As Jade correctly points out in the comments this is not from the pension file. These index cards are online. The pension files are at the National Archives.

Years ago I received copies from the National Archives of selected documents from the Civil War pension file for my relative, Emmar Osenbaugh. The file was rather large and, since I’m somewhat “stuck” on certain parts of her life (and that of her parents), I decided to obtain a copy of the entire pension file.

If you have an abstract of a record or selected documents is it possible that there are clues in those un-abstracted pieces of information or un-selected documents? Sometimes what seems trivial to someone unfamiliar with the family is not trivial at all.

Note: (added after Jade’s comment)

The cards referenced in Jade’s comment are located online at United States Veterans Administration Pension Payment Cards, 1907-1933” on FamilySearch.

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7 Responses

  1. As I was told the Archives just picks out 10 pages to send to you unless you specify “all pages”.
    Years ago I wrote for my great grandfather’s pension records and received 10 pages. After being told that I should ask for all, I wrote again (had to pay a lot) and received a huge pack of papers. He was trying to get a disability pension but died. Years later his widow was applying for a window’s pension.
    The affidavits, etc. were full of information. I learned a lot from reading them all (about 170 pages).

  2. Many years ago my father obtained a copy my ancestor’s Revolutionary War pension file from the National Archives. He had asked for everything in the file. After 15 years I found myself in Washington checking immigration records and decided to look at that same file. Low and behold, in the very bottom of the box was a small piece of paper obviously torn from a larger sheet that said “I was born in Cecil County, Maryland in 1760, Jacob (signed X) Sutton.” What a difference that small piece of paper has made! We never would have known about it If I hadn’t looked at the contents myself.

  3. The image of the front of the card with this post is from United States Veterans Administration, Record Group 0317P, Bureau of Pensions and Veteran’s Administration Pension Payment Cards, 1907-1933, Micropublication M-850; Washington, District of Columbia: The National Archives. That is, not from a pension application file.

    The series with the cards is now indexed on FamilySearch.org — and a mighty valuable resource.

    • Thanks for clarifying. I should have captioned the image. The index cards are wonderful and often contain clues themselves. I’ve posted a link in the original post for those who might need it.

  4. The link shows only a widow’s pension but I know that he received a pension as well. Shouldn’t there be a card for his pension?

    • The images in the link are the payment cards that start in 1907. Did your veteran die before that date?

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