After being denied coverage for medical and pension benefits in 1921, there probably wasn't much to expect in the way of remuneration for serving in the Army in World War I. By this time, Grandpa Jim was perhaps looking to go elsewhere in order to support himself financially. In 1919, his father, Nathaniel, had signed over the deed to his land to his daughter, Rachel Newitt, with the expectation that she would provide for him during his lifetime. In January of 1920, she moved to Grand Junction with her family and signed over the deed to the family land to Grandpa Jim, which was then deeded back to Nathaniel because this agreement had not been honored.
In 1917, before his induction into the Army, Jim, along with his brother Dwight, had purchased a 160-acre ranch right next to their father's land for $1,200. Jim assigned his brother power of attorney to act for him while he was overseas. When Jim returned in 1919, their ranch was in debt, and no way for them to pay off their debts. Dwight signed over his interest in their land to Grandpa Jim in January of 1920 and left Colorado, leaving Jim to resolve matters. Jim ended up selling the land to R.B. Griffith in June of 1920, who paid off the debts that had been incurred. Jim and Nathaniel had also entered into an agreement with each other regarding water rights to their land in 1919. They basically agreed that if Jim didn't farm the land they were on in 1920, the water rights that had been conveyed to Jim would be conveyed back to Nathaniel, which is what happened.
By 1924, Jim had left Colorado and had gone to Rawlins, Wyoming. Nathaniel was still in Buena Vista, but now pretty much left by himself, each of his children having left the family farm and ranch. Nathaniel had run for local office in Buena Vista as Justice of the Peace in 1924, and was elected to the office after winning a tie breaker, so he finally had some source of income (I have a post that goes into more detail on Nathaniel's running for Justice of the Peace, and in particular, his election in 1924). Nathaniel would pass away in the town of Salida (30 miles south of Buena Vista) in April of 1926. Two of his daughters, Rachel and Ann, and a son, Ed, attended his funeral.
In November of 1924, Grandpa Jim had applied for the adjusted compensation for service in the army during World War I. Below is a copy of the application for adjusted compensation. Part of this application was included in the Claims File I recently received, although it appears that the first and third pages of this application were not included in the copy of the file I received (I just reached out to the FOIA Officer at the VA who processed my request to let them know that these pages are missing, but given that it took three years to receive a copy of the file, I doubt I will receive any acknowledgment of my notice that these pages are missing). Based on the information I have already found on Grandpa Jim, I was able to recreate the missing pages.
The application gives details on his military service (again, I had to recreate part of this form from information I already have found on Grandpa Jim - I have the adjusted compensation form for his sister's step-son, Keith Newitt, who was in the Navy in WWI, which gave me the template to recreate the missing pages). On page two of the application, Jim lists his sister, Ann Graham, as his beneficiary. She was living with her husband, George Earl Graham, and their daughter, Virginia, in Salida, Colorado in 1924. They had moved to Salida earlier in 1924. They would move to Colorado Springs by 1926. Along with his signature, page two also has his fingerprints on the form as an additional form of positive identification. By this time, he was living in Rawlins, Wyoming when he completed and sent in his application.
As a side note, my great-grandma, Alice Lemoine, was living in the town of Alcova, some 90 miles northeast of Rawlins (35 miles southwest of Casper) with her first husband, Charles Grundy, who was a sheep rancher. They would later separate and she would go to Laramie. From what I understand, she and Grandpa Jim met in Laramie before her divorce from her first husband in 1929.
The Adjusted Compensation Act was approved by Congress in May of 1924. Some of the terms are as follows: upon completion and receipt of the application, each applicant was issued an 'Adjusted Service Certificate', which was issued on January 1, 1925 and to be paid at 125% of the total value on the applicant's birthday in 1945. The total value of the Adjusted Service Certificate awarded to Grandpa Jim was $848. Applicants were also able to take out loans against the total value of the Adjusted Service Certificate, which he did. His first loan was dated November 15, 1928 for $118.32. His second loan was dated September 5, 1931 for $312.08. At the time of his first loan, he was living in Rawlins, Wyoming. When he took out his second loan, he was living on the Windmill Ranch west of Laramie, Wyoming, with my great-grandma and my grandpa, who had been born a year earlier.
When the Adjusted Compensation Act was enacted in 1924, there was no forethought as to how economic conditions would change. With the economic depression of the 1930's, a change was needed in this act to provide veterans with the money that was to be due them. In 1936, Congress passed the Adjusted Compensation Payment Act, which replaced the Adjusted Compensation Act of 1924 and provided for immediate payment of the adjusted compensation in bonds of $50.00. Grandpa Jim still had $417.60 due him and he received the payment as soon as he was able to do so. It is very likely he cashed the bonds he received and used the money for him and his family. Below is the 1936 application for payment of funds that were due him.
In looking at the timing of his receipt of these funds, it is likely he used the money to take his family to San Francisco to see his sister, Frances, who lived out there (I have the pictures from their trip to San Francisco from this time). Later in 1936, Jim and his family would move to Rawlins, where they would live.
Life in Rawlins would be an improvement over the past years in Buena Vista and Laramie, but there would still be challenges ahead. My next post will look at some of those challenges that he faced.
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