Replies

You don’t seem able to explain the Continental Congress defining widows in 1780 and 1794 and so on.

For examples of acts granting pensions to officers’ widows only, see: Act of
June 7, 1794, ch. 52 § 1, 1 Stat. 390 (awarding a five-year half-pay pension to
widows of commissioned officers killed in the line of duty); Act of Mar. 14, 1798,
ch. 15, 1 Stat. 540 (extending the 1794 Act’s widows’ pension to the widows of
“commissioned officers of the troops of the United States, and of the militia” killed
in the line of duty); Act of Mar. 16, 1802, ch. 9, § 15, 2 Stat. 132, 135 (providing a
five-year half-pay pension to the widows of commissioned officers of the United
States killed in the line of duty); Act of April 12, 1808, ch. 43, §5, 2 Stat. 481, 483
(extending the Act of 1802 widows’ pension provision to the regiments raised
pursuant to this statute); Act of Jan. 2, 1812, ch. 11, § 4, 2 Stat. 670, 670 (extending
the Act of 1802 widows’ pension provision to troops raised pursuant to this statute);
Act of Jan 11, 1812, ch. 14, § 15, 2 Stat. XXX (providing five-year half-pay pensions
to widows of “any commissioned officer in the military establishment of the United
States” killed in the line of duty); Act of Jan. 20, 1813, ch. 10, § 1, 2 Stat. 790, 790-
91 (providing five-year half-pay pensions to widows of “officer[s] of the navy or
marines [who] shall be killed or die, by reason of a wound received in the line of his
duty”); Act of Jan. 29, 1813, ch. 16, § 1, 2 Stat. 794, 794 (providing five-year halfpay pensions to widows of commissioned officers of the military establishment of the
United States killed in the line of duty); Act of Aug. 2, 1813, ch. 40, § 1, 3 Stat. 73,
73-74 (providing five-year half-pay pensions to the widows of “commissioned
officer[s] of the militia, or of any volunteer corps” killed while in “actual service of
the United States”); Act of Mar. 3, 1815, ch 79, § 1, 2 Stat. 224, 224 (extending the
Act of 1802 widows’ pension provision to troops raised pursuant to this statute).
There were occasional departures from this trend. In 1802, two years after the naval
vessels Insurgent and Pickering were lost in a storm during the undeclared war with
France, Congress awarded pensions to the widows and orphans of “officers, seamen,
and marines” who died on board, thus reaching the widows of men of all ranks, not
just those of officers. Act of Apr. 29, 1802, ch. 33, 1 Stat. 170. And in 1812,
widows of “officers and soldiers, of the volunteers or militia” killed in encounters
with “hostile Indians” were awarded a five-year pension. Act of Apr. 10, 1812, ch.
54, § 2, 2 Stat. 704. A report of the Committee of Claims produced in 1836 confirms
that the Act of April 10, 1812 was “the first act that granted half pay to the widows
and orphans of non-commissioned officers and soldiers, being volunteer or militia,”
adding that the act was “retrospective in its operations.” H.Rep. 415, 34th Cong., 1st
Sess. 3 (Mar. 3, 1836).
44 The legislative debates concerning subsidies for widows of soldiers evidence
a pronounced concern for family equality. See Collins, supra note 17, at 1795-1801.

But we need to return to this thread. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3029024/posts