The next section of our series on researching your Civil War ancestor will focus on pension files: what they are, how to get them, why you want them, and what they will tell you. We’re going to be pretty thorough in this section, so buckle up. The rewards for investigating your ancestor’s pension file can be very great, as we have demonstrated in earlier posts.
We’ll start with Union pensions before covering Confederates (Yes, many Confederate soldiers received pensions, too!)
US Pension Law – What Motivated It?
The first thing to know as you locate your ancestor’s Civil War pension file is why such pensions existed in the first place. During and after the Civil War, veteran pension law in the United States changed drastically. Civil War veterans made up an enormous voting bloc that politicians had to respect for decades afterwards. These veterans wanted pensions! They wanted the process to be fair, swift, and sensible. They did NOT want to be denied their rightful due by some bureaucrat in Washington sitting behind some desk over some small filing error. They made this clear to their elected officials, and those official, in turn, enacted revision after revision of the pension law.
What you can expect to find in your ancestor’s pension file depends in large part on what the pension law was at the time they first applied for it (or at the time they applied for increases in their pension).
Who could apply for pensions
- Wounded, disabled, invalid, or elderly soldiers. (This changed as Congress passed new laws over time.)
- Widows of soldiers who died in the war or as a result of the war. (This was later changed to widows whose husbands had served at least 90 days.) These widows had to provide proof of their marriage. Pensions were not available to widows who later remarried.
- Minor children of soldiers (and adult children with physical and/or mental disabilities preventing them from supporting themselves).
- Dependent parents and siblings of soldiers.
- Anyone who was at any time during the war disloyal to the Union was ineligible for a federal pension.
Key Dates in US Pension Law
Pension law changed many, many times in the decades after the war. Here are some of the biggest, most important changes:
Act to Grant Pensions, July 14, 1862
In 1862, Congress approved Civil War pensions for proved disability. Soldiers had to apply within one year of their discharge from the military to receive a pension from the point of their discharge. Otherwise, they would receive their pension monthly from the date of their application. This act also provided pensions for widows of Union soldiers and children of such soldiers under age 16. Unmarried, orphaned sisters of soldiers could also apply for pensions if the soldier had no wife or minor children
Pension Act of January 25, 1879; “Arrears Law”
This new law allowed veterans to receive pension back payments all the way to the date of their discharge. In other words, say your ancestor successfully applied for a pension of $6 a month in May 1881. Say he left the service in May 1864. Under this new law, he would receive 17 YEARS in pension back payments amounting to (17x12x6) $1224. That’s over $30,000 in 2018 dollars! Understandably, the Pension Office saw a huge influx of applications after this. You may find your ancestor among them.
The Disability Act of June 27, 1890
This law granted soldiers pensions between $6 and $12 per month, depending on disability. Disability did not have to be war-related, but the veteran had to “be suffering from a mental or physical disability of a permanent character, not the result of their own vicious habits, which incapacitates them from the performance of manual labor in such a degree as to render them unable to earn a support[.]” Widows of soldiers who served 90 days or more entitled to pension of $8 a month (before this, widows only received a pension if husband’s death was war-related).
An Act Granting Pensions, February 6, 1907
This allowed all Civil War veterans who reached the required age to receive a monthly pension, regardless of whether they had been wounded or disabled. Congress awarded pensions of $12 per month to 62-year-olds, $15 for 70-year-olds, and $20 for 75-year-olds. As such, if your ancestor applied for a pension or a pension increase after 6 February 1907, you can expect to find a proof of birth date in their file. Evidence for this proof may include birth certificates, family bible records, birthday cards, affidavits of witnesses, and so on.
What’s Next
In later posts, we’re going to discuss different documents you might find when you order your ancestor’s pension file. Understanding these laws will be crucial in understanding the purpose of each document. They will also help you understand what your ancestor is trying to prove in their application. Feel free to refer back to this page as needed. Other great links about Civil War Pensions include Dr. Bronson’s webpage and this great article from the National Archives.
See also the other posts in our Civil War series: