Family Tree Friday: Congress granted pensions as private claims.
American citizens have always had the right under the U.S.
Constitution to petition Congress directly to redress specific
grievances or recoup financial losses resulting from government
actions (such as private property damaged by the Union Army
during the Civil War). In the 19th century, Americans commonly
exercised this right, sending hundreds of thousands of private
claims to members of Congress for action. Many of those claims
included petitions from veterans seeking pension benefits. Under
established pension laws, the normal application process went
through the War Department, but if a pension claim was rejected
for whatever reason, the veteran could still appeal directly to
Congress for money. Through faulty memory or loss of records
over the years, many veterans of older wars, particularly the
Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, had a hard time proving
their military service. The private claim thus offered them an
important loophole w