William Bright, Company G

The widow was so poor that she “she had to go North to do menial work to defray the funeral expenses of William Bright her husband.” After the death of her second husband, she applied for a Remarried Widow’s Pension.

Invalid – 1,094,307 / 818,955
Widow – 631,803 / 455,229, Mary Minerva Allen

Deposition, William Bright, 5 October 1892
49 years old; occupation, laborer; residence and post-office address, 76 Nickerson, Norfolk, Va.
“[My attorney] is W.R. Drury, of Norfolk, Va. …. I don’t know the name of the man who swore me but he occupied a desk in Mr. Drury’s office and is said to be a Notary Public. … The man I refer to is a tall slender young man, clean-shaved except a mustache, and he some defect in one of his eyes…. My witnesses Henry Gordon & Nicholas Langley were both sworn by this man I just described.”

Deposition, Henry Gordon, 5 October 1892
about 70 years old; occupation, laborer; post-office address, Norfolk, Va.
“I have known the claimant William Bright since 1868. We have been associates and fellow workmen during all of the intervening years.”

Deposition, Nicholas Langley, 6 October 1892
49 years old; occupation, watchman; residence and post-office address, 5 Salter Ave., Norfolk, Va.
“I have known the claimant William Bright from his early boyhood.”

Deposition, Philip H. Bagnall, 6 October 1892
50 years old; occupation, laborer; residence and post-office address, 14 Lodge St., Norfolk, Va.
“I have known the claimant William Bright since his childhood … and we have been neighbors continuously since our muster out of service. I was a sergeant in said company.”

Deposition, Jasper Cornick, 6 October 1892
61 years old; occupation, laborer; residence and post-office address, 120 Nickerson St., Norfolk, Va.
“I have known the clt William Bright for the past thirty years. He and I served together … and have been neighbors continuously since our discharge from service.”

General Affidavit, Clarky Bell and Caroline Simmons, 4 April 1896
[Bell] 6 Byrd Street, (Barboursville),
[Simmons] 11 Chapel Street, Norfolk, Va.
“[The claimant] was a child when they first knew her … they saw her about two (2) or three (3) times monthly during the period of their first acquaintance with her until she became the wife of the soldier. They knew the soldier when a young man…They saw the soldier weekly or oftener throughout the period before he was married … They visited the home of claimant and soldier monthly on an average and affiant Simmons helped ‘raise’ claimant … “

General Affidavit, Margaret Anderson and Elizabeth Kindred, 27 July 1897
“That the claimant above described as no property neither real or personal, no income derived from any source. She has never owned any property of any description except a few articles of household furniture the value of which did not exceed $25.00 and the same has been disposed of. She has been without real and personal property and has had no income of any kind since March 1896, the date of soldier’s death as above described. No one is legally bound for claimant’s support but she depends entirely upon manual jobs for support for she had to go North to do menial work to defray the funeral expenses of William Bright her husband.”

General Affidavit, Joseph Nelson, 5 August 1897
citizen of Norfolk, Norfolk County, Virginia
“That he is one of the firm of Nelson Wilson & Co., who officiated at the interment of William Bright, the soldier above described who was buried March 11, 1896, at Norfolk, Virginia”

Questionnaire (Form3-506), Caroline Simmons, 14 September 1897
66 years old; occupation, housework; post-office address, 11 Chapel St., Extended, Norfolk, Va.
“I have known the clmt since a child. She is my stepdaughter and I partly raised her. Her maiden name was Minerva Simmons. I was not present when she was married but was living within a half a mile of her on Bayside, Princess Anne Co., Va. at the time of her marriage to Owen Bright, about 15 years old. I did not know him until a short time before he married clmt…. He died March before last in this city. … The said Owen Bright was also called William and Bill Bright. When I first knew him he was called Owen Bright. That was the name he gave my husband when he asked for his daughter the clmt.

“The claimant’s post-office address is 69 Willoughby St , 100 Nicholson Street, Norfolk, Va.
“There was no prior marriage of soldier nor claimant. The claimant was never divorced from the soldier and that she has not remarried since his death.”
Note: At first I thought “Owen Bright” was a scrawled presentation of “William Bright” but the person giving testimony said he was also called “William and Bill Bright.” Curious — Leslie

General Affidavit, John Lingen and Elizabeth Kindred, 28 September 1897
[Lingen] 658 Bute Street, Norfolk, Va.
[Kindred] 302[?] Queen Street, Norfolk, Va.
“That they are each well acquainted with the claimant … having known her more than eighteen years. They both were well acquainted with her before her marriage to the soldier above named. Affiants have always known her as Mary Minerva and this was claimant’s name before her marriage….the soldier above described died March 10, 1896 at Norfolk, Va.  [Kindred] distinctly remembers the date being a frequent visitor at his bedside during his final illness and she saw his remains in about one hour after he died.”

Claimant’s Affidavit, Minerva Bright, 28 September 1897
“… although her parents named her ‘Mary Minerva’ she was not called by the name ‘Mary’ not even by her parents.  He husband, the soldier, above described, always said he liked the name Mary better than Minerva and he therefore sometimes called her Mary and at other times Minerva … he applied for license to marry only in the name of Mary. After they were married he used both names Mary and Minerva for every one [sic] else called her Minerva.”

Claimant’s Affidavit, Minerva Bright, 9 October 1897
“She generally spoke to him and to others of him when using the name “William” as William Bright simply; omitting the “D” which stands for “David.” The soldier’s full and complete name was William David Bright sometimes written William D. Bright and at other times written William Bright.”

General Affidavit, Margaret Anderson and Josephine Wilson, 9 October 1897
[Anderson] 93 Willoughby Street, Norfolk, Va.
[Wilson] 110 Nicholson Street, Norfolk, Va.
“That they both knew soldier … before he married claimant. Affiant Anderson knew him for twelve years before he married claimant and affiant Wilson knew him for at least that period. The soldier was married to claimant in the house of affiant Anderson. Affiants both lived in the immediate neighborhood fourteen, fifteen years before his marriage to claimant and they were both personally and intimately acquainted with him all living in Norfolk, Va. and seeing him on average of once or twice weekly during the period named.”

Marriage Certificate, James Allen and Minerva Bright, 7 November 1897
The couple lived at 320 W. 36th when they married. Both were widowed. The groom was 48 years old; the bride was 37 years old. He was born at Old Point, Virginia to James Allen and Adaline. She was born in Norfolk, Virginia to James Simmons and Letitia. The officiant Granville Hunt lived at 134 W. 32nd Street; the witness was H.A. Hunt.
Note: The following text appears on this document “A Transcript from the Records of the Marriages reported to the Department of Health of The City of New York.” It was date-stamped as received by the Pension Bureau on 5 November 1918.

General Affidavit, Lavinia Robinson, 5 December 1897
60 years old; post-office address, 428 E. Bute Street, Norfolk, Va.
“That she has been acquainted with the claimant ever since she was a girl; that she was first married to William Bright; that she was not married after Bright’s death until she married Allen; that she and Allen were never separated or divorced but lived together as man and wife until his death and that she has not re-married since his death.”

General Affidavit, Hezekiah Anderson, 5 December 1897
69 years old; post-office address, 421 Powell St., Norfolk, Va.
“That he has known the claimant ever since 1877 at which time she was not married …”

Death Certificate, James Allen, 15 December 1915
He was about 50 years old when he died in Elizabeth City County, Virginia on 15 December 1915. He was employed as a laborer for “NNRR & E Co.” His parents were James Allen and Adeline Cooper, both born in that county. The informant Edmond Allen lived on Fox Hill Road. The deceased was buried at “AME Cemetery” on 19 December 1915. W.T. Smith and Sons of Hampton handled the burial.
Note: The “transcript” of this death certificate was issued by the registrar of the local Board of Health of Elizabeth City County on 16 August 1921.
Note: If the abbreviation “NNRR & E Co.” is for “Newport News Railroad Company” what does the “E” stand for? — Leslie

Declaration for Remarried Widow’s Pension, Mary Minerva Allen, 1 November 1918
residence, 609 Smith Street, Norfolk, Virginia
“[D]eclares she is 58? years of age, and that she was born 1860? at Princess Anne County, Virginia…That she was formerly the widow of William Bright … That she was married to said soldier …under the name of Mary Minerva Simmons … that said soldier died March 18, 1896 at Norfolk, Virginia … her marriage November 7, 1897 to James Allen at New York, NY that he died December 16, 1915 at Phoebus, Virginia …”

General Affidavit, Mary Minerva, 4 December 1918
58 years old; residence, 609 Smith Street, Norfolk, Virginia
“That her husband, James Allen, died at Phoebus, Virginia, on December 16, 1915; at that time she was living at Phoebus, Virginia, and remained there for about one month when she came to Norfolk, Va. to live and lived with her sister on Washington Avenue until August, 1916; she then went to New York and was in service and lived at 2111 Fifth Avenue until the 2nd day of July, 1918, when she returned to Norfolk and since then has been living at 609 Smith Street.”