Sorry for not getting all of this in one place. A NATF form 85 is necessary for pension records. The full pension file costs US$37. A "pension documents packet" consisting of the items that are of most interest to the genealogist. This costs US$14.75. The packet will contain up to 8 pages of the following information IF IT IS AVAILABLE. All files do not contain all of this information: Declaration of pension, declaration of widow's pension, Adjutant General statements of service, questionnaires completed by applicants, "Pension Dropped" cards, marriage certificates, death certificates, discharge certificate. If 8 pages doesn't comprise the whole file, NARA won't tell you how many are left. If you then want the whole file, you have to send in another order. -----Original Message----- From: Fossitt, Chris [mailto:ChrisF@communitypress.com] Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2001 3:31 PM To: IL-CIVIL-WAR-L@rootsweb.com Subject: RE: [IL-CIVIL-WAR] A Soldier's next of kin Two words....PENSION APPLICATION. Look up the National Archives website, and write them for the request forms. > ---------- > From: ChrisDix1@aol.com > Reply To: IL-CIVIL-WAR-L@rootsweb.com > Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2001 3:55 PM > To: IL-CIVIL-WAR-L@rootsweb.com > Subject: [IL-CIVIL-WAR] A Soldier's next of kin > > Hello everyone > > I have recently discovered that a soldier who served with the 4th Illinois > > Cavalry might well be the brother of my great-grandmother. I have obtained > > copies of various documents from the Illinois State Archives which show > that > this soldier's date and place of birth match those of my distant relative. > I > had hoped that one of these army documents would have named his next of > kin > at the time of his enlistment, but so far I have not been able to discover > > this information. > > I would have imagined that at a time of war it would be absolutely > necessary > for the army to know the name of a soldier's next of kin. Can anybody > suggest > where this information might be recorded? > > Many thanks for any help that anyone is able to give me. > > Chris Dixon > Newcastle upon Tyne, UK > >