Military Pension Files -- are they good sources of info?

[OnionPatch]

Does anyone know if military pension files tell the place of birth? I sent for my gg-grandfather's compiled military file but it doesn't really have much of anything but his name and the dates he was on leave. I know he was born in Ohio, but I need it narrowed down at least to a county. I'm hoping the pension file will have a place of birth, but it costs $25 and I'd hate to blow that money for nothing, especially after I just spent $25 on the compiled file only to find out what days he took leave of absence.

[Rosie1223]

1. They can be hit or miss

A person applying for a pension had to prove he is, in fact, the person that served in a particular unit. Sometimes you only get statements by friends saying "Joe Smith is known to me to be the Joe Smith that served in unit 123 of the Civil War." If you have a widow applying, many times she has to prove when and where they were married and if there are dependent children still living with her. Sometimes it is a wealth of information, sometimes not.

If you have access to Heritagequest (at your local library?) they have Revolutionary war pensions on-line. Footnote.com has some civil war records online for a fee (one time, monthly, or yearly) but you can see if there is anything before paying.

Good Luck!

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

7. Hadn't heard of Footnote

thanks for the heads up!

[fudge stripe cookays]

2. Unfortunately, Rosie is right.

I've had a couple like that. You get them, and they're 10 pages of nothing.

But then, a FEW of them are freaking GOLDMINES. I've had a few not only give me the person's birthdate and place, but the name and date and place of birth of all their kids, their death certificates, their WIFE'S (or WIVES') death certificates, and health conditions they suffered from.

I'd take the chance, because you could be missing a huge opportunity. You never know until you rule it out.

[OnionPatch]

3. Well, I got lucky and got a little info.

It was a whole lot of pages of nothing I didn't already know. Except that he was discharged on a physician's orders and that page listed his county of birth. That was helpful. Before, all I knew was that he was born in Ohio. Now I have it narrowed down to the county. I've just sent for his pension files, if there are any. I've read they usually have a lot more info that is valuable to genealogists because the person has to prove who they are. I'm looking forward to getting them but I don't expect it to list his parents. Even a small clue will make it worthwhile. This guy has been so elusive! I have a great big hole in my tree where his family should be. There are no birth, death or marriage records for him and I checked everywhere. No wills, no deeds....nothing!!! There is no one with his surname of a reasonable age to be his parents anywhere in the county he was born. I wonder if they could have died or something. :shrug:

[fudge stripe cookays]

4. Which county in Ohio?

I'm getting ready to make a visit to parts of Ohio next month.

There are two great books for Seneca County that have documented a lot of the births at the courthouse. There may be something like this for the other counties too. I found some for Sandusky as well.

I might be able to check for you at the Historical Society in Madison, if you know his name and about when he was born.

fsc :hi:

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

6. No parental information is likely to be found

from pension records. But the county of birth does give you something to go on--if no one of reasonable age to be parents is living there, but others of the same surname are, my next step would be to write the county courthouse for will/probate records. If his parents did die when he was a minor, there should be a legal record there, giving guardianship to someone.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

5. Here's some links to actual pension files

I've bought several pension files for my ancestors, and have found them, by and large, to be very informative. My great-great grandfather's, for example, gave the date of his marriage--the only one left, since the original one burned up in a courthouse fire. His original muster in records gave me his birthplace.

Anyway, here's my links. Read them all and you can get an idea of what your ancestor's records may hold.

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ruedgerroots/RPen.html
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ruedgerroots/FLGPension.html
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ruedgerroots/WWPen.html
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ruedgerroots/RWPen.html

I have always bought the complete file, as the pension application process makes for interesting reading, and usually has a lot more detail.

FYI, Illinois has an online searchable database of the Civil War companies, and this information includes data like place of birth. But as far as I know, it is the only state doing this.

[carpetbagger]

8. I hit the jackpot on mine

I have a gt-gt-grandfather who enlisted from New York, as well as his brother. They enlisted under aliases, in what I suspect was either an attempt to run away from home and make some money or else a failed attempt at draft dodging. As a result, the files contained not only the medical stuff and the later-life facts, but had dozens and dozens of pages of testimony establishing their identities, from childhood friends, to an older brother's seven-page deposition about the family and about his recollections of my g-g-grandfather going to war, what happened to the other siblings, the parents, all of that. I felt at the end of reading them like I knew the people, although my gt-gt-grandfather died when my grandmother was a young child, and I don't remember anything she ever said about him.