Civil War Pension Records

Walker, Washington Civil War Pension Index — National Archives and Records Administration. U.S., Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2000.

For the past few years I have been looking at a U.S., Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934 for Washington Walker. I was not 100% that Washington Walker was in my direct line, I needed something to truly connect him to James Walker, my second great grandfather. I hemmed and hawed about ordering the record for two years. To be honest, I was not up for spending a lot of money for something I was not sure related to my family. My genealogy dollars are tight, very tight and I hate the thought of wasting them.

A few years ago, I talked with American Civil War Ancestor at a conference and got the pricing to have the record pulled and sent to me. Filed that information for the future. This past year, they were at Midwestern Roots and I decided it was time to pull the trigger and order the record. It took about a month for the records to hit my inbox. And, they came at the most inappropriate time. I was a the Irish Center when they arrived, awaiting my Irish genealogy meeting when they showed up. All 160 pages. One. Hundred. Sixty. Pages. Forget the Irish genealogy meeting, I have no clue what happened that day. I spent it going through all of these records.

Here’s the good news, with these records and spending an afternoon on Ancestry, I was able to truly connect Washington Walker to his son James Walker.

I have been told by many to order the record, that it would contain the information I needed and I was terrified of spending the money, if there was a small chance that it might be the wrong person. My lesson learned, order the record!

Now to transcribe all 160 pages. One. Hundred. Sixty. Pages. That will take forever.