Hello friends, I hope that your research and family trees are continuing to grow and expand as you continue on your genealogical journey! Following much of the pattern we have developed over the course of this blog, I hope to help you understand a new type of record that you may have run into during your research time, or have yet to, but most certainly will soon enough. Today’s topic of discussion is pension records. Once more I hope to help you understand what sort of information you can expect to find from this type of record about your ancestor and what you should be aware of as you begin your research to find pension records.
So, what is a pension? When it comes to your ancestors most usually it is government aid that is issued under a few conditions. This might include: disabled veterans and widows of those lost or killed in war. Pension records can be a valuable source of information about your ancestors’ as they can provide you with not only what sort of military service, they participated in but also other personal information. Some of which could be provided that isn’t by documentation you have already gathered might be; birth dates of minor children, information about previous marriages, veterans date and place of death, widow’s maiden name, military rank, residence at time of application, etc. Similarly related are the records of the names of special examiners that performed correspondence with those seeking pension. This could be helpful in locating what sort of work an ancestor who may have been involved in the pension office might have contributed. With these new tidbits of information, you can probably start to see the many different ways your research could branch as you look for further information or evidences of your ancestor’s presence in other aspects.
As you may know from your consistent research efforts setting out to find different sorts of records sounds easier than it is. This theme does still ring true when it comes to searching for your ancestor’s pension records as well. You of course can go about trying the normal digital databases such as Ancestry.com and FamilySearch, but sometimes even these large sites yield no results. In times like this see if you can go about determining your ancestor’s military service through other record types. Then take a look at indexes like that of Pennsylvania Archives that has compiled military card indexes and see if you can request the microfilm copy. Some helpful sites to begin navigating the search for a special examiners name include www.archives.gov/research/search and of course, the in-person Nationals Archives Building which I would encourage you to make a trip if you can, as what genealogist wouldn’t be enthralled to experience! Remember time and patience is your friend in genealogy if you do not find these records immediately after your initial search keep going and apply these tips as you see fit!
There is so much more to cover when it comes to pension records, remember these are the basics. As you go forward, I hope that this foundational knowledge will give you the confidence to deal with and go out and search for this type of record to add to your collection! As always if you would like to explore this and other topics in more depth consider clicking on my webinars tab, located on this same website where I provide longer form explanations on this and other genealogical topics. If you have questions more specific to your own personal research and would like some help, feel free to reach out to me directly using the contact information above. Happy researching!
Winona I Laird “The Genealogy Granny”
