Records of a military pension are an excellent genealogical source. This week we take a look at a complete set of pension papers from a Civil War Union Pension. In a previous column, “Before the Pension,” we discussed how these papers can be obtained and what information is needed to in order to make a request for pension papers from the National Archives.

James Rampley's complete pension file can be viewed here: www.rootdig.com/pensions/jamesrampley

Start in the Beginning
As with any record that consists of a series of loose papers, organizing the material chronologically is the first task. This allows the researcher to at least see the flow of paperwork and frequently makes certain things somewhat easier to understand. When you receive a set of pension papers from the National Archives, they will not be in chronological order, and all copies will be one-sided. The originals were not all one sided. Try and pair the front and back of documents as best you can. I found it helpful to go to my local copy store and have a duplicate copy of the file made. I can then highlight and make notations on my duplicate copy and not the set of papers I received from the National Archives...

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