Mahanay Collection

Henry Newton Mahanay, Letters 1898

March 30, 1898

Kirkwood, MO

Commisioner of Pension

Dear Sir,

Will Write you again in regard to my Pension Claim, Henry N. Mahanay Et al, Children of Jobe Mahanay, Children, No. J. 575889 Co I, 50 Reg. MO Inf. My claim has bin on file about five years and it seems like it has bin unnecesserily delayed. Will you please look up my claim and take action on it at once. I have a wife and three children to support. I am out of work and cant find any. I think I have given sufficient evidence of my claim. I want to know whether I am going to get it or not. it is a just claim if there ever was one. I have been patiently with you but I am out of work now and it is hard to get work and I think if there is anything coming to me I aught to have it at once. I have had a hard time ever since my father died. I am out in the world with out any education or money. I dont know what I will do if I dont get my pension soon. If you can do any thing for me I hope you will do it soon.

I remain respectfully yours, Henry N. Mahanay



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Date: Tue Dec 3 2002
Name: Sharon Lamkin
E- mail: nannysilver@excite.com
Notes: Henry Newton Mahanay B: 2 Feb 1872 in Bourbon, MO. He was the son of Jobe M. Mahanay (A Civil War soldier) and Manerva Stites Mahanay. Henry was three years old when his father died from an “affliction of the kidneys” he developed while in the Mo Vol. The original pension claim was filed in 1893 and denied one year later because the children did not file for benefits until after they reached the age of 16. No notification was sent to the family when the original claim was denied. The attorney, J.W. Morris, wrote an appeal and the decision was reversed and the claim was sent for reconsideration. The claim was eventually denied but the process took over ten years before the children “gave up” on any help from the Government. Henry’s mother, Manerva Stites Mahanay, died in 1877 just two years after her husband’s death. Francis M, Rosetta J. and Henry N. Mananay were orphaned after their mother’s death and were raised by their sister, Martha, and her husband Rev. John F. Hethcock.

Henry Mahanay Letters March 30, 1898 | June 12, 1898 | July 8, 1898 | Aug. 1, 1898 | Oct. 12, 1898