If you haven’t yet determined if your ancestor was a soldier, we recommend that you start with this blog post.  It will direct you to the most common sources in order to help identify your ancestor’s service.

If you know the unit in which your ancestor served but you haven’t found any records for him, you can take advantage of our FREE records assessment.

If you know what records are available, then you are ready to place an order.  We will visit the National Archives where we will find and duplicate your records.

Our principal service is to pull records from the National Archives and duplicate them for you.

If you don’t know if your ancestor was a soldier or you don’t know what records you want us to duplicate, then there are still some things that we can do to help you.

First, we recommend that you consult this post which will help you to determine where to find evidence that your ancestor was a soldier.  Although the post is specifically about Civil War soldiers, most of the same advice applies to soldiers in other wars.

We also offer a FREE records assessment in which we will do a cursory review of available indexes and other resources to see if military records for your ancestor are known to exist.

In the event that we are not successful, we recommend that you hire a professional genealogist to assist in your ongoing search.

Yes, you can!  You can submit a request that the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) pull and copy the files for you. This is typically much more expensive and has been known to take many weeks and often many months to get the documents. And while we deliver color copies of the documents, NARA’s own duplication service simply makes black/white Xerox copies of each page.

But you can find the forms and instructions to request documents directly from NARA here:

• Service Records (form NATF-86)
• Pensions (NATF-85)
• Bounty Land Application (NATF-85)
• Land Entry File (NATF-84)

Yes, you can!  If you live close to Washington, D.C., then you can go there yourself and get your hands on the original documents.  It can be thrilling to have your ancestor’s pension file in your hands, knowing that he held those same documents, some of which bear his signature.  You can then take photos or scan copies of the documents.  NARA even has scanners which you can use (you’ll pay per page), or you can use the scanners in the Innovation Hub for free.

If you’re considering a trip to NARA in D.C., then you really should review this post from our blog with instructions and extensive advice about your visit.  Or free free to contact us and we’d be happy to meet you there and walk you through the process at no charge.

We can retrieve records regarding any 19th-century war but the most popular records requests by far are for the Civil War.  For that reason, most of our blog posts use those records in their examples.  The same issues typically apply to the other wars, however.

If you have a question about records for a different war, then feel free to contact us.

We have an active Facebook page which reflects the latest news, interesting case studies, and other information.

These are popular web sites, each of which contain millions of records that are of interest to genealogists.

FamilySearch.org is a free site that is made available by the LDS Church (i.e., the Mormons).   No credit card or religious affiliation is required but you will be required to create a free account in order to access the site.  Its databases contain records from around the world, including vital records, census records, immigration records, family trees, military records, and newspapers, among many others.  Since it is free, it is the starting point for many researchers.  Other sites have some important advantages over it, however, so it should not be used exclusively.

Ancestry.com is a commercial website with a similarly-wide variety of records types, including many unique databases and some which overlap with FamilySearch.  Most indexes on Ancestry.com are free but to see the full record, one must have a subscription.

Fold3.com specializes in military records, including many original records that were digitized in partnership with NARA and are not available anywhere else.  Fold3.com is owned by Ancestry.com.  Like its parent company, the indexes on Fold3 can be accessed for free but you need a subscription to see the full record.  If you purchase a subscription to Ancestry.com, you can get a discounted upgrade to include Fold3.com.

NOTE: Don’t make the mistake of dismissing Ancestry.com and Fold3.com on the grounds that they are paid subscription services. They contain important data types that are not available anywhere else and there are lots of ways for you to access them for FREE as described here.

Our search utilizes the major online indexes and some other exclusive resources but it is far from comprehensive.  If we are unable to find the records that you want, we recommend that you hire a professional genealogist for the most complete search possible.

You may want to choose a genealogist who specializes in the geographic area of your interest.  He or she will be most familiar with the records in question and may be able to conduct a hands-on search of local records that are not stored at the National Archives.

We recommend that you select a professional genealogist from one of these sites:

• Board for Certification of Genealogists
• LegacyTree.com
• ProGenealogists.com

We can retrieve 19th-century records of various types from the National Archives in Washington D.C.  These span the period of the War of 1812, Mexican War, Indian Wars, Civil War (Union), Spanish-American War, and the Philippine Insurrection, as well as for peacetime during that same period.

For military personnel, we can copy service files, pension files, medical records, Court Martial files, and Bounty Land Applications.

We also retrieve records of Federal land transactions (i.e., Land Entry Case files) for military and non-military patentees.

The type of records that are available depends on the time period or war. See the chart here.

Revolutionary War service and pension records are not available at the National Archives so they are not among the records that we can scan. All of those records have been previously digitized.

The indexes to those records are available with a free account to FamilySearch.org. The service record index is HERE and the pension record index is HERE.

The records themselves are on Fold3.com. Service records are HERE and pension records are HERE.

Fold3 is a subscription service but there are a variety of legal ways to access it without a subscription as itemized on our blog HERE.

Many (but not all) of the Revolutionary War records are also available on the National Archives web site at no charge. Service records are HERE and pension records are HERE.

If your soldier(s) received Bounty Land as an inducement or reward for service in the Revolutionary War, then we can retrieve those records for you. Bounty Land Applications are $22 each and Land Entry Case Files are $25 each. The index to Bounty Land Applications (current only through surnames starting with “L”) are on Fold3 HERE.

We can likewise get records of Federal land that was purchased by your Revolutionary War ancestor or which was granted to them the Homestead Act and other Federal grant programs. Again, Land Entry Case Files are $25 each.

A searchable database of all patented Federal land is on the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) web site HERE.

Confederate service and pension files are not available at the National Archives.

Confederate service records have been digitized and are available on Fold3.com.  It is a subscription site but there are a variety of legal ways to access it for free as described on our blog HERE.  Some of the records are also available for free on the National Archives’ own web site HERE.

Confederate pension records are maintained by the individual southern states as described on our blog HERE.  A list of sites where you can find Confederate pension records (itemized by state) can be found HERE.

If you have further questions about Confederate records, feel free to write to us.

Our expertise is with 19th-century records.  They are preserved at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in Washington D.C.

20th-Century records (World War 1 and later) are held at the NARA facilities in College Park, MD or St. Louis, MO and are therefore not available to us.  You can find an independent researcher who specializes in those records on THIS list.

A service file typically contains records of the soldier’s military service, including enlistment, promotions, transfers, discharge, and the soldier’s presence or absence on paydays, among other things.  Although the contents of a service file is usually military in nature, it may contain some biographical or genealogical information.  For more details about the typical contents of a service file, see this page.

A pension file typically contains documentation of the soldier’s military service insofar as is necessary for him to qualify for a military pension. The file may also contain copious medical records to document the soldier’s disability, if any. Many pension files also contain lots of biographical and genealogical information, especially in the case that the applicant is a widow or other dependent as they would be required to prove their relationship to the soldier.  For more details about the typical contents of a pension file, see this page.

Although the focus of these two files is different, they can both contain very useful information for researchers.  It is therefore prudent to obtain copies of both files whenever possible.

The bundle includes a Union Civil War soldier`s Service Record, Pension File, and Carded Medical Records (if any) at a price that is somewhat less than ordering the three record types individually.  Service and medical records for a second or subsequent regiment cost extra.  The bundle also applies to soldiers of the Spanish-American War.

The bundle is not available for Confederate soldiers because those records. are not available at the National Archives in D.C.

All surviving Confederate service records are on Fold3.com.  Many (but not all) of the those records are also on the National Archives web site HERE.

Fold3 also includes Union service records for regiments from Massachusetts, Vermont, all of the border states (Missouri, Kentucky, West Virginia, D.C., Maryland, Delaware), all of the southern states (i.e., Union regiments that were formed in the south), plus the western states/territories of OR, CA, UT, KS, and the Dakotas. In addition, Fold3 contains all of the service records for the U.S. Colored Troops and the 1st New York Engineers. Many (but not all) of the those records are also on the National Archives web site HERE.

All other Union service records are available only at the National Archives in Washington D.C. or can be ordered from us HERE.

Note that Fold3.com is a subscription service but there are a variety of legal ways to access it for free as described on our blog HERE.

Neither Fold3 nor the National Archives site includes Confederate pensions.  Those pensions are held by the southern states that issued the pensions as described on our blog HERE.  Many of those are Confederate pensions are online as described on our blog HERE.

A very small percentage of Union pension records are on Fold3.com.  These are pension records for widows/dependents and only include those for which the certificate number is less than 148100.  Some (but not all) of those pensions are also on the National Archives site. Approved pensions are HERE and disapproved pensions are HERE.

All other Union pension records are available only at the National Archives in Washington D.C. or can be ordered from us HERE.

Note that Fold3.com is a subscription service but there are a variety of legal ways to access it for free as described on our blog HERE.

Our prices are based on a flat rate according to the average amount of effort that it takes to retrieve each type of record that you request.  The prices for the most common record types are outlined on this page.

Or before actually placing an order, you could also review the Order Form which reflects the prices of every record type.  If you have a free membership to our site, then the Order Form will reflect the regular price and your discount for each item.

The terms and conditions on the order form say, “The quoted prices are for records that are housed at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in Washington D.C. In rare cases, your records may be stored somewhere else (e.g., the NARA facility in St. Louis, MO), In that case, we may still be able to retrieve them but there may be an additional charge. If so, we will quote the new price and seek your approval before proceeding.”

While we regret when we have to add this additional charge, there are several reasons that it is necessary:

• since files in St. Louis are typically for soldiers or their widows who lived into the 1920s and beyond, the average file size is typically double what we find at NARA in D.C.
• the files in St. Louis also use a tedious binding system that adds substantially to the time that it takes to scan a file.
• the paper-handling protocols in St. Louis are much more strict than in D.C.  So, for instance, each time we encounter a paperclip, we have to take the file to a staff member to remove it.  (You read that right!)

The bottom line is that it takes much more time to scan a file in St. Louis than it would for the same file in D.C.

Rest assured that, even with this additional charge, our prices are much lower than other digitizing services (or NARA themselves) who charge by the page.

Thank you for understanding.

When you access our Order Form, you’ll be asked whether you want to Login/Register or proceed as a Guest.  Members receive at least 10% off our regular retail pricing (excluding special orders) and other benefits.

Membership is free and we don’t sell or share our membership list with anyone else.

With a FREE membership to Gopher Records, you’ll receive a discount of at least 10% off the regular retail prices of our services (excluding special orders).  You will also be able to purchase gift certificates, track the status of your orders, and (optionally) be notified of drawings, sales, and other relevant news.  We do not sell or share your registration information with any third party.  There is no cost or obligation to being a member.

That’s it.  Really.  There is no fine print.

In exchange for giving you a discount, we would like to be able to notify you of sales and specials offers but, like you, we don’t appreciate “junk mail.”  So, as mentioned, if our occasional marketing stuff (typically less than four a year) doesn’t interest you, then you can uncheck that option when registering.  So there is really is no downside to registering to get a member discount.

Register for a new account now or login if you are already a member.

When accessing the Order Form, you will first be prompted to register, log in, or proceed without a membership (i.e., as a “guest”).

Or you can go directly to the Registration page or login if you are already a member.

No.  You are paying for our search effort, not the results of that search.  All of our prices are based on a flat rate that reflects the average amount of effort that it takes to retrieve each type of record.

So while you will not be charged less if the file happens to contain only a few pages, you will also not be charged more if the file happens to contain many more pages than average.

Upon receiving your order, we will search available online indexes to determine which records exist at the National Archives for your soldier.  There is no charge for that effort.

If we find your records in the indexes, then we will go to the National Archives on your behalf, conduct a hands-on search, and make digital copies of every record that is found.  The price that you pay is based on our effort to search and retrieve the records in question, not on the number of pages that happen to be found in those records.

NOTE: If an index does NOT exist (notably in the case of “Carded Medical Records” and “Regular Army Enlistment Papers”), then you will be charged for the search even if no records are found for your soldier.

If we find that the records that you requested have already been digitized and are online, then we will refer you to that site at no charge.  Most of the web sites for such online records are free.  Some require a subscription fee but, in those cases, there are a variety of legal ways to access them for free as described in THIS blog post.

If none of those options are available to you, then write to us and we can provide copies of the records for free (or for a small fee if required by the “Terms and Conditions” of the commercial site in question).

Records are actively being digitized by the National Archives and third-party companies like Fold3.com.  Once a record has been digitized, it is placed out of circulation (or even destroyed) so that the originals are no longer accessible by the public.

If we find that your records are available online, then we will refer you to that site at no charge. If it is a commercial site, however, a membership ($) may be required in order for you to access those records.  There are ways to access most such sites for free, e.g., through a library or free trial membership.  If none of those options are available to you, then we can probably provide copies of the records for a small fee (subject to the “Terms and Conditions” of the commercial site in question).

When circumstances allow us to provide a reasonable estimate of the delivery date for your order, then that date will be shown in the top-right of the order form.

Such a date reflects our best estimate of the date by which new orders will be delivered if the records in question are stored at the National Archives in Washington D.C.  For an estimated delivery for records that must be obtained from other repositories (like NARA in St. Louis, MO), please contact us.

Any such published date is an estimate, of course, and unforeseen circumstances may interfere.  In most cases, however, we are able to delivery orders well before the estimated delivery date.

We make color copies of your documents and deliver them as downloadable PDF files.  Each PDF file will contain one element from your order.  That is, if you order a service file and a pension file, you will receive two PDF files.

PDF files can be viewed by any version of Adobe Acrobat, including the free Acrobat Reader.

If you have a slow internet connection, then we can mail the documents to you on a thumb drive by request.  The delivery cost will be $10.00 plus actual shipping.

We do not ship paper copies of the documents.  Once you receive the PDF(s), then you can print them, of course.  Be aware, however, that the original documents are typically in a wide variety of sizes (i.e., letter, legal, envelope, etc.).  If you print them all on letter-size paper, for instance, then it may affect their legibility because some documents may be resized or truncated depending on your printer settings.

Members can log in to see a list of all current and previous orders.  The status of each order is reflected in that list.

This feature is not available to non-members.  If as a non-member, for instance, you need to cancel an order, you can notify us through our Contact Us page.

We typically retrieve service files, pension files, medical records, Court Martial records, Bounty Land, and other Federal land records from the 19th century.  If you would like us to retrieve a different kind of record, then feel free to contact us and we will provide advice or a quote for that service.

Yes.  While gift certificates can be purchased only by members, but they can be redeemed by anyone.

To order a gift certificate, simply loginto your member account and then click on the Order a Gift Certificates button.

You may cancel an order until the day before the records are scheduled for retrieval from NARA.  Since orders are processed in the order in which they are received, that schedule is not always predictable and is not published.  You are welcome to contact us, however, to determine if your records are scheduled to be processed imminently.  If not, we can cancel your order.  No refund is necessary in this case since we do not ask you to pay anything until after the records have been retrieved.

If, once you have paid our invoice, we determine that our copies of the records (if any) are not faithful reproductions of the original, then we will certainly make it right (e.g., by correcting the file or by revisiting NARA).  That is very rarely necessary, however.

It is your responsibility to ascertain that you are requesting the correct records.  We will NOT provide a refund on the grounds that the records that you requested turned out to be for someone other than your ancestor.

Also, remember that you are paying for our service in retrieving and duplicating the record(s) – not for the record(s) themselves. The National Archives limits the number of records that can be pulled by a single researcher on a single day. So if we pull a file at your request, then that limits the number of records that we can pull for other clients.  That’s true regardless of the volume, condition, or nature of the documents that happen to be in the record.  

By offering low flat rates, we assume the risk that the record that you request may contain several hundred pages, requiring us to exert much more time and effort on duplication than we would for an average file.  At the same time, you assume the risk that the file may contain very few pages or that some or all of the originals may be incomplete or illegible.  We won’t know what we will find until we find them – and by then we have exerted the effort on your behalf.

We therefore will not offer a refund on the grounds that you are disappointed with the contents or number of pages in your record.

Thank you for understanding.

No.  When your order is ready for delivery, you will receive an email directing you to view your invoice in PayPal. When you click on the Pay button, you’ll be prompted to log in to PayPal but simply scroll down and you’ll see an option to “Pay with Debit or Credit Card.”

When your order is ready to be delivered, you will receive an email directing you to view your invoice in PayPal but you can opt instead to use Venmo, a debit card, or credit card (Visa, MasterCard, Discover, or American Express).

When you click on the Pay button, you’ll be prompted to log in to PayPal or Venmo but to use one of the other options, simply scroll down and you’ll see an option to “Pay with Debit or Credit Card.”

No, we will not ask you to pay until the search(es) have been conducted and the documents, if found, are ready for you to download them.  The ordering process will not even ask you for any payment info.  So, unlike most record retrieval services, we don’t have your money while you wait for the order to be processed.

Yes, we are taking the risk that after we do the work you could abandon the order and we won’t get paid for our effort.  But we’re all adults here and the research community is a small one.  Our trust is very rarely proven to be misplaced.

The Innovation Hub is a project at the National Archives (NARA) in Washington D.C. that is designed to supplement its digital collection.  Researchers who visit the facility in person can use the scanners of the Innovation Hub to scan records from the NARA holdings and get digital copies of those scans for their personal use.  The scans are then uploaded to NARA’s online catalog so that they can be accessed by other researchers. You can even append your name if you choose as the citizen archivist contributor.

References to veterans of the “Old War” typically refer to those who served from the end of the Revolutionary War until the beginning of the Civil War (1783-1861).

NARA is the National Archives and Records Administration.