office felt that he was not deserving. [47] His pension was at $50/month this time. [46]
John Walkinshaw died on July 2, 1925 of an intestinal obstruction at the old age of 82. (The same death certificates also states June, 1925, the July date is more reasonable considering his burial was on July 5th). He was buried in Blanchard, Colfax Township, Page County Iowa by the undertaker Scott Tucker. [48] He was survived by his wife Margaret, who continued to collect a widow's pension [49] until she herself passed away on July 4th, 1930. [44]
Real Deal or Imposter?
Such is the description of the life of John Henry Walkinshaw. But was this the real John Henry Walkinshaw? With the information available, it would seem that it was a painful, pitiable existence with little cause for joy.
However, there is some room to doubt that the individual described was the real John Henry Walkinshaw. In 1913, Commissioner G.M. Saltzgaber, sent a letter of inquiry [50] to John Walkinshaw, seeking to reconcile why he provided paperwork with conflicting birthdates (May 9th, 1843 on one pension form[51] and June 8th, 1843 on another. [42] Was the insinuation that John was an imposter collecting a government pension? John's response was that he did not accurately remember his birthdate! [52] In his response, he claimed to have checked the family Bible and confirmed that May 8, 1843 (a combination of the two above) was his true birthdate. He also stated "I further declare that I am pensioner under ctf #353,698," [52] If one scrutinizes John's other paperwork, it is noted that he had [continued on page 15]
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