he had apparently abandoned his wife and family back home. That was news to her! Since both wives were still alive, the second one wasn't deemed his wife since it was technically a bigamous marriage. Poor lady.
 
It partially affected his pension, yes. His application for an invalid pension was denied, citing that as the reason. When he died, though, his widow applied, and she was granted the pension. They didn't hold her responsible for his deeds. Sounds like she fared better than the example you gave. (The letter I posted in the other board was from this man. It was included as a handwriting sample in order to compare if he was the same man as his alias)
 
That's really interesting she wasn't denied. I hadn't realized they would do that, though the reasoning makes sense.
 
Back
Top