I discovered this letter in the Revolutionary War pension file of John Shoemaker from Dearborn County, Indiana. Shoemaker is not my ancestor, but I found this letter after searching Fold3.com for my ancestor Nathan Ricketts. I was hoping to find that he gave testimony about the service of other soldiers’ service. Although I found that he vouched for a Robert Ricketts (a brother or cousin, but relationship unknown), I also came across this interesting letter from the Dearborn County pension office to the pension office in Washington D.C. Apparently a lot (or all) of the pensioners in Dearborn County were not able to get their pensions. I don’t really understand why. Did the pension commissioner not have their address correct, did the pensioners not pick up their pensions at his office, or was the pension commissioner incompetent?

Included with the letter is a list of pensioners in Dearborn County and the date they were last paid. I’d like to submit this letter and list to the Indiana Genealogical Society’s Quarterly. If anyone would like to check my transcription or comment on what they think was going on with the pensions, I’d appreciate the help. Please leave a comment or send me an email at genwishlist@gmail.com.

Here are the links on Footnote to the letter and the list. You need a subscription to view them. If you don’t have a subscription, email me and I’ll send you a copy.

Transcription of Letter and List (as of 5 Jan 2011)