Civil War Union Pension Records Family History Research

Civil War pension applications and pension files at the National Archives are available for Union soldiers, widows and children who applied for a federal pension based on their Civil War service. The resulting Civil War pension records often contain family information useful for genealogy research. Record Type: Civil War Union pension files Location: United States Time Period: 1861–1934 Best For: Identifying battles in which the soldier served and individuals he served with. Obtaining proof of marriage in a Widows Pension file. Obtaining proof of birth in the case of minor children. Possible identification of the slave owner in the pension file of a former slave. Sometimes tracing a veteran back to prior residences.   What are Civil War Union Pension Files? Most (but not all) Union army soldiers or their widows or minor children later applied for a pension from the U.S. government. In some cases, a dependent father or mother applied for a pension based on the service of a deceased son. Following the Civil War, pensions were initially granted under the General Law enacted on 22 July 1861 in an effort to recruit volunteers, and later expanded on 14 July 1862 as An Act to Grant Pensions, which provided pensions for soldiers with war-related disabilities, and for widows, children under sixteen years of age, and dependent relatives of soldiers who died in military service. On 27 June 1890, Congress passed the Disability Act of 1890 which extended pension benefits to veterans who could prove at least 90 days of service in the Civil War (with honorable discharge) and a disability not caused by vicious habits, even if unrelated to the war. This 1890 Act also provided pensions to widows and dependents of deceased veterans, even if the cause of death was unrelated to the war. In 1904 President Theodore Roosevelt issued an executive order granting pensions to any veteran over the age of sixty-two years. In 1907 and 1912 Congress passed Acts granting pensions to veterans over the age of sixty-two years, based on the time of service.br/>   What Can You Learn From a Civil War Pension Record? A pension file will typically contain more information about what the soldier did during the war than the Compiled Military Service Record, and may contain medical information if he lived for a number of years following the war. The pension files of widows and children can be especially rich in genealogical content because the widow had to provide proof of marriage in order to receive a pension on behalf of her deceased husbands service. Applications on behalf of the soldiers minor children had to supply both proof of the soldiers marriage and proof of the childrens birth. Thus, these files often include supporting documents such as marriage records, birth records, death records, affidavits, depositions of witnesses, and pages from family bibles.   How Do I Know if My Ancestor Applied for a Pension? Civil War federal (Union) pension files are indexed by NARA microfilm publication T288, General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934 which can also be searched online for free at FamilySearch (United States, General Index to Pension Files, 1861–1934). A second index created from NARA microfilm publication T289, Organization Index to Pension Files of Veterans Who Served Between 1861–1917, is available online as the Civil War and Later Veterans Pension Index, 1861-1917 on Fold3.com (subscription). If Fold3 is not available to you, then the index is also available on FamilySearch for free, but only as an index—you will not be able to view the digitized copies of the original index cards. The two indexes sometimes contain slightly different information, so it is good practice to check both.   Where Can I Access Civil War (Union) Pension Files? Military pension application files based on Federal (not State or Confederate) service between 1775 and 1903 (before World War I) are held by the National Archives. A complete copy (up to 100 pages) of a Union pension file can be ordered from the National Archives using NATF Form 85 or online (select NATF 85D). The fee, including shipping and handling, is $80.00, and you can expect to wait anywhere from 6 weeks to four months to receive the file. If you want a copy more quickly and cant visit the Archives yourself, the the National Capital Area Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists can help you locate someone you can hire to retrieve the record for you. Depending on the size of the file and the genealogist this may be not only faster, but also no more expensive than ordering from NARA. Fold3.com, in conjunction with FamilySearch, is in the process of digitizing and indexing all 1,280,000 Civil War and Later Widows Pension Files in the series. This collection as of June 2016 is only about 11% complete, but will eventually encompass approved pension case files of widows and other dependents of soldiers submitted between 1861 and 1934 and sailors between 1910 and 1934. The files are arranged numerically by certificate number and are being digitized in order from lowest to highest. A subscription is required to view the digitized Widows Pensions on Fold3.com. A free index to the collection can also be searched on FamilySearch, but the digitized copies are only available on Fold3.com. Original files are located at the National Archives in Record Group 15, Records of the Veterans Administration.   Arrangement of Civil War (Union) Pension Files A soldier’s complete pension file may consist of one or more of these separate pension types. Each type will have its own number and prefix identifying the type. The complete file is arranged under the last number assigned by the pension office. SO (Soldiers Original) - When a solider applied for a pension, his application was assigned a number and designated as SO, for Soldiers Original or Survivors Original. If a soldiers pension application was rejected, the file will still appear under the SO number. SC (Soldiers Certificate) - Once a pension was granted, the application was moved into a new file and was assigned a certificate number identified with the prefix SC, for Soldier’s Certificate. The original application number became void. WO (Widows Original) - Similar to a soldiers pension application, but designated WO, for Widows Original. If the widow was applying to continue her deceased husbands previously approved pension benefits, her application then became a part of the soldiers file. If a widows pension application was rejected, the file will still appear under the WO number. WC (Widows Certificate) - Once a widows pension was granted, a certificate number was issued and designated as WC, for Widow’ s Certificate. The entire file, including the original soldiers application and certificate (if applicable) was then moved into the Widows file under the new certificate number. Widows files also include the applications of minor child and dependent parents. C XC (Certificate Files) - Beginning in the 20th century the system was consolidated. New pension applications were given a permanent certificate C number. Old files created prior to the change were transferred (X) to the C pension series and were designated with an XC number to denote the transfer to the new system. The last number used by the pension office is generally the number under which the entire pension file is located today. If you cant locate a file under the expected number, there are a few cases where it may be found under a previous number. Be sure to record all numbers found on the index card!   Anatomy of a Civil War (Union) Pension File A handy booklet titled Orders, Instructions, and Regulations Governing the Pension Bureau (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1915), available in digitized format for free at Internet Archive, provides an overview of the Pension Bureaus operations as well as an explanation of the the pension application process, describing what types of evidence were required and why for each application. The booklet also explains what documents were to be included in each application and how they should be arranged, based on the different classes of claims and the acts under which they were filed. Additional instructional resources can also be found on Internet Archive, such as Instructions and Forms to be Observed in Applying for Navy Pensions under the Act of July 14, 1862 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1862). Further details on the various pension acts can be found in an report by Claudia Linares titled The Civil War Pension Law, published by the Center for Population Economics at the University of Chicago. The website Understanding Civil War Pensions also provides an excellent background on the various pension laws affecting Civil War veterans and their widows and dependents.

Modern Fairy Tales for Teen Girls

Creepy Craig Free Essays

Creepy Craig It was almost like lying in a boiling rubber blowup pool. The air was thick and Zara couldn’t manage to fall asleep. The strange noises from across the hall filled the silence of her apartment again. We will write a custom essay sample on Creepy Craig or any similar topic only for you Order Now Zara always felt suspicious of the man who lived there, because when she waited for the lift to go to the floor of her unit, he would stand there at least four times a week and watch her as the doors closed. The creepy thing about that was, when the lift reached the sixth floor, he would be there as she stepped out. She always thought of him as her own personal stalker. Creepy Craig. Maybe he was harmless? Who cares! Zara wanted out. The last time she got out of the lift at her own floor, Creepy Craig was standing there leering at her offering ANZAC cookies. Enough was enough. She needed to get out of his apartment now. Even Ben, her boyfriend thought the guy was a creep. He wanted to sort him out but Zara didn’t want him to do that. Right now, she wished Ben was at home instead of playing Rugby with the local club in Southport. She reached for her mobile phone and called him. Zara was pleased to hear that Ben was on his way home. Even better, he had already been searching and had found a nice new apartment. He wanted her to see the next day. Their new place was amazing, right on the Broadwater overlooking water which glistened like diamonds in the sunlight as the squeals of the kids with their families echoed into the distance. Having a new unit was great. Just what Zara and Ben wanted. The relief of not worrying about Creepy Craig any more made her feel relaxed for the first time in months. Sitting on the balcony with the blistering Australian twelve o’clock sun hovering above, Zara and Ben relaxed with a refreshing icy cold glass of beer. They talked about their plans for tomorrow afternoon’s family picnic at the Broadwater and how Australia Day this year was going to be amazing. Ben would make the waterslide for the kids; aunty Sue would take the name out of the hat to see who was going to cook the barbeque this year. Zara and Ben both hoped it wasn’t going to be Gazza again. Last time he cooked he burnt all the sausages and set fire to his own shirt. Zara thought he had one too many beers that day. Aside from the disaster last year, they were both getting excited. As the afternoon wore on and the heat of the sun dissipated, Zara and Ben were feeling very relaxed. Out of nowhere, loud crashes resonated as if pots and pans were being hurtled across a room. From the unit above, the crash was accompanied by a girl yelling and a man swearing. Unsettled by the noise and wondering if the girl was okay, Ben left their unit and got the elevator to the eleventh floor. He followed the sound like a detective finding clues to a murder scene. Zara waited anxiously on the balcony on the floor below, worrying about what was actually happening up there and if Ben really should have gone to investigate. Everything went strangely silent. An ear-piercing scream split through the air. There, in a single second, but seeming like slow motion, a beautiful young girl glided past her balcony like a feather. Zara met her eyes and in a heartbeat she felt like she saw the girl’s whole life in a flash. She was gone. Zara froze like a statue. Ben burst through the door, demanding to know what had happened as he couldn’t get anyone to open to his knocking at the unit above. Zara couldn’t get any words out. All she could manage to do was point to the balcony repeatedly. When Ben returned, he looked pale and sick. They stood looking at each other for a few seconds; they both seemed to come out of their stupor after Ben called the police. People were out on their balconies all over the building, gazing in shock at the terrible sight below. Police and ambulance sirens blared towards their building. The afternoon ended in a haze of uniforms all over the place. Because Zara and Ben’s unit was directly below where the girl fell, they had to be questioned by the police. They told their stories and signed statements. Their fantastic day had ended in tragedy. They felt quite sick as they went to bed that night. When the brightness of the morning woke Zara and Ben, they discussed whether they should cancel their plans but both really wanted to get out of the unit and be with their family and friends. So it was decided that Ben would take the esky down to the basement, pack the car, drive up to reception and pick Zara up from there. After bed Ben phoned to say he was on the way, Zara waited at the reception. She felt uneasy about being on her own but it was only a few minutes until she would be out of the building and with Ben. She shared the lift with the manager of the building, Steve. They briefly discussed the sad and frightening event of yesterday. Steve couldn’t say very much because it was still a police matter. When the lift doors opened a t the ground floor, Zara looked up and standing in the foyer was Creepy Craig. â€Å"That’s the poor man who lost his girlfriend over the balcony yesterday. † Steve said to Zara whispering the news. How to cite Creepy Craig, Papers