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Pension
Committee – February 26, 1923
Calendar
No. 1207, 67th Congress,
4th Session, Senate Report No. 1217
H.R.
7528
George D.
Smith, Grangeville, Idaho County, Idaho, states that he served
during certain Indian wars in Captain Randall’s Company B, Second
Idaho Volunteers, for over 60 days from June 15 to August 25, 1877. (I.W.S.
Orig.100014)
His claim under
the act of March 4, 1917, was rejected on the ground that the official
records of the United States afford no evidence of claimant’s service
in the above-named company, Second Idaho Volunteers, in 1877, nor do the
records on file in the archives of Idaho furnish any evidence of such
service, his name not being borne on the muster roll of said company.
Service in the
above-names organization as alleged is pensionable, and the only
question involved is whether the claimant was actually a member of the
organization for a period of over 30 days.
Claimant’s
statement relative thereto is as follows:
My
age is 67 years: I was a member of Capt. D.B. Randall’s company of
volunteers in the Nez Perce Indian war of 1877, and rendered service in
said war as such; I volunteered for duty at the very beginning of said
war and was a member of said Captain Randall’s company from the time
it was formed until the death of Captain Randall at the Cottonwood
engagement with the Nez Perces and continued to serve in said company
thereafter under Capt. James Cearley until the hostile Nez Perces were
driven from Idaho County.
I
am informed and believe that I can not be given a pension under the
provisions of the act of March 4, 1917, for the reason that my name does
not appear upon the muster roll of said company and for the further
reason that there is no official record that I performed service as a
volunteer in the said Nez Perce Indian war of 1877; I therefore, make
this affidavit in support of my claim for a pension for services in said
Nez Perce war of 1877 by special act of Congress.
George D. Smith
Subscribed and
sworn to before me this 25th day of April, 1922
A.W. Talkington,
Notary Public
The statements of
James Buchanan, Fred M. Noyes, and Frank Fenn are as follows:
My age is 85 years; I have known the
claimant, George D. Smith, for 45 years last past; I am in no wise
related to him or pecuniarily interested in his claim for pension by
special act of Congress. I am a pensioner under the act of March 4, 1917, for services
as a volunteer in the Nez Perce Indian war of 1877; I personally know
that the claimant, George D. Smith, was a member of Capt. D.B.
Randall’s company of volunteers and rendered service as such during
the continuance of hostilities in Idaho County, Idaho, in said war both
while said company was under command of Captain Randall and while under
command of Capt. James L. Cearley after Captain Randall was killed at
the Cottonwood fight; I know that the claimant and I were both members
of said company and served together therein.
I make this affidavit for the purpose
of aiding the claimant, George D. Smith, in securing a pension b y
special act of Congress for his services as a volunteer in said war.
James Buchanan
My age is 66 years; I have known the
claimant, George D. Smith, for 44 years last past.
I am in nowise related to him or pecuniarily interested in his
claim for pension by special act of Congress.
I
was a member of the volunteer company commanded by Capt. D.B. Randall,
and after his death commanded by Capt. James L. Cearley, in the Nez
Perce Indian war of 1877; and I personally know that the claimant,
George D. Smith, was also a
member of said company and served with me therein as a volunteer during
said war.
I am a pensioner under
the act of March 4, 1917, for service rendered in the Nez Perce Indian
war of 1877; the number of my pension certificate is 9783.
I make this affidavit for the purpose of aiding the claimant,
George D. Smith, to secure a pension for services rendered in said Nez
Perce Indian war of 1877 by special act of Congress.
Fred M. Noyes
My age is 68 years; I am personally well acquainted with the
claimant, George D. Smith, and have known him intimately ever since
1875. I was a member of
Capt. D.B. Randall’s company of volunteers in the Nez Perce Indian war
of 1877, and am now a pensioner on account of services rendered in that
war and the holder of pension certificate 9523, original, under the act
of March 4, 1917; I personally know that the claimant, George D. Smith
was a member of Captain Randall’s company from the time it was formed
until the close of the NezPerce war in Idaho, and that he served with me
as a volunteer in that Company under Captain Randall and after
Randall’s death under Capt. James L. Cearley; I am informed and
believe that the name of the claimant can not be found on the muster
roll of said company, and for that reason he can not obtain a pension
under existing laws. I
therefore make this affidavit to aid the claimant, George D. Smith, in
securing a pension by special act of Congress for his services as a
volunteer in said war.
Frank A. Fenn
With the papers
is a report furnished this committee by the Bureau of Pensions, showing
that from the photographic copy of the muster roll of Captain
Randall’s, subsequently Capt. J.L. Cearley’s Company B, Second
Regiment Idaho Volunteers, claimant’s witnesses, Frank A. Fenn and
Fred M. Noyes, were enrolled in said company June 15, 1877, and served
71 days each; also that the other witness, James Buchanan, served in
Captain Case’s company of said organization.
All three persons are pensioned under the act of March 4, 1917,
on account of such services.
From a report in
the case, the Bureau of Pensions failed to find the claimant’s name on
the rolls of any organization of Idaho volunteers.
The Bureau of Pensions also reports that it is believed the
muster rolls of the organization above named contain the names of all
the men who served in the organization formed by Captain Randall at
Mount Idaho, June, 1877.
Claimant is 67
years of age. There is no evidence to show whether he has any property or
income. However , his
physician states that on account of old age, rheumatism, piles, and
stomach trouble claimant is totally and permanently incapacitated for
earning a living by manual labor.
In view of all
the facts in the case, it is believed that the statements of the
witnesses are so convincing that the claimant should be given the
benefit of all doubts and his name be placed on the pension roll as an
Indian war survivor at the rate of $20 per month. |