GOPHER RECORDS

If you need records, we will gopher you.

What is the “Innovation Hub”?

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.

What is the estimated delivery date?

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

What are FamilySearch, Ancestry, and Fold3?

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

What if my records are online?

If we find that the records that you ordered 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

Can I cancel an order?

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

Why are most of your blog posts focused on the Civil War?

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

Is the price based on the number of pages in the record?

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

What is the “Old War”

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).

What if my records cannot be found?

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