Hi, I would like to share an experience that taught me a lesson. I like the history part as much as the family part of "family historian." I had a great-granduncle who died, unmarried, in the Civil War. I knew NARA had muster rolls and pension files. So I sent off and got the muster roll. Later a distant cousin found me and asked if I had his pension file. Knowing the cousin was old, I thought him feeble, thought he meant muster and so as not to embarrass I said yes. Even over the phone I knew he was disappointed. Later he came back and said it again ; I said I thought you meant muster, no I don't have the pension file. I had assumed a pension file was only for wives & descendants but it turns out there was a provision for parents to get a pension if they could prove loss of a son was an economic hardship to the family (see what happens when you assume!) Took them a while but finally the mother proved need. When she died the father applied and since need and relationship had been proven by the mother, all he had to do was prove he was married to her. When England began civil registration in 1837 they allowed a few years for it to get organized and accepted church records. In the pension file was a copy of the parish registry for a marriage on 8 November 1838 in Pennal, Merioneth, Wales. Talk about "crossing the pond" !!! I learned it pays to be thorough. In this instance you can check the General Index to Pensions at a regional NARA center ( http://www.archives.gov/facilities/index.html ) or at a FHC. (While it only shows a center in Denver, click on the bottom and it shows "affiliated archives" in Yellowstone and Santa Fe). I understand that for the South each state gave pensions. Cyndi's List has a good section on this - ( http://www.archives.gov/facilities/index.html ) . Buyer beware - I recommended this on a board, someone sent off and I received a very nasty email that, for a large cost, she didn't learn anything new. (I sent off about 18 years ago and thought it reasonable ; I have no idea what inflation has done since). One other cravat - the cousin sent me a copy of what he had received ; but because it would be a while I also sent off to NARA for my own copy. There were about 5 pages in each set that were unique. As I remember we both got 50 pages, so I'm guessing the file was 60 or more pages and they picked out a random selection. Hope this helps, David