Would an exwife, divored before 1812 still qualify as a war of 1812 widow?

Question

Peter Snider's wife, Elizabeth Kane, is mentioned on a Pension application for the war of 1812. 

However, it is assumed he was married to Elizabeth Granger at the time and until his death. It is believed he had children with both.  Does this war record change those beliefs?  Could two women claim the pension? Could a woman divorced before the war have a claim?

Comments

Is this a muddle of two men with the same name?  It seems pretty unlikely this man was a bigamist, having children with two wives at the same time.

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right? but it appears his first wife was living on her own and with her daughters on the census records that we have beginning 1830.

Answer 1

Are you asking for a legal opinion?

I only see one woman listed on this file, Elizabeth Kane Snyder.  Kane is her maiden name.  This file shows me no evidence of a divorce.  There is also no evidence of anyone named Granger.  Do you have such documentation elsewhere to back up the claim of the existence of an Elizabeth Granger Snyder?  Did she also file for his war pension?  That would be proof.  One of the women would have been refused pension funds.

There are many possibilities. But consider that woman could be Elizabeth Kane Granger Snyder.  Again, it goes to documentation.  This form says Elizabeth Kane Snyder married him in 1795.  That's before the war.  Maybe Elizabeth Granger divorced Peter before the war?   Peter's death date is 18 years well before Elizabeth's in this record.  Could she have remarried after his death?

It might be more helpful if you could locate the enlistment information for Peter Snyder.

Comments

Legally, if he was divorced from this woman, she could still receive his benefits if he had the obligation of alimony until her remarriage, and she never remarried.  She would have to produce the court order to do this and it would have been logged on this form.

If he was two-timing his legal wife with an Elizabeth Granger, the woman who could prove the earlier marriage would be the winner.  The 2nd wife would be the product of an illegal marriage and not entitled to money.

BUT this assumes the government noticed any funny business and acted.  I would not count on this.

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Another clue here is that this form declares Elizabeth lived in the same county as Peter near the time of his death.  This is also apparently the same place they were married. Johnson County, TN is near the Smoky Mountains to the south and Kentucky to the north.  It would make sense that there would be a record of divorce in this county, if it even happened.

That Elizabeth was living with her daughters in the 1830s is not unusual if Peter was working in a coal mine or logging.  Husbands sometimes stayed in flop houses while working to pay for a family abode somewhere else. Do you have any records of what Peter did post service?