I thought this Civil War military service record would not tell me anything I hadn’t already learned about my ancestor. However, included at the end, was a handwritten letter from his Colonel, respectfully asking the General to remit the harsh court martial sentence that had been given. The Colonel said he knew the soldier to be “a good man” and a “number 1 soldier.” The General honored the request, recognizing the Colonel needed every man. What an unexpected treasure, for many reasons! Documents were beautifully copied, and delivered to me within days—and at an affordable price. Thank you!

I had heard that Gopher Records was the way to go for obtaining records but had waited because I was not yet ready to invest in the records. Finally, I decided to place an order and was shocked at the level of personal service that is given, and on top of that, the turn around was so much faster than I anticipated (in my case, less than a week!). And I gained information from the files that I never would have had otherwise. Highly recommend!!

Many thanks to Bob Velke and Gopher Records. In the very early 2000s, I ordered a copy of a GG grandfather's Civil War pension file from the National Archives. It contained 25 pages. The photocopies were poor quality and difficult to read. Fast forward to February 2025 when I placed an order for the digital files with Gopher. In less than 2 weeks, I received the ENTIRE file consisting of 316 pages of clearly legible text! From the file, I finally have a physical description of my GG grandfather, for whom I have no photos, and some interesting character assessments [...]

I am very pleased with the Pension Records I have received. The convenience of being able to order from home is very nice. The time it takes to receive the files has been very quick. i am very happy with the information contained in the records. Once actually gets the feeling that you know the people named in them. It gives a very realistic picture of the times these people lived through. The illnesses and ailments the soldiers suffered without modern diagnoses and equipment and medication could be horrendous. One learns who these people [...]

I have ordered records from the National Archive directly, and I won’t do that again. Gopher Records was able to get me the same info, less cost, and much faster than using the National Archive service. You don’t pay until the records are secured, which is nice. I have also always gotten records ahead of the promised timeframe. The best way to go!

I was thrilled by the speed, thoroughness, and thoughtful communication in response to my request for a copy of an ancestor’s Mexican War pension file. Wonderful service and high quality result—plus super fast!

Thanks to Bob & Gopher Records, we were able to put to rest a long-standing debate over how old a particular soldier was in our cemetery. Written on the man's discharge papers was a note from his commanding officer that the man was now 52 years old but at the time of enlistment was listed as age 40 just a year before the officer wrote this discharge. So this cleared up the mystery of his military records not matching other records we had for this man! Thank you, Gopher Records for helping us solve this mini-mystery!

Retrieving some records can be insanely slow. I have made use of Gopher Records on a few occasions and found the service fast, easy to use and a reasonable cost. Very pleased.

I'd ordered a complete set of my 3rd great-grandfathers Civil War Records; within a very short period of time I received a comprehensive set of records that helped to answer several questions I had been seeking for ancestral research. Gopher records is an invaluable source if you're your doing a deep dive into Civil War research. Well Done!

As usual, your service is great obtaining these records! Thank you so much!