Adelia Ferris

Pension File:  1138500, 858128 (Special Act)
P.O.: Jackson, Michigan
Service: Nurse at Columbian and Mt. Pleasant Hospitals
Applied: 1891
Final Status: Accepted

There's nothing remarkable about Adelia Ferris' file.  Ferris, nee Billings, was widowed in 1858.  When war broke out, she volunteered for service as a nurse and was accepted by Dorothea Dix.  Ferris served for three years until she was discharged in the fall of 1864.  Apparently things did not go well after that.  The Special Act report states that several decades after the war, what little property she had went up in smoke in the Great Chicago Fire--including her commission from Dix and whatever other papers she may have had to back her claim that she had, in fact, served as a nurse.  Luckily for Ferris, the War Department records (for once) showed that she had been commissioned, and that she had been paid $12 a month.  Ferris managed to get a Special Act granting her a $12 pension passed in July, 1892--just before the Army Nurses Pension Act was passed.
So, standard stuff so far, right?
Well, here's the thing I hadn't seen before: a very large certificate from the W.R.C. certifying that Ferris was enrolled as an Army Nurse from November 26, 1862, was commissioned by Dorothea Dix, and served for ten months until honorably discharged September, 1863.
The information on the certificate isn't new.  It's the mere fact that the certificate itself exists, and that Ferris included this in her application that intrigues me.  Not only is the WRC singlehandedly muscling the Army Nurses Pension Act through Congress, and supporting numerous pension claims, they're investigating these women themselves.  This isn't Annie Wittenmyer anymore acting as attorney for the claimant, filing affidavits or what have you.  And this isn't a nurse using the WRC to network and find other nurses she served with who can help her.  This is full on institutional endorsement, with an investigation behind it.
To my wonderful, faithful readers: do any of you know where I can find documents relating to pensions issued by the WRC to its members, the investigations it launched into nurses' service (like Ferris), and/or its National Pension Committee?  Bits and pieces are good for keeping a girl excited and motivated, but I'm going to need a broader picture if I want to do this properly.  Let me know if you think of anything!