EXECUTIVE MANSION, _August 9, 1888_.
_To the House of Representatives_:
I return without approval House bill No. 8761, entitled "An act granting
a pension to Mrs. Anna Butterfield."
It is proposed by this bill to pension the beneficiary therein named as
the "dependent mother of James A.B. Butterfield, late a sergeant in the
Second Illinois Cavalry,"
The records show that the son of this beneficiary enlisted in the
regiment mentioned in August, 1861, and was mustered out August 13,
1864. No claim is made in any quarter that he incurred the least
disability during this service, and there is no dispute in regard to the
date of enlistment or discharge, nor does there seem to be any definite
claim that he again entered the military service.
The report of the committee states that his mother is advised that after
his discharge her son still remained in the service of the Government
and was killed by an explosion on board of the steamer _Sultana_,
in April, 1865.
Her claim for pension is now pending in the Pension Bureau awaiting
testimony, which seems to be entirely wanting, to support the allegation
that at the time of his death the deceased was in the service of the
Government in any capacity.
This evidence ought not to be difficult to obtain. Though the mother
seems to have saved something, from which she draws a small income,
her advanced age and the honorable service of her son would make the
allowance of a pension in her case, upon any fair and plausible
justification, very gratifying.