GOPHER RECORDS

I found Gopher Records on a list of independent researchers available for hire to retrieve records at the National Archives. Bob Velke was very responsive and kept me updated as the National Archives gradually re-opened to researcher access during the COVID pandemic. Fortunately, Bob retrieved my ancestor’s entire Civil War pension record including his widow’s pension application where I found the information I needed to document my ancestor’s divorce from a previous wife, my second great-grandmother. The county records were burned in 1864 so I had no other documentation of my second great-grandparents’ life event.