After hearing an excellent talk at the NGS conference on what can be found in Civil War pension records stored at the National Archives, I placed an order for the records of three of my four Civil War veteran ancestors. (The fourth fought for the Confederacy, so his pension records would be with his state.) The fee was $80 per ancestor for the complete file and the application process was fairly straightforward. At the end, I was warned to expect it to take 45 to 120 days before I received any information.
Imagine my surprise (and delight) to receive a thick envelope from the National Archives in Washington D.C. today! It contained the pension records for my great great great grandfather, Richard Anderson Jeffries (1823-1914) who served in the Missouri infantry, Company D, 18th Regiment from 1861 to 1864.
I haven’t had a chance to go through the packet yet, but a glance shows me that there are multiple applications for pensions as well as physicians’ affidavits.
I’m anxious to pore over it and unravel the story these documents tell. Luckily for me, Certified Genealogist Julie Miller, in her excellent talk, Anatomy of a Military Pension, gave step-by-step instructions on how to properly process the information found in these files. So I have my work cut out for me and I can’t wait!
If you have Civil War ancestors who fought for the Union and you have at least $80 to spend, I encourage you to hop over to the National Archives website (that link takes you directly to the application form starting point). If you have information on your ancestor’s military service (I found mine through Ancestry and Fold3), it’s easy to apply to receive a copy of the pension file. Those files have not been digitized, so the only way to look at them is to go to the National Archives or send away for them like I did.
Wow Janine that was so fast! Hope you learn lots of new info about your ancestor.
I know, Vickie, I couldn’t believe it! What a week. I got my grandather’s handwriting analysis (I’ll blog about that soon), my Apple Watch, and now the pension records all in the course of two days!
Are all of these documents also available at Fold 3? I found my Civil War ancestor’s documents there, and don’t know if there is more available at the National Archives.
Linda, no these documents are not available on Fold3 because they haven’t been digitized. What you (and I) found on Fold3 is the Compiled Military Service Record. You may have also found the pension index card. But the packet I received was my ancestor’s full pension record.The info from the military record (or pension index card) is helpful for the application for the pension record. Happy hunting!
Sounds like a treasure trove of information for you, If only the UK government di this too! If we want to see anything it is a trip to Kew in London!
Marion, we are really fortunate, no doubt!
You said you sent for 3, got 1 packet, we’re either of the other 2 Adams?
Still loving your posts even if I don’t comment.
Julie B
Hi, Julie! Yes, one of them was George Washington Adams, our common ancestor! When I get the info (assuming I do), I’ll be sure and let you know. Thanks for your kind words!