Hi All, I've been researching too much today and my mind has drawn a total blank. How would I go about finding out if a pension file exists for a person from Will County? I've been to Ancestory, I've been to the Illinois Archives and I've got my list of Thomas Manning (5). For the life of me I cannot remember how I went about getting William Manning's pension file 15 years ago, and now with the advent of the computer, its got to be easier than this *grin* Am I right, that if they didn't marry there would be no pension file? Or if they at least didn't live long enough after the war to apply for a pension? I cannot find Thomas with the rest of family anywhere. I'm making a leap that he served around the same time as his brother, William. If there is no pension record, I know I should start with the military record and see what it tells me. Can anyone here tell me what is normally in a Civil War Military File? *sigh* I need to go to bed ... my dreams last night were spent imagining I was opening up filing cabinets, finding all these records ... hehehe ... guess I'm in for more of the same :) Maybe Thomas will pay me a visit and tell me where to find him :) Thanks! Lori Our Mixed Nuts .. err .. Roots http://www.redrival.com/alana