BFF1865, Thanks so MUCH for the info. From now on I will not be satisfied by the index card. Here I go again, sending and waiting. Thanks again, Dot -----Original Message----- From: BFF1865@aol.com [mailto:BFF1865@aol.com] Sent: Sunday, July 08, 2001 1:07 PM To: PALACKAW-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [PA-LAC] Civil War Pension Records RE: Civil War Records I have filed for several relatives' military records, including WWII, Korea, and Vietnam veterans. I filed for an ancestor's Civil War Military and Pension Records over a year ago. The information I received was eighty-four pages long. The military files typically contain a soldier's enlistment papers, muster rolls, hospital reports if applicable, and assignment orders from the war itself. The postwar pension file usually includes: original and subsequent pension claims, doctors' reports on war-related medical conditions, affadavits from witnesses to the soldier's wounding or injury, information on the widow(s) and children, property estimates, death and marriage certificates, etc. All of this information was necessary for a soldier to collect a military pension from the government. My ancestor died in 1900, and his widow in 1940 (never emarried). Their daughter filed for a reimbursement on her father's pension in the 1930s, in order to cover medical costs for her ill mother. So, in my ancestor's case, his military and pension files contain a plethora of family information from 1864 through 1940. While providing, of course, a great deal on an ancestor's war service, there is even more on his postwar life, and that of his family and friends. The cards on ancestry.com are simply an index of pension claims. They provide basic information on the veteran, such as his wife/widow, age, unit, etc. Beware, however. With well over a million such cards transcribed in a relatively short period of time, there are a good number of typos. My ancestor's age was even typed incorrectly. If you are interested in ordering Civil War Pension Records, you must use NATF Form 85. For Military Records, you would use NATF Form 86. You can send for the forms through the National Archives website, at www.nara.gov. Please note that you cannot use Standard Form 180 to order Civil War records. That form is used for all World War I veterans through the present, and for some earlier records. For example, enlisted Navy records from 1886 onward, and all Marine Corps records from 1905 to the present require the Standard Form 180. This can seem complicated, but seems clearer when you realize military records are kept in several different locations. All Civil War (even Confederate) records are kept at the National Archives in Washington DC. Many post-Civil War records are held at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, MO. Some 20th Century records are held at other locations, as well. It does take time for military and pension records to be received, usually 4-6 months after you send out the forms, but in the end, it will all be worth it! ==== PALACKAW Mailing List ==== Search the Lackawanna pages: http://www.rootsweb.com/~palackaw/search.html To unsubscribe: http://www.rootsweb.com/~palackaw/index.html#MailingList