I received a wonderful Christmas present from the National Archives in Washington, DC. It was the complete pension file for my great great grandfather, who died in the Civil War. Included were his marriage certificate, the marriage certificate for his widow's remarriage, the appointment of a guardian for his five minor children, various affadavits from doctors, friends, and ministers who were present at the birth of said children or the marriage, documents concerning his death which gave the cause of death and name of the hospital where he died. His widow was granted a pension of $8 a month for ten years, with an additional $2 for each minor child. To get this information I had sent off a NATF Form 80, which I had requested by email from inquire@nara.gov. They accept credit cards. You can get information about the National Archives services at http://www.nara.gov/genealogy/genindex.html The following is exerpted from their website: ************************************************** To obtain Civil War military service and pension records by mail Paper copies of Civil War military service and pension records can be ordered by mail using one NATF Form 80 for each soldier and each type of file. You can obtain the NATF Form 80 by providing your name and mailing address to inquire@nara.gov. Be sure to specify "Form 80" and the number of forms you need. You can also obtain the NATF Form 80 by writing to: National Archives and Records Administration, Attn: NWDT1, 700 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20408-0001. ********************************************** -- -- Marilyn Mills Hesse mmhesse@snet.net Windsor, Connecticut, USA Researching: HAMILTON/McQUISTON/MILLS/MOORE - in Pennsylvania (Crawford Co.& Mercer Co.);N.Ireland;Liverpool,UK CRAIGHEAD/LYNCH/MOODY/ROBINSON - in PA (Beaver Co) and N. Ireland DENNIS/WILLIAMS - in PA (Crawford Co and Bucks Co) and New Jersey BRENNER/GLASS/HESSE/MUELLER - in Louisville, KY and Germany