Saturday, May 28, 2011

end of the deposition

The special examiner questions Cecelia:
Have you had any property or any means of any character after the death of your husband William H. Young?

A. No sir, I have never owned any property of any kind and I have had no means of income from any source except the wages of myself and the children. My husband had no property of any kind and left nothing to anybody. His life was not insured.

Q. What evidence can you offer that you did not know that Pfingstag had a living wife when he married you; that you were never divorced from Wm H. Young and that you have not been married and have not lived with any man in marriage relations except to the two men you have stated?

A. I can prove those things by my sister Lydia F. Mitchell, and by John A. Pfingstag, the man I was illegally married to.

Q. Do you positively swear that you did not know when you married John A. Pfingstag, or until the day the Priest told you that you must leave him, that he had a living and undivorced wife?

A. Yes sir, I do so swear. I supposed up to the very day he confessed to the Priest that his wife was dead, as that is what he had told me and I had no reason to doubt him. No sir, Pfingstag is not a Catholic but he confessed to the Priest that his wife was not dead, and that was the first I knew of the fact.

I wish to be present during the examination of my claim for pension. I fully understand the contents of this deposition and my anwsers have been correctly recorded herein.

(her signature)

Sworn and subscribed before me this 4th. day of February 1904. and I certify the contents were fully made known to deponent before signing.

(his signature)
Special Examiner.


That's the end of the deposition except for the attached Civil War volunteer enlistment form.

My cousin Lorraine also tracked down the government's response to this deposition which I'll post later... she also tells me that Cecelia's brother committed suicide - more bad luck. He lived in Weehawken NJ of all places - I used to live in Weehawken.

Next though I have to write about Tony Kushner's THE INTELLIGENT HOMOSEXUAL'S GUIDE TO CAPITALISM AND SOCIALISM WITH A KEY TO THE SCRIPTURES which I saw Thursday night.