In 1902 a series of depositions were taken by the Commissioner of Pensions in order to determine Jacob's legal widow. The following information is derived from those depositions:

Jacob William Fingar, born in 1829, married Julia Ann Clum, who was his second cousin, on February 5, 1850. In 1862 he enlisted in the Army, as a Second Lieutenant. They had 5 children, only 2 of whom were living when he enlisted. He served just over 90 days, resigned, and was discharged. While he was in the service, his wife Julia moved from the Fingar farm to Philmont, New York. It is claimed that Jacob left her without any money when he enlisted, and Julia worked in the cotton mill for 20 years to support herself. The depositions disagree, but Jacob either did not return home after being discharged, or, he did return home but his wife would not have him. (The depositions disagree here too, some say he had been chasing other women before he enlisted, others say he had not.) He then moved around from place to place, was drafted but fled to the Canadian border, and lived for a time in Vermont under the name J.W. Hoffman. He married Lorana Parks about 1874 even though he was not divorced from Julia. In 1879 Lorana divorced him and in 1884 he married Delcena Marsh and remained with her until his death. He applied for a disability pension on the grounds of blindness in 1891. He died in 1896 in Syracuse, New York.

After his death Delcena found out about Jacob's first wife, and since Julia would be the legal widow, Delcena went to visit her to ask her to apply for a widow's pension and share it with her. Julia said No, she would not share it with Delcena.

Here is an approximate time line of Jacob's life:

The following documents tell the story...