The Genealogical Society of Utah (GSU) and the National Archives have announced a partnership to “digitize approved pension applications of widows of Civil War Union soldiers…” Operating as FamilySearch.org, the GSU, in conjunction with Footnote.com, intents to work with the National Archives to release more than 1.2 million files.
These records, of great interest to genealogists and others, are currently available only at the National Archives Building in Washington, DC. The widows’ pension application files, a rich source of information about ordinary American citizens of the time, include supporting documents such as affidavits, depositions of witnesses, marriage certificates, birth records, death certificates, and pages from family bibles.
