If you were the widow of a revolutionary war veteran, you had better stick around a long, long time if you hoped to collect on your husband’s government pension.
According to the site lineages.com, we discovered the following about those early benefits:
July 24, 1836: Widows were authorized the pension that would have been available to their veteran husbands when they were living, so long as they had married before he left service.
July 7, 1838: Widows who had married Revolutionary War veterans prior to January 1, 1794 were authorized a five-year pension.
July 29, 1848: Widows were authorized a pension for life if they could prove they had married the veteran prior to January 2, 1800.
February 3, 1853: All widows of Revolutionary War veterans, regardless of their date of marriage, were made eligible for a pension.
March 9, 1878: The final Revolutionary War pension act authorized pensions for widows of veterans who had served at least fourteen days or had participated in any engagement.
Imagine being one of the widows who was finally able to collect benefits almost 100 years after the Revolutionary War!
Gives new meaning to the term "May-December Romance", doesn't it?
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