An Inventory of Its World War I Disallowed Bonus Files at the Minnesota
Historical Society
On September 19, 1919, the Minnesota State Legislature approved an act for relief and
assistance for Minnesota soldiers who had served in World War I [Laws Spec Sess 1919
c49]. These payments, known as bonuses, were $15 for each month (or fraction
thereof) that the individual soldier was in service. As defined in the enabling law
and amended in 1921 [Laws 1921 c471], soldier was defined as any officer, soldier,
sailor, marine, nurse, student nurse, or dietitian who had served in the United
States military or naval forces or those of any nation associated with the United
States in the war, and who was a resident of the state at the time he/she was
commissioned, enlisted, inducted, appointed or mustered into the military or naval
service subsequent to April 6, 1917.
Service had to have commenced by November 11, 1918. The soldier had to have received
an honorable or ordinary discharge or continued to serve under honorable conditions.
The definition was written to specifically exclude anyone who sought to avoid
service because of conscientious objections to the war with Germany or alienage, or
who had been found guilty of fraud or violation or evasion of the Selective Service
Act or the regulations of the War Department. The amended act of 1921 specifically
defined many other circumstances under which an individual may not have been
eligible for a bonus. The bonus laws provided for a minimum bonus of $50 and stated
that an individual’s bonus payment would be reduced by a reimbursement for tuition
as authorized under law [Laws 1919 c338].
The original act also authorized a surviving widow, if still single, to receive her
husband’s bonus. The amended 1921 law expanded survivorship to include children
under 18, if no widow survived, or widowed mother, if no widowed spouse or children
survived. If the soldier died after discharge but before receiving a bonus,
survivorship extended first to the widow, then to any children under 18, then to the
mother, if living, and finally to the father. A Soldiers’ Bonus Board, consisting of
the state auditor, state treasurer, and adjutant general, was created to oversee the
operation of this program, to employ staff to carry out its functions, and to
approve or disapprove claims. Application forms provided by the adjutant general
were completed by the individual applicant and returned to either the adjutant
general’s office or the clerk of district court in the county of current residence
or residence at the time of induction.
The board defined procedures and added interpretations to what constituted eligible
service. When a claim had been approved, a voucher was prepared and transmitted to
the state auditor; the state auditor issued a warrant for the amount approved and
forwarded it to the state treasurer who issued payment. The bonus board expired in
1922 but was recreated in April 1923 [Laws 1923 c311] to function through September
1924. It was formally abolished in 1925 [Laws 1925 c426].
Approximately 120,000 claims were filed with the bonus board, of which about 110,000
were paid. Claims rejected by the bonus board could be reviewed by the Soldiers’
Bonus Board of Review, created by the Legislature in 1921 [Laws 1921 c471, subd4a].
Appointed by the governor, this review board operated between July 1, 1921 and March
1, 1922. After the review board’s expiration, the bonus board created its own
Department of Review which existed until June 1922. A total of 1,822 cases were
reviewed by these bodies. Requests for bonus payments submitted after the
dissolution of the bonus board apparently went to the Legislature.
Special legislative acts authorized payment of the bonuses[ Laws 1927 c1333; Laws
1929 c368; Laws 1935 c260; etc]. The names of individual soldiers and/or their heirs
are listed in the respective acts. In 1935, the Legislature revisited this issue and
formally transferred administration of the bonus program to the Adjutant General
[Laws 1935 c213] and mandated that the Adjutant General report to the Legislature
any payments made under the act. Payments were made until at least 1943.
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Availability:
The collection is open for research use.
Preferred Citation:
[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Minnesota. Office of the Adjustant General. World
War I Dissallowed Bonus Files. Minnesota Historical Society.
See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional
examples.
Accession Information:
Accession number: 2008-68
Processing Information:
Catalog ID number: 007062798
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