Burgess Gambill was 86 when he applied for a military pension for his service in the Confederate Army. He had fallen on hard times when he made his request in May of 1932. Indigent veterans could seek compensation. The process wasn't quick. If successful, they received a few dollars a month. I've seen applications of widows receiving as much as $12 and as little as $4 a month.
Pension records make for fascinating reading for family historians. Details are recorded that might not otherwise be known for these old soldiers born in a time without birth certificates.
Born 6 Jan 1848 in North Carolina, Gambill wrote that he was 16 when he enlisted in 1864 at Ashe County. But Gambill does not recall the name of the company or regiment. Captain Henry Williams is one officer's name he gives, adding that he "...served as a Home guard one year from 1864 to 1865. After Lee surrendered, all who served with me are dead and I am not able to furnish witnesses."
Asked what special service he might have provided, he wrote: "Detailed to take prisoners to [the] execution guard." What, he led Yankees to their death? Where are my smelling salts!
Ahh, oh. The authorities required proof. He doesn't know what outfit he served with, and can't produce supporting affidavits from a fellow soldier.
Victory at sea!
Notice the dates on these papers. Months grew to years, in this waiting game. And widows seeking pension had to provide marriage certificates or affidavits from someone who had witnessed their marriage. Burgess Gambill died on 28 Dec 1940 in Shamrock, Oklahoma at age 92.
NOTE TO MY PATERNAL COUSINS: We are not related to Mr. Gambill (except distantly via marriage). But the brother mentioned on one of these images above later became Pryor, Oklahoma's first postmaster: James Martin Gambill. The "Katy" Railroad (MK&T) was built near his property, and the town of Pryor grew around his early post office/home. That same Jim Gambill married Jane McCausland--twin to Margaret ("Mags"), who was married to Henry Wilson Ackley. Henry was the son of Sam Ackley who operated a ferry on the Arkansas River. Sam had brought his large family from Pennsylvania to Chouteau, Cherokee Nation in 1878. Henry's sister, our Lucy Ackley, was the mother of Sam Childers, Sr. When young Sam's dad died in 1891 near Pryor, I believe it was one of the twin sisters, Jane or Margaret, who cared for my great-grandfather after he was orphaned. Because we know nothing about the ancestry of Sam's dad, I hope to learn of his family by studying the history of those who once knew him. And who were kind to my ancestor.
Meet Miss Jane and Miss Margaret McCausland, twin sisters:
