EXECUTIVE MANSION, _August 22, 1888_.
_To the Senate_:
I return without approval Senate bill No. 645, entitled "An act granting
a pension to Mrs. Margaret B. Todd."
This bill does not describe the beneficiary as related to any soldier of
the war, but from other data it is found that she is the widow of Frank
G. Todd, who served as a private in the One hundred and eighteenth
Volunteer Infantry from July, 1863, to May, 1864, when he was
transferred to the Navy. It appears that he served in the Navy from
May 13, 1864, until April 10, 1866. He died in January, 1878, from
exhaustion, as stated by the physicians who attended him.
There is scarcely a particle of satisfactory evidence showing his
condition from the time of his discharge to 1871, and there is almost
an entire lack of proof showing a connection between his death and any
incident of his service. The widow in her application to the Pension
Bureau for a pension states that she has children who were born in 1870,
1871, and 1878.
There seems to be no record of any disability during the husband's
service in the Army, and the only mention of disability while in the
Navy is an entry on the 30th day of May, 1864, showing that he was
admitted to treatment for "syphilis secondary."
The widow's claim is still pending in the Pension Bureau.