2013 Genealogy Fair - Union Civil War Pension Files
Channel: US National Archives
Date: 2022-12-21

Day 2 Session 9, Claire Kluskens, Archivist at the National Archives in Washington, DC

Pension files for Union Civil War veterans provide valuable information about veterans’ service during the war, about their lives, and the lives of their families after the war. 

Presentation slides*: 
https://www.archives.gov/files/calendar/genealogy-fair/2013/presentations/Wed12pm-Kluskens_Presenation-UnionCivilWarPensions.pdf

Claire Kluskens biography:
Claire Kluskens is a genealogical projects archivist specializing in immigration, census, military, and other records of high genealogical value. She spearheaded the completion of more than 310 National Archives microfilm publications. She lectures frequently and has published extensively in national, state, and local genealogical publications. Claire has been a National Archives staff member since 1992 and has done genealogical research since 1976.

*NOTE:  An error made in the 2013 video and slide deck was speaking of "Soldier's Original" (SO) and "Soldier's Certificate" (SC) when the speaker should have said "Survivor's Original" (SO) and "Survivor's Certificate" (SC).  While the vast majority of men who received pensions had been army soldiers, war survivors who were pension applicants also included U.S. Navy personnel, nurses, and so forth.  Hence, Survivor's Original (SO) and Survivor's Certificate (SC) were actually the more inclusive terminology used by the Pension Office (Bureau of Pensions) during the time these records were created and used.  See, for example, pages 47-48 (and others) of Orders, Instructions, and Regulations Governing the Pension Bureau (Washington:  Government Printing Office, 1915), online at https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo1.ark:/13960/t3fx7vk6g, where references to survivor or survivor's are used. 

Learn more:
https://www.archives.gov/calendar/genealogy-series
https://www.archives.gov/calendar/know-your-records

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