I have ordered a few record out of the National Archive. Using this service was far and away a better experience. The service was faster than quoted and I got exactly the record I was looking for. I was pleasantly surprised when I wasn’t asked to pay while placing the initial order. I will be using your service for all of my future genealogy requests!

I had heard of Gopher Records on several genealogy Facebook groups, from people who had great experiences. I saw nothing but positive comments about them. So I decided to use them for my 2nd great-Grandfather records, who'd served in the US Civil War. I was stunned to receive over 200 pages of (digitized) records. Most of these records where hand written. I received his service, medical, and pension records. Seeing his widow's own handwriting was quite exciting. I felt like I could hear her speaking, and I've learned so much about his life and service. I will be using them [...]

Bob's service and attention to detail is nothing short of amazing. I submitted two requests for full Civil War Soldier Bundles. It may have taken at least a year, if not more, to get these back through conventional request channels. Bob had both files back to me, totaling well over 200 pages, in record time and at a very reasonable price. I cannot say enough good things about this service Bob provides for the genealogical community. I will be submitting many more requests for his help in the future! Thank you so much, Bob!

Placed 2 orders with Gopherrecords. Service was quick and thorough. I was happy with what I received and currently have another request out there for another record.

A geneology group suggested gopher to retrieve a civil war pension record of a soldier who died and his parents received his pension at seperate times. It was previously thought this soldiers father died before 1880, because his mother is by herself on a census living with another son. Turns out the father had left his mother and was still living for 20+ years longer than originally thought, and previously unknown death dates for both parents and their marriage date. Thanks gopher!

I always use Gopher Records for all my military, pension, and bounty land records requests. They are fast and the product is superior to that you receive from the National Archives.

Very happy with my high quality scans of an ancestors Civil War pension file. 115 pages! While it hasn’t broken through my brick wall, I did find an extra kid in his family there are no records on elsewhere plus marriage date and location I didn’t have before. Would not hesitate to use this service even if I were in DC near the archives! They did a better job than I could do on my own.

I recently ordered the Civil War Soldier`s Bundle for a soldier who served two separate terms, under two different names, no doubt complicating the effort needed to search for records. The records were available within a couple weeks - 26 pages in his service record, and 216 in his pension file - and contain quite a bit of information new to me. This isn't my first order from Gopher Records, and no doubt won't be my last. I've had interactions in the past with Bob Velke, the owner, dating back many years to his time as developer of TMG, [...]

I ordered Civil War pension files for two of my 3rd great-grandfathers. It was during the pandemic, and I liked the fact that I didn't have to pay until I received the files. I've sent money to places in the past, and then never heard another word, so I appreciate the opportunity to pay *after* documents have been located. Of course, NARA was shut down for a while, but I never despaired that my order would eventually make it to the top of the wait list. Very satisfied with the professionalism of this company, as well as their communication [...]

I have been researching the Civil War and my own family tree for a LONG time. Gopher Records provided amazing customer service as well as ridiculously fast results. For a ridiculously reasonable rate. 😄 I appreciate Bob and his attentiveness and stellar communication so much. And now I have so much information to comb through and discover. Seriously worth it to have those pension files- tons and tons of random info. A relative of mine was wounded at Gettysburg and I found a detailed description from his doctor. I even found a copy of my 3rd great-grandparents’ marriage certificate. [...]