REGULATIONS, FORMS AND DECISIONS. a male pensioner, it should appear by the certificate that there is no widow; in case of a widow surviving the deceased pensioner, she and not the executor or administrator, is entitled to the balance. Vol. xiv, p. 22. as, 22. On the death of a pensioner having neither wife nor child, the balance of pension due at the time of his death, is not payable to his halfsister, but to the executor or administrator on his estate. Vol. ix, p. 637. 23. The balance of pension due a deceased pensioner at the time of his decease, is payable to the widow only, if she remain unmarried. The children have no legal claim to it, except in case of the death or intermarriage of the widow. Vol. ix, , p. 26. 24. A widow claiming arrears of pension due her deceased husband, must prove herself before a court of record, to be the widow of the deceased pensioner, and also take the oath that she is the identical person thus proved to be the widow. Vol. xiv, p. 19. 25. Where a widow, pensioned under the act of July 21, 1848, contracts another marriage, the agent must require her pension certificate to be surrendered, on paying her pension to the date of such intermarriage. If she has a child entitled to the reversion of the pension, application must be made with proper proof to the Commissioner of Pensions, for a new certificate in the name of the child. Vol. xiii, p. 193. 26. By the acts of March 2, 1829, and June 19, 1840, the balance due a deceased revolutionary pensioner, leaving children, but no widow, belongs to the children, and can be paid only to them, or to the executor or administrator, on the estate of the deceased pensioner for their benefit. xi, pp. 16, 244, 190. Vol. 27. A widow pensioner, under the law of July 4, 1836, or July 21, 1848, is entitled to her pension up to the date of her death or intermarriage, if either occur within the five years for which the pension runs; and for the remainder of the time, if any, the pension inures to the child or children under sixteen years of age. Vol. xii, p. 344. 28. On the death of a female pensioner, the balance of pension due at the time of her death is, by law, payable to her children then living. Vol. x, p. 5. 29. The share due each of the surviving children of a pensioner may be paid to his or her attorney, without the production of the original certificate, or a compliance with the regulation of Sept. 1, 1846. Vol. xiii, p. 25. 30. When a pensioner, who is a widow, dies, leaving children, the amount of pension due at the time of her death belongs not to the executor or administrator, but to her surviving children, to be distributed among them in equal shares. Vol. xiv, p. 38; Vol. xi, p. 104. 31. Payment of arrears due a deceased pensioner, who left no widow, must always be made to surviving children, if any, and not to representatives of children, who died during the lifetime of the pensioner. P. 426. Vol. XV, REGULATIONS, FORMS AND DECISIONS. 32. Children not being entitled to the pension, except upon the marriage of their mother, proof of her marriage and its date must be filed with their claim. Vol. xiii, p. 341. 33. When a child is by law entitled to the balance of pension due a deceased parent, the receipt of the child to the pension agent, is deemed sufficient, notwithstanding said child be a femme covert at the time of signing the receipt. Vol. xi, p. 65. 34. Where one of the children named in a pension certificate dies unmarried, before the certificate is received, leaving brothers and sisters, the share of pension due him may be paid to the surviving children, without taking out letters of administration. Vol. xii, p. 147. 35. Where one of two or more children named in a pension certificate can not be found, and a certificate from the proper court, if offered as a voucher by the attorney of the other children, affirming that satisfactory evidence has been produced of the death of such child, or that he has been so long absent without having heard from, as to be considered legally deceased by the laws of the State where he had lived, it will be considered sufficient proof of the right of the surviving children to draw the balance of the pension due. Vol. xii, pp. 134, 146. 36. When several children are embraced in the pension certificate, the oath of identity is not required from all, but only from the one who may be authorized by regular power of attorney from the others to receive the pension money due. Vol. xii, p. 87. 37. A grandchild of a deceased pensioner can not, in any case, claim to receive the arrears of pension due the pensioner at the time of his death. If no widow or children survive the pensioner, payment must be made to the executor or administrator. Vol. xiv, pp. 44, 344. 38. At the death of the ward, the powers of the guardian cease. The balance of pension, therefore, due a pensioner who was under guardianship at the time of his decease, is not payable to the guardian. Vol. viii, p. 65. 39. Whenever a navy pension has been unclaimed for two years, the application of the pensioner, and all the documents in support of his claims must be referred to the Fourth Auditor of the Treasury for investigation. Vol. viii, p. 22. 40. Where an invalid pensioner's name has been continued on the rolls, and for a series of years he has not claimed the pension at the agency by producing the required proof of continued disability, and afterwards produces that proof and claims under the original certificate, payment should be made at the Treasury. But if his name was stricken from the rolls of the agency so that he could not obtain his pension by applying there with the proper proof, and is to receive it by virtue of a new order from the Department, he should be paid at the agency. Vol. xiv, p. 63. 41. The pension agent may, if he thinks proper, require the attorney REGULATIONS, FORMS AND DECISIONS. to receive the money at the office of the agency, though if it were paid on receipts executed elsewhere, the voucher would not be objectionable on that account. Vol. xiv, p. 221. 42. The regulations for paying pensions require that the certificate shall be set out in the application, and that the applicant shall make oath that he is the identical person named in that certificate. Vol. xiii, p. 123. 43. In cases where there is no county court seal, the pension agent will not reject vouchers for lack of the seal alone, but he will require the certificate of the clerk that there is no seal. Decisions, September, 1846. 44. A pensioner residing in Canada may execute his papers before a justice of the peace in the vicinity of his residence, if he is too feeble to cross over to the United States to have his papers authenticated. Vol. xiv, p. 125. 45. Where a pensioner neither signs nor makes his mark to vouchers requiring his signature, the pension agent is not authorized to pay the money. Vol. xii, p. 509. 46. Pension agents may administer all the necessary oaths in the preparation of papers for the payment of pensions. By the act of February 19, 1849, section two, the deputies and clerks of pension agents have the same power as the agents to administer oaths. Vol. xii, p. 219. 47. Notaries public are not considered as authorized ex officio, to administer oaths in the preparation of pension papers, but if the general authority to administer oaths has been conferred upon them by the statute laws of the particular State in which they reside and are commissioned, the oaths taken before them would be valid and of course respected by the pension agents. It should, however, be shown that such authority exists under the law of the State. Vol. xii, pp. 1, 83. September 9, 1847. 48. It is required by the proviso in the first section of the act of September 16, 1850, chapter 52, that the official character of a notary shall be established by other evidence than his seal and signature. The proviso in the first section applies only to cases where the notary has certified that oaths or affirmations were taken before him, and not to certificates of acknowledgment of instruments. Vol. xiv, p. 111. 49. A pension agent must require that the certificates should be set out in the oath of identity. Vol. xiii, p. 21. 50. The omission of the words "duly authorized by law to administer oaths" from the oath of identity or acknowledgment of the power of attorney in the pension papers, is not so important as to render it necessary to reject the papers on that account. Vol. xi, pp. 404, 423, 437. 51. By the act of the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, passed March 22, 1849, notaries are authorized to administer oaths in all cases where an oath is required in the execution of papers to draw pensions at the pension agencies or at the Treasury of the United States. p. 62. Vol. xiv, REGULATIONS, FORMS AND DECISIONS. 52. That section of the pension instructions which requires a witness to pension vouchers where the pensioner or attorney of a pensioner subscribes by a mark in consequence of inability to write, applies to the oath of identity as well as to every other necessary voucher. In all cases, therefore, a witness is required, other than, and in addition to the "magistrate before whom the affidavit is made. Vol. xii, p. 85. 53. A power of attorney to draw a pension must be dated and acknowledged on, or subsequent to the day on which the pension becomes due. Vol. xiv, pp. 228, 430; xiii, pp. 123, 287, 291. 54. When interlineations and additions are made in a power of attorney to draw a pension, they must be noted by the magistrate. Vol. vi, p. 44. 55. When a pensioner receives from the pension agent a greater sum than was his due, the excess should stand to his debit, and be considered as so much paid, and no further payment should be made until something shall become due, after deducting the sum so overpaid. Vol. viii, pp. 222, 421. 56. A power of attorney to draw a pension is not vitiated in consequence of its giving authority to draw for a time antecedent to that from which the pension is due. Vol. xiv, p. 88. 57. If the pension agent pay to the attorney more money than the pensioner authorized the attorney to receive, the pensioner is not legally accountable for the excess, unless it be shown that he received such excess, or sanctioned the act of the attorney in so receiving it. Vol. viii, p. 438. 58. On the application of a guardian for the payment of a pension due his wards, he must furnish proof that they are still living, are under twenty-one years of age, and that he still continues to be their guardian. Vol. viii, p. 25. By an act of February 11, 1847, entitled "an act to raise for a limited time an additional military force, and for other purposes," 2 bounty land is granted to the surviving soldiers of the war with Mexico, and to the widows and children of those who died in the service, as follows: 3 SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That each non-commissioned officer, musician or private, enlisted or to be enlisted in the regular army, or regularly enlisted in any volunteer company for a period of not less than twelve months, who has served or may serve during the present war with Mexico, 5 and who shall receive an honora 4 1 See LAWS RELATING EXCLUSIVELY TO LAND WARRANTS, in the after part of this section, page 325. 2 U. S. Statutes at Large, vol. ix, 124. 3 An act of May 27, 1848 (U. S. Statutes at Large, vol. ix, 232), directs that the benefits of this act shall not be withheld from non-commissioned officers or privates who were promoted to commissioned officers during the war. Clerks in the Quartermaster's Department are not entitled to bounty land, unless regularly enlisted in the service. August 13, 1853. 4 A soldier on furlough is considered in the service, and his claim for bounty land should not be curtailed by deducting the time spent on furlough. Secretary Stuart, January 27, 1852. 5 A soldier honorably discharged before the expiration of twelve months, without having been sick or wounded, is not entitled to bounty land under this act. Attorney-General Clifford, March 17, 1848. This act embraces regular soldiers enlisted for twelve months or longer, who served in the war with Mexico. Attorney-General Johnson, July 27, 1849. Where a soldier was not mustered into service when his company was, |