The Barrett Files - a Civil War Pension Case: The Original Transcribed Documents 1866-1921

In 1866 Stephen Barrett filed for an arrearage of pay from his service with the Union Colored Troops during the Civil War. Ten years later he was dead, and his widow, Sarah, filed for a widow’s pension. In a short time, Special Examiners discovered that the widow was not in fact ever married to Barrett. To complicate matters, another player arrived on the scene filing for a pension in the name of the dead soldier. This imposter, Richard Hamilton, was a notorious character from the Florida Everglades who had once been a slave in North Florida. Hamilton created a drama that would later provide a score of legal documents that aided descendants of both families in learning important facts about their family history as well as providing them with the opportunity to ‘hear’ their ancestors speak through the depositions taken. These documents are transcribed from copies of the original documents housed at the National Archives. The amazing thing about these documents is that, when laid out in chronological order like this, they tell a story, peopled with some fascinating characters. There is a beginning and an ending and many conflicts and plot twists throughout. The reader also comes away with a sense of the time period and the people who lived in the aftermath of the Civil War.