VA is the Veteran's Administration, an executive department of the U.S. government which handles veterans' affairs such as pension records and health care. XC is a designation for a particular class of Veterans' files. It is the prefix for the number assigned to a claim and related documents. Karen Packard Rhodes Middleburg, Clay County, Florida On 11/15/2014 2:45 AM, Christopher Gray via wrote: > Hi - as someone from over the pond, while very interested in the topic, I > don't understand the acronyms. What is a VA and XC? Chris > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of > [email protected] via > Sent: 15 November 2014 05:42 > To: [email protected] > Subject: [TGF] XC file > > I am learning what it is like to decipher an XC file from the VA of a > soldier who served in the Union during the Civil War. There is a wealth of > information in this file. > >

When the various people were giving their statements, they were submitting statements not appearing at a hearing. Though it was more usual for the people giving statements to be in the same geographic area, that wasn't the case. I've seen files for veterans or surviving spouses who had moved across the country between their service and applying for the pension. So no, they were not giving statements in the presence of the applicant. Sometimes they were interviewed and the statement is in a question and answer format, but that is not always the case. Depending on their level of literacy, they might appear before a justice of the peace and have that person record their testimony or they might write out their statement and appear before a notary to attest to it being their statement and sign it in that person's presence. Some statements appear to just be letters written to the pension bureau - I remember seeing one that was written by the applicant of the letterhead of the drugstore he owned. I have seen a number of pension files with a list of people who had submitted affidavits or who needed to do so. At times, especially if there was a conflict, the list would also include a determination as to whether the statements submitted by each person could or should be considered credible. One of my great-grandfather's served for the Union and applied for a pension. He was injured in training and discharged for disability, but when he applied for the pension a question arose as to whether he had suffered a new injury or aggravated an injury from his childhood. He told a different story each time he submitted a statement, so on the list in his file everyone else is listed as credible but he is not. He was never able to qualify as having a disability stemming from his service and only qualified once the criteria changed to being disabled and having served, without the requirement of a link between the two. What we now refer to as the VA was established in 1921. Prior to that date, pensions were under the auspices of the Department of War. The Veteran's Bureau, as it was originally known, took over the administration of all of the pensions that were still active at the time and assigned them new file numbers to differentiate them. The C and XC numbers are those new numbers, so all of those files have original application and certificate numbers, but they are filed under the C or XC number. Theoretically, when the file is no longer active it is moved to the National Archives, but that process is not dependable. Many of these files are still in the custody of the VA. So far, I have only had one client request a pension file that turned out to be an XC file and was in the custody of the National Archives. There is one child of a Civil War soldier still receiving a pension. Children were only eligible to receive pensions until they turned 16, except in the case of disability and this person does have a developmental disability. I believe that the pension payment she receives is less than $80 per month. Ann Gillespie http://anngillespieresearch.com/ <http://anngillespieresearch.weebly.com/> On Sat, Nov 15, 2014 at 5:52 AM, Karen Rhodes via < [email protected]> wrote: > > VA is the Veteran's Administration, an executive department of the U.S. > government which handles veterans' affairs such as pension records and > health care. XC is a designation for a particular class of Veterans' > files. It is the prefix for the number assigned to a claim and related > documents. > > Karen Packard Rhodes > Middleburg, Clay County, Florida > > > > > On 11/15/2014 2:45 AM, Christopher Gray via wrote: > > Hi - as someone from over the pond, while very interested in the topic, I > > don't understand the acronyms. What is a VA and XC? Chris > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: [email protected] > > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf > Of > > [email protected] via > > Sent: 15 November 2014 05:42 > > To: [email protected] > > Subject: [TGF] XC file > > > > I am learning what it is like to decipher an XC file from the VA of a > > soldier who served in the Union during the Civil War. There is a wealth > of > > information in this file. > > > > > > The Transitional Genealogists List was created to provide a supportive > environment for genealogists to learn best practices as they transition to > professional level work. Please respect the kind intentions of this list. > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word > 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >