if you want to get all the information that's in a Civil War pension file, should you find one exists, you will need to send for that file from NARA. It's expensive these days, but some files have tons of genealogical records in them. Some have next to nothing. If the pension was awarded early after or during the war, you will get more. If there is a widow's pension, you can get more. If the soldier outlived everybody into failing health and old age, you won't get as much. You might not, in fact, get much besides health records. I got my ggrandfather's pension file. He mustered out in fragile health and was never able to work much after that. He died in 1887 without applying for a pension. His widow filed for one. She had to prove her marriage, his service, and what happened to him during and after the war. She provided a series of letter he wrote home from the war as part of her proofs. She also had to provide affidavits from a bunch of other family members, fellow soldiers and friends. All those providing affidavits had to identify themselves and their relationships. Her children were grown by the time she filed. Had her children still lived at home, she would have had to provide proofs for their births as well. Those files also include the soldier's death record. On the other end of that spectrum, I got a pension file for my husband's ggrandfather that had very little in it. He lived to be in his 90s, after his brothers and wife all died. He didn't apply for his pension until not long before he died. By that time the requirements for pension eligibility had been relaxed considerably so proofs were less onerous. He had no wife or children living with him who needed to get benefits. He had worked a farm most of his adult life but finally had been physically unable to do that kind of work. Most of the documentation in that file was for his health and his service unit. I have 13 or 14 of these files with every grade of data in between these two. When I got all but one of these files, there was a nominal set fee for whatever you got. The price went way up a couple years ago. Now there is a base price which is expensive to start. You also now get charged for the number of pages in the file. Some of these files have a couple hundred pages. You get more but you pay more too. NARA will not tell you in advance how much it will cost. You just agree to pay whatever it comes to be. That all makes for a somewhat risky venture these days. I did send for one file after this system changed. I wanted it because there were a lot of unanswered questions relating to that particular soldier. The file was for his widow. She could not collect because she could not prove he died. She could not prove anything actually because he abandoned her and his children. He changed his name, then reenlisted. Nearly as I can tell, he changed his name because he enlisted, then immediately deserted. Then he wanted to go back in the service so did that under an assumed name. Then he disappeared. He went into hidiing somewhere. Or whatever - new girl friend maybe? I found all this fascinating but I never found him either. It was pretty expensive in the bargain. Fortunately for me, if not for his wife, the file was small enough to get for the base fee. If your guy is from NY, one place to start is with the NY state archives. They have NY Civil War enlistment records. Those records will tell you when and where he enlisted, his physical description, what unit he served, if he changed units, and when and where he was mustered out. It tells if he deserted or was a POW. If a POW, it tells when and where. You can get quite a bit of material from the state records. You can search for names on their website. You can send for those records for a small fee. The form is on the web site. They are most accommodating. There are other web sites for finding whether someone served in that war, some free and some for pay. The best free site is _http://www.itd.nps.gov/cwss/_ Loreen Wells > Try > http://www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records/pre-ww-1-records.html On 10-05-31 02:49 PM, Vi & Ted Schmitz wrote: > Try > http://www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records/pre-ww-1-records.html > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Daniel David Lewis Frommherz (1)" > <daniel_lewis_frommherz@mckenzievalleymarket.com> > To:<nyc-roots@rootsweb.com>;<tvschmitz@zianet.com> > Sent: Monday, May 31, 2010 3:34 PM > Subject: Re: [NYC-ROOTS] I found my 2nd great (maternal) grandfather > > fr > in1870census for Manhattan > > > >> Is this something that I can access on line? >> >> Dan >> ----- Original Message ----- >> From: "Vi& Ted Schmitz"<tvschmitz@zianet.com> >> To:<nyc-roots@rootsweb.com> >> Sent: Monday, May 31, 2010 2:14 PM >> Subject: Re: [NYC-ROOTS] I found my 2nd great (maternal) grandfather >> in1870census for Manhattan >> >> >> >>> Try the National Archives for their Civil War Pension records, I found a >>> gold mine in those of my great grandfather and his brother in law. >>> >>> Ted >>> >>> >>> ----- Original Message ----- >>> From: "Lisa Thompson"<lisajtmo@yahoo.com> >>> To: "Daniel David Lewis Frommherz (1)" >>> <daniel_lewis_frommherz@mckenzievalleymarket.com>; >>> <nyc-roots@rootsweb.com> >>> Sent: Monday, May 31, 2010 2:48 PM >>> Subject: Re: [NYC-ROOTS] I found my 2nd great (maternal) grandfather in >>> 1870census for Manhattan >>> >>> >>> >>>> John W. and possibly Robert J. would've been old enough to serve in the >>>> Civil War. (Robert probably a little later into the war.) I'd search >>>> Civil >>>> War deaths to see if you find either of them there. >>>> >>>> >>>> Lisa >>>> * * * * >>>> Paper and Pawprints - http://paperandpawprints.blogspot.com >>>> Design Team Member for DigiStampBoutique - >>>> http://www.digistampboutique.co.uk/ >>>> Design Team Member for Sweet Sketch Wednesday - >>>> http://sweetsketchwednesday.blogspot.com >>>> TAC demonstrator #0482 >>>> >>>> The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but >>>> because of those who look on and do nothing. - Albert Einstein >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> ----- Original Message ---- >>>> From: Daniel David Lewis Frommherz (1) >>>> <daniel_lewis_frommherz@mckenzievalleymarket.com> >>>> To: nyc-roots@rootsweb.com >>>> Sent: Mon, May 31, 2010 12:58:47 PM >>>> Subject: [NYC-ROOTS] I found my 2nd great (maternal) grandfather in 1870 >>>> census for Manhattan >>>> >>>> Folks, I found in the 1870 US Census for Manhattan the names of my 2nd >>>> great >>>> grandfather (Andrew Wood 1805), his wife (Julia Ann 1820), and children >>>> (James Andrew 1837, Deborah 1841, John W. 1843, Charolotte 1844, Robert >>>> J. >>>> 1847, and Gertrude 1853) James was also listed separately with his wife >>>> and >>>> two of three children still living as a second entry. I had previously >>>> found this family in the 1850 US Census for Tarrytownship (Mount >>>> Pleasant) >>>> Westchester county, NY so I know this is the same family even with the >>>> similar names of the parents. I cannot find any of these people after >>>> 1870 >>>> with the exception of James Andrew who is my First Great grandfather. I >>>> really need any suggestions on what and where to look for to find more >>>> on >>>> this family. >>>> >>>> >>>> ------------------------------- >>>> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >>>> NYC-ROOTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the >>>> quotes in the subject and the body of the message >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> ------------------------------- >>>> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >>>> NYC-ROOTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the >>>> quotes in the subject and the body of the message >>>> >>>> >>>> >>> >>> ------------------------------- >>> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >>> NYC-ROOTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the >>> quotes in the subject and the body of the message >>> >> >> >> > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to NYC-ROOTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > >

My Congressman can get these files cheaper than the rest of us. I will try that route now that I have his enlistment dates. It could be that the family was living in the same area where son James Andrew enlisted from or where he was discharged from could be both. Dan