Daily AncestorDependent parent's pension
A dependent parent's pension was a military pension granted to the mother or father of a dead soldier who had relied on his support.
Union pension law let dependent fathers, mothers and orphan sisters claim on a dead soldier's service, though NARA calls parents' claims rare. The parent had to show real dependence on the soldier, and that could be tested hard: an Ohio mother's claim filed in 1880 was denied after a special examiner found that her living husband had been in comfortable circumstances all his life.
These claims were filed in the widow's certificate series. Do not confuse them with the 20th-century state mothers' pension, which was aid for poor mothers raising children.
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Daily Ancestor. "Dependent parent's pension." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/military/dependent-parents-pension. Last checked 2026-10-12.