I have a relative who was born in 1879 and is documented to have served in the Spanish-American War.

On Ancestry, one of the records for him has his correct service information but is found in the "U.S., Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934."

Anyone know why the record would be in a Civil War index instead of a Spanish-American War one?

Thank you,

David Brostoff

Hi David

This is due to Ancestry.com (as well as the Ancestry-owned fold3) taking license with the title of their digital index. The source for these cards is actually titled by NARA as
 General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. T288, 546 rolls.
This includes service by some Civil War vets in earlier wars, as well as pensions granted for later events such as the Spanish-American War.

Note that there is another version of this index, T289, which is on Fold3. There are very similar, but not identical, and one can sometimes provide essential information for the locating the pension that the other cannot. Like Ancestry.com, Fold3 mis-titles the digital index as only Civil War, when in fact it is "Pension applications for service in the US Army between 1861 and 1900"

If the veteran in question died by 1934, the pension file is at the National Archives facility on Pennsylvania Ave in DC. If a widow or dependents lived longer, the file might still be in storage in Missouri, or at the NPRC in Missouri. It's been a while since I've worked on pension files, I am not up to date on what has transferred.

Hope this answers your question.

Renee Carl
Washington, DC

On Aug 18, 2022, at 5:31 AM, Renée K. Carl <rkcarl@...> wrote:

This is due to Ancestry.com (as well as the Ancestry-owned fold3) taking license with the title of their digital index. . . .

If the veteran in question died by 1934, the pension file is at the National Archives facility on Pennsylvania Ave in DC.

Thank you for the very helpful information -- I thought it might be something like that.

Can copies of the pension files themselves be ordered?

David Brostoff

Hi David

Yes, pension files are one of the items that can be ordered online from NARA. This link explains what can and cannot be obtained:
https://www.archives.gov/research/order#genie
And this link takes you to eservices ordering. https://eservices.archives.gov/orderonline
NARA is still working to clear Covid order backlogs, so it can take a while.

Renee Carl
Washington DC