GOPHER RECORDS

If you need records, we will gopher you.

When Confederate Service Records are Unreadable or Incomplete

Compiled Military Service Records (CMSRs) for Confederate soldiers are online, but many of the images are so faint that they are unreadable.  In other cases, some pages seem to be missing from those online records.  In either case, there is a solution that is not well known. All surviving Confederate CMSRs were digitized by Fold3

Visiting the National Archives in D.C.?

Yes, we’re in business to copy records for you from the National Archives and Records Administration (“NARA”) but we encourage you to go to NARA yourself instead if that is practical.  There’s nothing like getting your own hands on your ancestors’ original documents! Following is our advice if you are planning a trip to NARA

Secrets of Civil War Pensions – Part 7

Getting the Full Pension File: Once you have found a record of a pension in an index, the next step is to get access to the full pension file.  The pension file may be in one of several possible places, however, and you’ll need to know where and how to access it.

Secrets of Civil War Pensions – Part 5

Alternative Pension Indexes: When the principal pension indexes don’t include what you want, there are some alternatives.  In fact, those alternative indexes sometimes include information about the veteran that is not recorded on any other pension index.

Secrets of Civil War Pensions – Part 4

Principal Pension Indexes: To find a Civil War pension, you must first find it in an index. There are several types of indexes available online and they contain different – and sometimes conflicting – kinds of data.  It is therefore critical that you understand the differences and consult the correct index(es), depending on your purpose.

Secrets of Civil War Pensions – Part 3

Eligibility: The qualifications to receive a pension changed over time.  Some reasonable conclusions can be drawn merely by examining the date of the application and the laws that were in place at that time.

Secrets of Civil War Pensions

This series will explore the many mysteries of the Civil War pension file, including how to find and interpret the many types of online pension indexes, some details of which are rarely documented elsewhere.  Those indexes alone may contain hidden clues and a remarkable amount of detail about the veteran’s life, family, and military service.