I have been working on a project to gather as much pertinent data as possible from many of the military pension records of our ancestors who served in the Civil War.

Researchers used to be able to request these packets of copies from the National Archives for $10 each, but the copies would be limited to a set number of pages--usually around 20 or so--of whatever pages the Archives folks deemed to be pertinent.  Many researchers such as myself, upon finding this out, used to write "please send entire file" in the margin of the request form, in the hopes that the entire file would be copied.  However, the Archives quickly caught onto this, and would still send only the selected copies along with an invoice for the (voluntary) "extra" copies.  Depending on the number of pages remaining to be copied, this invoice could be anywhere from $30 up to $200 more!! (Needless to say, I didn't order the extra copies!)

Then, a year or so ago, the Archives re-vamped their fee structure for the copies of these military pension records. Now, each packet costs $37, which is high, but contains ALL copies, no matter how many there are.  (One that I recently received for James Sammons contained about 300 pages!)

Anyway, our ancestors' Civil War service has always been of special interest to me, and I have acquired (or am in the process of acquiring) the records of about 20 or so veterans.  Undoubtedly this number will grow as more evidence is discovered showing additional family members who served. (Many of these 20 were ordered before the re-vamping of the fee structure, and I eventually hope to re-order the files for these veterans, so that I can obtain the full packet.  Who knows what valuable data might have been missing from the original copies sent...!)

What I plan to do now is:

For each packet of military pension records I have (or will receive), I plan to post all of the pertinent data I can transcribe from the files.  I will place each veteran's info in a separate email message, and will post it to the list.

At the end of each email, I will also include any other pertinent data that might be known from other sources, such as where the soldier is buried (if not already noted in the file), explanatory family connections of some of the people who may have been mentioned in the file, any questions I personally might have regarding the veteran, etc.

Another item I plan to note involves the African American Civil War Memorial in Washington DC, but I think I should caveat this--that is, offer some words of explanation for newer members of the list, or less-active members who might now be aware of the circumstances of our ancestors' designated regiments during the Civil War era:

Although this doesn't necessarily pertain to everyone on the list, most of you know that our ancestors' heritage was tied to the areas of Kent County, DE (Cheswold area), Sussex County, DE (Millsboro area--or Seaford, etc.), and/or Cumberland & Salem Counties, NJ (Bridgeton, Gouldtown, Salem, etc). (Of course, there were other areas connected as well, along with those who migrated to Canada, Michigan, etc.)  The three primary areas mentioned above have been described anthropologically as "tri-racial isolates"--areas in which there was a heritage of white, Native American and African American ancestry.  During the era of the Civil War--as well as periods before and after--the mixed-blood people from these areas & backgrounds were often classified as "Colored," no matter what degree or percentage they had of any specific heritage, and no matter what they considered themselves to be.  For this and other reasons, many of the families moved away to larger cities, or to Michigan, Canada, etc.  Those who remained behind in these communities were labeled "Colored," "Mulatto," "Black," "Moor," "Yellow," etc.

Anyway, the reason I mention all of this is to explain that anyone from these areas who joined the military (back then) were placed in military units known as Colored units.  This is why government-issued tombstones for these veterans have the initials "U.S.C.I" (U.S. Colored Infantry) or "U.S.C.T." (U.S. Colored Troops), etc.  Subsequently, when the African American Civil War Memorial was constructed in Washington DC a few years ago (including plaques which list the names of all veterans from all Colored units), our Civil War veteran ancestors' names are listed there.

Thus, included in my post for each veteran ancestor will be a notation of which plaque their name appears upon at the Memorial (along with a link to the National Archives' "Soldiers and Sailors System" webpage which lists that veteran's name).

I will be posting emails regarding these veterans.   These veterans are:

Charles Goldsborough
Alfred N. Johnson
Allen Murray (aka Allen Reed)
James Sammons
Miller Carney / Kearney
William Carney
Daniel Coker
Nathaniel Coker
Elisha Durham
Robert Goldsborough
Lorenzo Gould (aka Alonzo Gould)
William Gould
John Hughes
John H. Morgan
Isaiah "Zaddock" / "Zedick" Munce / Muntz
Mark Pierce
Alfred W. Ridgeway
Cornelius Ridgeway
James H. Seeney
James Songo

(Some of these files are still on order from the Archives, and have not yet been received).


The following is stated to be a Civil War veteran, but no record has yet been located:
Jeremiah Jack


(Does anyone know of any OTHER Civil War veterans among our families?  If so, please let me know).


As for the other 16 veterans above, I'm not sure when I will get the chance to transcribe their info, but will try to get to them as soon as possible.  I am currently preparing for my vacation from August 16th - 23rd, and will likely fall behind with all my email, etc., so it may be a few weeks before I start making headway again.    In the mean time, if anyone has any preferences as to which veteran(s)' record-data they'd like to see next, please let me know and I'll try to post them in order of preference.

As I mentioned before, some of the records are not as complete, since the files were ordered back during the time of the National Archives sending only the 20 or so pages THEY deemed "important" to researchers.  I hope to re-order the records for these individuals, so that a complete packet can be obtained.  (In the mean time, I will designate these as possibly incomplete when I make the postings.  The first four postings are all from COMPLETE files).

Also, based on how long the veteran lived, and/or how long his surviving spouse may have lived, and/or whether he had any children that were under the age of 16 at the time of his death (and how long those children may have lived), there could be MORE info or LESS info in his pension records (or, in fact, NO pension records at all, and merely military attendance records).  Also, depending on extenuating circumstances during the veteran's or survivor's pension-application process, the government would occasionally decide that a "Special Examination" should be launched to clarify or justify the claim being made for a pension.  Such "Special Examinations" usually included extensive note-taking of live interviews with the claimants or other family members or neighbors, and often contain valuable info, or convey poignant glimpses of the claimant's life.  (The file of James Sammons is such an example).

Nevertheless, keep in mind that some of the veterans listed above will have files containing extensive info, whereas others hardly have any useful info at all.

Due to the large size of these files, it would not be feasible for me to make copies of everything to send to those who might request it.  However, if there are certain pages you'd like copies of (such as a death certifi  cate, marriage certificate, etc. that might be included in the file) (which should be noted in my post), please let me know and I will do my best to accommodate.

If anyone has any questions or comments, please let me know.

When I finish with these Civil War veteran postings, I will also make postings for the following veterans of other early U.S. wars:

George Carney  (Spanish American War)
Adam Pierce  (Revolutionary War)
James Songo  (Revolutionary War)  (different from the Civil War veteran
James Songo mentioned above).

Please let me know if anyone has any questions.   John C. Carter  

Paul T. Johnson sends a list of Gouldtown, N.J., Civil War Veterans:

(4 Sep 2002)

Robert Gould (b. 1821) - Son of Richard Gould & Charlotte Gould
3rd US Colored Infantry: 7/1863-10/1865

Amos Jones (1839) - Son of George & Sarah Jones
4th US Colored Infantry: Company K: 1861-1863

Charles Pierce (1822) - Son of Benjamin Pierce, Jr. & Margaret Murray
6th US Colored Infantry: 9/1862-6/1863

Ward Pierce
6th US Colored Infantry: 8/1861-11/1862

Lorenzo Gould (1841) - Son of Jonathan Gould & Hannah A. Cuff
8th US Colored Infantry: 4/1865-10/1865

Hedger C. Pierce
10th US Colored Infantry: Company I: 9/1861-8/1865

William H. Gould (1835) - Son of Anthony Gould & Almedia Pierce
22nd US Colored Infantry: 4/1865-10/1865

Mark Pierce (1837) - Son of Clement Pierce & Patience Murray
22nd US Colored Infantry: 4/1865-11/1865

Wanaca Pierce
22nd US Colored Infantry: Company K: 4/1865-10/1865

Elias Pierce (1829-1902)
43rd US Colored Infantry: 3/1865-10/1865

Hosea Pierce (1840) - Son of David Pierce & Violette Pierce
45th US Colored Infantry

Jedediah (aka: Jeremiah) Pierce (1823-1911)
45th US Colored Infantry: Company C: 6/1864-6/1865

Ephraim Pierce, Jr. (1844) - Son of Ephraim Pierce & Louisa Pierce
48th US Colored Infantry: Company F: 8/1863-9/1865

Charles Pierce (1842) - Son of Adam Pierce, Jr. & Juliann Stewart
Sailor - 2/1862

Philip Pierce (1840) - Son of Richard Pierce, 3rd & Amelia Murray
Sailor - 10/1863

Adam Pierce (Born: 1740's)- Son of Richard Pierce & Hannah Vanaca
Revolutionary War - New Jersey Line

-------------------

From  John C. Carter   5 Sep 2002 --

Here are a few other ones I recently photographed at Gouldtown:

James Munson - (Born ca. 1841; d. 28 Aug 1905)

William Murray - (No dates on stone)

Franklin Wright - (No dates on stone)

Richard Jackson - (Born 28 Jan 1833; d. 06 Jun 1907)

Jethro Taylor - (No dates on stone) (I believe this is the brother of Elsie Taylor, first wife of Charles Goldsborough, whose data I posted to the list on 10 Aug 2002)