Confederate Widow's Pension Application
Mary Ellender Orr Ivey - 1908
transcribed by Brenda Kirk Fiddler
Mary Ellender Orr Ivey (1839 - 1919) was the widow of John Jasper Ivey (1830 - 1885). John Jasper Ivey enlisted in 1861 in I. G. Harris, Co. 27th Regiment of the CSA Calvary.
Recollection of Willie Estelle Tucker, granddaughter of John Jasper Ivey
"John Jasper Ivey was so very close to home, he swam the Tennessee River with his boots and overcoat tied to a chestnut chunk so they would float. When he got home to Decatur County, tags of ice were hanging all over him. He went back to serve his time, but he was never able to get a formal discharge."
- recorded by Brenda Kirk Fiddler
Pension Applications from Tennessee Archives
http://www.tennessee.gov/tsla/history/military/pen025.htm
NAME: Ivey, John Jasper.
WIDOW: Ivey, Mary Elender
PENSION #: W1824
COUNTY: Decatur
NAME: Fisher, A. L.
PENSION #: S6521
UNIT: 52nd Inf.
NAME: Tucker, J. W.
PENSION #: S6523
UNIT: 10th Cav.
Tennessee State Library Archives: Confederate Widows Pensions
#1824 Widow's Indigent Pension Mary E. Ivey, February 11, 1908, widow of John Jasper Ivey.
(1) Full name and place of residence: Mary Elender Ivey, Decatur County Tenn.
(2) How long a resident of state: All my life.
(3) Place of birth and maiden name: I was born in the state of Missouri. My maiden name was Ore?
(4) When and where was your husband born: My husband was born inJefferson County, Tennessee. State his full name: His name was John Jasper Ivey. When and where were you married, and who performed the marriage ceremony: We were married in Decatur County in 1855. J. E. Brasher, J. P. [Brasher performed the ceremony.]
(5) When and where and in what company did husband enlist or serve during the War Between the States: He enlisted in 1861 in I. G. Harris, Co. 27" Regt.
(6) How long did husband serve in said company and regiment: Until July 4, 1862 and was discharged. He afterwards joined Capt. Elisha Stephens Company.
(7) When and were did husband's company and regiment surrender: Do not know. He was captured by the enemy and was paroled which is mislaid or last captured in February 1865.
(8) Was husband present at time and place of capture: Was not.
(9) If not with his command at surrender, where was he when he left command, for what cause and by what authority: After he was paroled in February 1865, he came home and remained until the close of the war having never been discharged.
(10) When and where did husband die: At home in Decatur County in April 1885
(11) At the time of husband's death, were you living with him: I was.
(12) How many children did couple have: I had 10 children, 3 boys and 7 girls. The oldest girl was born in 1858, and the youngest, a boy, who is now 25 years old, [They] all married and left me.
(13) What property/income do you have: I have no property or income, only bedding and wearing clothes.
(14) What property did you possess at death of husband; what disposition by sale or gift have you made: He left a poor piece of land. I sold my interest for twenty dollars about two years ago.
(15) Family now: I have no family. I live with my youngest son [there is] no one legally bound to support me. They live by manual labor.
October 4, 1907
Mary E. Ivey
Guy Yarbro, Co. Ct. Clerk, of Decatur County
[John W. Tucker, Decatur County, Witness]
(1) Name and place of residence: John W. Tucker, Decatur County, Decaturville, Tennessee.
(2) Acquaintance with applicant: I have been knowing him for 50 years or more. I have been knowing her [Mary E. Ivey] 50 years or more.
(3) Where does she reside and how long: She resides in Decatur County and has lived here ever since.
(4) When and where was she born: I do no know when and where she was born.
(5) Were you acquainted with her husband: Yes.
(6) When and by whom were they married: They were married in 1855 by I. E. Brasher, JP.
(7) When and where was she born: I do not know when and where she was born.
(8) How long did you know him: I got acquainted in 1848 and knew him at his death.
(9) When and where did Johnn J. Ivey enlist in the war between the states and in what company and regiment did he enlist, and how do you know this: He first enlisted in Capt. I. T. Hearn Co. and after in Capt. Elisha Stephens Co.
(10) Were you a member of the same company and regiment: I was when he was in Capt. Stephens Co.
(11) How long did he perform regular military duty: I know nothing of his services after the raid by General Forrest made into Georgia after Strate? I understand he was captured some where in Alabama or Tenn.
(12) When and where was his company and regiment surrendered: At Selma or somewhere in Alabama.
(13) Were you with the command when it surrendered: I was.
(14) Was John J. Ivey the husband of applicant present? No, he had been captured as I understand.
(15) If not present, where was he: I understand he was paroled at home.
(16) When and where did he leave his command: About the time Forrest parole.
For what cause: To wait on a sick comrade.
By whose authority did he leave: By the commanding officer.
How do you know this: Of being in the command and information.
(17) When and where did he die: He died in Decatur County about 1885.
(18) Where did he reside at death and how long had he been a resident of Tennessee at his death: He died in Decatur County and resided all his life in Tennessee.
(19) Do you of your own knowledge know that applicant is the lawful widow of John J. Ivey: I do. She is.
(20) Has she remained married since her soldier husband's death, and is she now his widow:
(21) What property effects: She has no property or effects known to me.
(22) Has applicant conveyed any property in last two years: Not that I know of.
J. W. Tucker (signature)
(Trustee H. M. Johnson, Decatur County, Tenn., hereby certify that the property assessed on the tax books of this county to Mary E. Ivey, the widow of John J. Ivey, amounts to nothing (real estate) and nothing (personal).
[Summary: Certificate of Clerk of County Court or Notary Public Guy Yarbro, Clerk, states that he has resided in state since 1896 and that witnesses are reliable. Witnesses, J. W. Tucker and J. T. Yarbro, October 4, 1907)
[Summary of #1824 Pension Application of Mary E. Ivey, September 4, 1909. Letter written by Mrs. M. E. Ivey to the Pension Board as follows:
"Dear Sir:
Will you please advise me of the condition of my _____ [illegible] for pension? I am very anxious to know. Is there anything lacking as to proof?..."
Summary continues: August 8, 1914, D. E. Scott, Lexington, Tennessee attorney, wrote the Hon. John P. Hickman, Nashville, inquiring as to the "condition of the application" and noting: "They tell me that they have sent in the evidence of one Alex Fisher a short time back." The letter ended with this note: "Now I want to know what is lacking and see if she can back it up. I have known her since I was a small boy, and I want to help her if I can. Please send it to me and oblige. [Mr. Scott asks for a statement re. "the condition of the application.."]
[Reply from John P. Hickman, Board of Pension Examiners, on February 28, 1914, stated that the way J. J. Ivey got out the army "was not satisfactory." "Discharged from 27 Tenn. Inf., July 4, '62. Afterwards enlisted in 10 Tenn. Cav., but no records show no account of his service therein. Witnesses say they think he was captured on Straight's [?] raid, but know nothing further about him. All evidence considered and disallowed."
Witness Application: Letter from A. L. Fisher, #1824.
O. H. Roberts, County Court Clerk of Decatur Co., wrote the following letter July 9, 1914. As follows:
"A. L. Fisher, a soldier and member of 10th Tenn. Cav., says that he was acquainted with J. J. Ivey, who was the soldier husband of the applicant/widow, Mary E. Ivey, and he knows that the said J. J. Ivey was a soldier in said 10th Tenn. Cavalry, that while he was doing service, he was detailed to attend to a sick soldier (to wit Alex Hardin) and the Army left him attending to the said sick soldier, but says he does not know whether he was captured by the enemy or not-but it was not far away from the close of the war."