How To Know If an Ancestor Applied for a Military Pension

• Go to the Family History Library Catalog.
• Under the "place" search, type in "United States."
• Go to the subject category under United States called "Military Records" and click on it.
• Scroll down to the name of the war and click on that option.
• Search for the topic of "Pensions-Indexes."

Revolutionary War
Revolutionary War Pension Files (selected documents) can be found at ProQuest - HeritageQuest. When using this index, it is important to be creative with spelling. Reading the files should help you determine if he applicant is your ancestor.

If you don't have access to HeritageQuest, you can look at the microfilm copies themselves at the Family History Library, at all National Archives Regional Records Service Facilities, as well as NARA itself, and at major genealogical libraries on microfilm. The complete files have been microfilmed along with bounty land warrant applications from the Revolutionary War. There are a number of printed indexes, but the files are in alphabetical order so they are not difficult to search. They take 2670 microfilmed reels. The Family History library has a complete set.

But due to the destruction of the original Revolutionary War Pension Applications during the War of 1812, it is necessary to know more than just the main person mentioned in the applications that survived in the 1820s and 1830s. One way to do that is to use the Virgil White transcription.

White, Virgil D. Genealogical Abstracts of Revolutionary War Pension Files. 4 vols. Waynesboro, Tenn.: National Historical Publishing Co., 1990-1992.

The names in his book are in alphabetical order, but the index to his book includes the names of those people who gave depositions in the applications. Many soldiers who had applied and received their pensions earlier (and whose records were lost), are named to give evidence to these late-applying soldiers. Thus the depositions in which the deponent gave his name, age, residence, and how he knew the soldier could provide the evidence you need to prove your own ancestor’s service.

War of 1812
These are some of my favorite pension papers. They help to fill in the lost detail on the lives of families in the late 1700s and early 1800s. None have been destroyed but they are gradually fading away. I worked for years to raise money so that NARA would microfilm them but there are so many of them. Now I hope they use that money to scan them. Below is a War of 1812 Pension and Bounty Land Application Index Card.

Old Wars
The "Old War Index to Pension Flies 1815-1926" deals mostly with pension applications from the War of 1812 to the Civil War but they do include smaller wars as mentioned in Chapters 13 and 14. These seven rolls of microfilm reproduce a card index from the applications and they are found at Ancestry.com. A man who served in an Indian skirmish could have qualified for a pension as well. See also:

White, Virgil D. Index to Volunteer Soldiers, 1784-1811. Waynesboro, Tenn.: National Historical Publishing Co., 1987.

White, Virgil D. Index to War of 1812 Pension Files. 3 Vols. Waynesboro, Tenn.: National Historical Publishing Co., 1989.

White, Virgil D. Index to Old Wars Pension Files, 1815-1926. 2 vols. Waynesboro, Tenn.: National Historical Publishing Co., 1987.

Mexican War
The pension files for soldiers who served in the Mexican War in the Mormon Battalion have been microfilmed. This includes widow's pension. NOTE: for men who were polygamists, only the first wife could apply for a widow's pension. There are 21 reels of microfilm at the FHL.

White, Virgil D. Index to Mexican War Pension Files. Waynesboro, Tenn.: National Historical Publishing Co., 1989.

White, Virgil D. Index to Indian War Pension Files, 1892-1926. Waynesboro, Tenn.: National Historical Publishing Co., 1987.

Civil War
For Civil War Union pensions, Ancestry.com has digitalized the pension application index. Be creative on spelling. You can even search with a keyword, such as the widow's name, or the state.

For Confederate Pensions, go to the name of the state on the FHLC then the category "Military Records," then "Civil War" then "Pension," Confederate pensions are indexed by the state the soldiers was living in when he applied for a pension. Only certain southern states offered pensions. As ex-confederate soldier who lived in the North could not qualify for any pension. But a soldier who lived in North Carolina could apply in any other southern state.