These racial designations next to the pensioners were infrequent.

If you look at the pension file jacket on microfilm, you'll notice that some do include the race of the pensioner. However these notations were not added until the 20th century, not actually during the time of the pensioners life as I had previously guessed.

These designations thus were not written on the jacket by individuals who actually saw the pensioner, but were rather, based upon the testimonies and evidence presented in the pension file, that were later read by clerks of the Pension Bureau or Veteran's Administration who were flat filing and otherwise arranging the papers within the pensions.