Charlotte Littlefield's Pension Certificate

This is a pension certificate documenting Charlotte Littlefield's right to receive pension after her husband, Civil War veteran Joseph Littlefield died in 1911. Charlotte (Lotta) Littlefield (nee Roberts) was Joseph Littlefield's second wife, whom he married in 1887 after his first wife Hellen died in 1881. Her family came to Nebraska from Illinois in 1864 to homestead in Cass County.

Born in Peoria County, Illinois in 1840 Joseph Littlefield served almost three years in the Civil War as a private in company C of 102nd Illinois volunteer regiment. After the war he returned to Illinois and married Hellen Crandle. In 1879 Joseph Littlefield and his family that included his mother Joanna, who was 71 at the time, came to Nebraska Clear Creek area, Sherman County to homestead. Hellen died in 1881 and six years later Joseph, now 47, married 24 year-old Lotta (Charlotte) Roberts, and had 7 more children with her, of whom only 5 survived. Littlefield moved to Aurora, Nebraska in 1904 and died there in 1911.

After the war Littlefield was very active in the local Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) chapters, always travelling to the veterans' meetings wherever he was.

The pension certificates are valuable documents for family and economic history, as they provide the names, dates, and vital data for the people in the family, as well as information on the amount of pensions widows and underage children received in the stated period, in this case 1911. This certificate comes from the collection of Terri and Dave Mabon. Dave Mabon is Joseph Littlefield's great-grandson.

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