Cardi2@aol.com wrote; >I'm questioning something. I have seen the M804 films on the Rev. War. They >are an index. They only record the name of the veteran, regiment, where >from, etc. - a little bit of information. You still have to write to the >NARA to get the file. That sounds like M313 -- the index to the 1812 pensions. [or maybe M860 - the guide to M881, the compiled service records of RevWar soldiers?] There may be an index to M804, but it would seem to be redundant-- they are alphabetical already. [there is an M805 which has 'selected records' -- about 10 pages of what the clerk thought were most 'genealogically significant'. I'll just say that I've seen plenty of treasures after that page that says 'nonselected records'.]] > Now does Heritage Quest have the whole file, not just >the index? Yes. > Some files can run for 75 to 100 pages providing your guy was >an officer. Doesn't even have to be an officer. I've seen some real long ones from Privates or widows who were having a hard time proving their story, or were just plain loquacious. I'd say, on average the files are 20-30 pages. There are probably as many longer ones as shorter. [and so far the two guys I know are mine have been 10 & 16 pages.] > Does it also take in the Bounty Land Records and the man's >millitary record? Most of the BL Warrants are noted-- but they just list the #, the acreage, the date assigned, and the state the soldier served in. Sometimes some of those fields are blank. The closest I've seen to a 'service record' in any of the files is the soldier's original discharge & the pass that often accompanied them. [probably written on the back of the discharge] I might have seen an enlistment or commission in one file, but it was very faded & the guy wasn't mine, so I just made a note of it and went on. [Zebulon Butler, Col of 2d CT, wife Phebe, in PA in1831; last file on reel M804-439] Sometimes there is substantiation from an adjutant someplace in the mid 1800's saying they found, or didn't find, so-and-so on the rolls of some company. And I've seen declarations from old commanders, paymasters or their descendants which said 'I have the books of said company in my possession, and have checked the rolls. . . ' Most of the unit names, dates and places need to looked at as the recollections of old warriors. For the purposes of genealogy, they are perhaps more important than the 'real truth' --- but as history, to be taken with a grain of salt. >I would like it verified that the actual pension file is for sale by Heritage >Quest. Scepticism is good. I couldn't believe when I figured this out a few months ago that it wasn't just common knowledge that you could get the complete file so fast, for so little. When the files were only $10, it would have been a harder decision to make. Now it seems like a no-brainer to me. [Now if they'd just get the 1812 pensions filmed, I could have a real ball.] Jim