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HomeMy WebLinkAbout894.9 Circular letter, Massachusetts Commissioners of State Aid to the towns of Massachusetts concerning Chapter 279COMMISSIONERS: JOHN W. KIMBALL, Auditor of Commonwealth. SAMUEL DALTON; Adjutant General. CHARLES W. HASTINGS. CHARLES W. HASTINGS, Clerk of Board. oinmznt iealki glassatkusttts. OFFICE OF COMMISSIONERS OF STATE AID, STATE HOUSE. BOSTON, April 23, 1896. The attention of the mayor of each city, the selectmen of the several towns of the Common- wealth, and the burial agents appointed by them, is respectfully called to Chapter 279 of the Acts of 1896, which supersedes all former laws for the burial of indigent and friendless soldiers, sailors and marines. The new law takes effect on the 14th day of May, 1896, and necessitates the reappointment of the burial agents. This should be done at once and reported to the Commissioners of State Aid. The new and important feature of the present law is the provision for the burial of the wives and widows of certain soldiers and sailors, who may have died without leaving sufficient means to defray funeral expenses. The act is herewith published : [CHAP. 279.] AN ACT RELATIVE TO THE BURIAL OF DECEASED INDIGENT SOLDIERS, SAILORS OR MARINES WHO SERVED IN THE ARMY OR NAVY OF THE UNITED STATES DURING THE WAR or THE REBELLION, AND TO THE BURIAL OF THEIR WIVES AND WIDOWS. Be it enacted, etc., as follows : SECTION 1. It shall be the duty of the mayor of each city and of the selectmen of each town of the Commonwealth to designate some suitable person or persons as a burial agent, who shall serve without compensation, and shall be other than the overseers of the poor or those employed by them, whose duty it shall be, under regulations established by the commissioners of state aid, to cause to be properly interred the body of any honorably discharged soldier, sailor or marine who served in the army or navy of the United States during the war of the rebellion, between the years eighteen hundred sixty-one and eighteen hundred sixty-five, and the wives and widows of the same in case such soldier, sailor or marine or such wives or widows die without leaving sufficient means to defray funeral expenses : provided, however, that no wife or widow of any soldier, sailor or marine above-described shall be eligible to receive the benefits of this act unless she was married to him prior to his final discharge from the service aforesaid. Where an interment has taken place without the knowledge of the burial agent application may be made to him within one week from the date of death, and if upon investigation he shall find that the deceased was eligible under the law and the rules of the commissioners of state aid to receive the benefits of this act he may make return of the same in the manner prescribed for other cases. SECTION 2. The expense of such burial shall not exceed the sum of thirty-five dollars. Such burial shall not be made in any cemetery or burial ground used exclusively for the burial of the pauper dead, or in that portion of any burial ground so used. In case relatives of the deceased who are unable to bear the expense of burial desire to conduct the funeral, they may be allowed to do so, and the expense shall be paid as herein provided. When any sum shall have been expended under and according to this act the full amount so expended, the name of the deceased soldier, sailor or marine, the name of the regiment, company or vessel in which he served, the date of death, place of interment, and in case of a wife or widow the name of the husband and date of marriage, with such other details as the commissioners of state aid may require, shall be certified under oath to said commissioners, in such manner as may be approved by them, by the burial agent and treasurer of the City or town expending the same, within ninety days after the burial; and said commis- sioners shall examine the certificates thus returned and allow and endorse upon the same such sums as in their judgment have been paid and reported according to this act, and transmit the same to the auditor. The sums legally paid as afore- said and so allowed and endorsed by said commissioners, but with no expense for the disbursement of the same, shall be reimbursed from the treasury of the Commonwealth to the several cities and towns which have expended the same, on or before the first day of December in the year next after the year in which the expenditures have been made. SECTION 3. Chapter three hundred and ninety-five of the acts of the year eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, chapter one hundred and eighty-four of the acts of the year eighteen hundred and ninety-two, and chapter sixty-two of the acts of the year eighteen hundred and ninety-four are hereby repealed. [Approved April 14, 1896. The Commissioners of State Aid, being charged with the duty of establishing rules and regulations for the execution of this law, will require :— FIRST. — FIRST. A certificate of the city or town clerk, or of a majority of the board of selectmen, of the appointment of the person or persons to perform the duties of burial agent. SECOND. A certificate from the Adjutant General, or other satisfactory evidence, that the soldier, sailor or marine served in the army or navy of the United States during the late war, and was honorably discharged from said service. THIRD. A return of burial sworn to by the agent and city or town treasurer, giving the full name of the deceased, the company, regiment or vessels in which he served, also the full name of the wife or widow, with the husband's name and service, date of marriage and death, place of interment, and the full amount expended, with the certificates above called for, must be forwarded to the Commissioners of State Aid within ninety days after the burial of the body. veik INSTRUCTIONS TO AGENTS. Burial agents are enjoined to exercise the utmost care in supervising the burials provided for in this act. The full service record of the soldier or sailor should be secured, and in cases of wives or widows, evidence that the marriage took place prior to the husband's final discharge from the service, and in all cases, the fact of insufficient means to defray funeral expenses should be clearly ascertained before giving directions for burial or committing the State to any expense. Either the death or burial must have taken place in the city or town in and for which the agent was appointed, and he should exercise his duties in no other municipality. In all cases where complications arise, and the agent is in doubt as to the course to pursue, he should consult with the Commissioners before taking final action. JOHN W. KIMBALL, Conanaissioneis SAMUEL DALTON, of State Aid. CHARLES W. HASTINGS,