Weekly challenge · Week 9

Open a soldier's pension file

Look for a pension file for one ancestor who served in the Revolution, the War of 1812 or the Civil War, and read the declarations inside.

Pension files hold sworn ages, marriages, children and neighbors' statements, often far more than any census, and many are free to view online.

Your steps this week

Check whether your ancestor, or his widow or mother, applied for a pension, using a free index from the National Archives or a state archive.
Find the file and read every page, not just the first declaration.
Note each age, date and place given, and who swore to it.
Where two papers disagree, write down both and who supplied each.
Make a short timeline of the soldier's life from the file.

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