Sunday, February 28, 2016

Abraham's Civil War Pension


I lost it. I received it in 2015. I took it with me to the Genealogy Jamboree in Burbank and I lost the CD/DVD that has his Civil War pension on it. I lost my 4th great grandfather's Civil War pension. I looked everywhere for that CD/DVD. Resigned, I sat down and filled out another 85D form and emailed it to the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington and waited patiently for the second copy to come. It came at the end of 2015. I put the CD/DVD into my computer and the records would not open up. I took it to another computer and the record would not open up. I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to order another copy just to have the CD/DVD not open up. I contacted the NARA by phone and asked if I could return the 2nd CD/DVD for a new one. They told me where to send it. They received it and then told me that they could access the record. I sighed. They said they would send another CD/DVD. I received it today. It worked! I now have my 4th great grandfather's Civil War pension. He fought in Brownsville, Texas and Petersburg, Virginia. The only way I think they could have covered such a great distance is the train. It says he was born in Loudoun County, Virginia just like records I found in October of 2015 said. He was married there as well. The family moved to Ohio. My 3rd great grandmother Margaret stayed in Ohio and married W.M Balar and they moved to Knox County. Ohio. The rest of the family moved to Wisconsin and some to Minnesota and then on Washington. Abraham's son-in-law, William Stewart, a Civil War Veteran himself, vouched for Abraham's service, according to Abraham's pension. He was in Company F, the 29th Regiment of the United States Colored Troops. He gave testimony about the death of his first wife, his children and his ailments.

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