Bill,

From the National Archives website, "Generally, an applicant was eligible for a pension only if he was indigent or disabled."

So, if your ancestor was fortunate enough to be financially comfortable, or at least, not indigent they did not "legally" qualify for a pension. I have; however, seen many occasions when veterans received pensions when they were not quite destitute. Generally, a doctor's statement that the pensioner was unable to work and with little or no personal property or other income, they would qualify. Of course, if you sign over all you property to your kids and live with them, you can apply truthfully that you have no personal property or income, when in fact, you have support by family. But, for what these men went through, I wouldn't begrudge any of them for "fudging" a little to receive a pension.

William, this may not be of interest to you, but we provide a service here on the message boards to provide service record and pension files. Sometimes these pension files appear in indexes as "Rejected" and people think, "Oh, then there must not be any pension file available." Actually, the opposite is true. Many times the most lengthy files are rejected files, as the applicant, in some cases for years, sends letter after letter and affidavit after affidavit, attempting to obtain a pension. So, if anyone see "Rejected" in any listings for their ancestor's pension file, I urge you to obtain it, as it may have volumes of personal and family information, unobtainable anywhere else.

Jim