In the index, Francis Freeman’s slip indicates that he received his pension under the Pension Act of 1818, payments were made in Delaware, the last payment was in March (1st quarter) 1832, and he died on December 24, 1831. That information is also reflected on the jacket of Freeman’s final payment record.

Within Freeman’s file, we learn that he had been receiving a pension of $8 per month beginning July 1, 1818, he left no widow, and his only child Mary Johnson was “of full age.” Widows and dependant children typically continued to receive payments after a veteran’s death.

In Georgia, Margery Pinson received pension payments after her husband Joseph died in 1838. His signature can be found on several pages within his file. On Margery’s records we learn that three of their children, Elizabeth Visage, Milla Burch, and Jane Carter, received payments for three years after their father’s death, and that Margery died on June 9, 1852. Although he received his pension in Georgia, Joseph served in North Carolina. His full 97-page pension file reveals a great deal more about his service and his family.

Final pension payment records not only reveal signatures, relationships, and death dates, they also tell us if and where a family moved after the war, and into the 19th century. With the Fold3 Revolutionary War Collection, you can create an enlightening family history through military documents. The Final Pension Payment records from Georgia and Delaware add previously unpublished, possibly unknown details to that story.

If the pensioners you seek are not from Delaware or Georgia, you can order their files from NARA or locate pension abstracts for several states in books listed within the Final Pension Payment Vouchers description.

The 1862 Homestead Act had been debated, proposed, and defeated for over ten years, stalled by the issue of slavery. After eleven states left the Union and a civil war erupted on American soil, the act finally passed. Applications were filed beginning on January 1, 1863.

Daniel Freeman, a Union soldier, filed the first claim at the Brownville, Nebraska, land office on that day. In January 1868, he proved his claim. His file includes a statement by neighbors Joseph Graff and Samuel Kilpatrick that Daniel had lived on the land for five years with his wife and two children, and “built a stable, a sheep shed 100 feet long, corn crib, and has 40 apple and about 400 peach trees set out.” He paid $12 for his 160-acre tract of land, or about $226 in today’s dollars (source).

Explore Daniel Freeman’s and other Nebraska Homestead Records on Fold3. To learn more about events surrounding the anniversary of the Homestead Act, visit the National Park Service website.

Homestead Records Digitization Project

Did you know there is a short film about The Homestead Records Digitization Project? The film shows how the original records of those who claimed land under the Homestead Act of 1862 are being digitized.

Records relating to the Sultana Disaster, April 1865, are now available on Fold3. They include lists of the former prisoners who survived the disaster, with military service information and brief comments on their injuries. There are also lists of those who perished, yet not of the civilian survivors or those who died.

The enormity of the disaster led quickly to investigations. By January 1866, a court-martial was convened to charge Captain Frederick Speed, the man who volunteered to coordinate the transfer of prisoners, with “neglect of duty to the prejudice of good order and military discipline.” There are 647 documents in the court-martial case with testimonies, witness accounts, and statements by the defense and prosecution. After “nearly six long weary months” the trial came to a close. Capt. Speed was the only person charged in the incident. He was found guilty, yet the charges were later dismissed by Judge Advocate General Joseph Holt.

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Survivors from the RMS Titanic disaster in 1912

When the RMS Titanic sank on April 15, 1912, the disaster altered the world on many levels. Even now, 100 years later, the legacy of the Titanic still fascinates. The stories of those who survived and those who perished continue to be revealed.

At least four male survivors of a certain age (15-35 years old in 1912) lived to 1942 when they were required to register for the “Old Man’s Draft” in World War II. They completed and signed registration cards with their personal information:

• Dickenson Bishop
• Albert Francis Caldwell
• George Achilles Harder
• William Bertram Greenfield

The last on the list, William Bertram Greenfield, accompanied his mother Blanche on the Titanic. They both survived and are enumerated with their family members and servants in the 1930 U.S. census.

Millionaire Isidor Straus and his wife perished with the ship. Isidor, as a young man, is listed in the 1860 census in Georgia. He and his father reportedly ran blockades for the Confederacy in the Civil War with their dry goods business. In 1888, Straus became part owner of Macy’s department store in New York City.

Francis D. Millet, another Titanic victim, was a renowned sculptor. When only 17, he was a drummer for 100 days in the 16th Massachusetts Regiment. His father, Asa Millet, served briefly in 1861 as an Army surgeon but left due to ill health. While there are no documents on Fold3 for either service, Asa Millet’s signature appears in the Civil War “Widows’ Pensions” three times. Once in his role as a physician providing an affidavit, and twice witnessing signatures of widows Julia A. Saunders and Sarah B. Gould.

Like his son, Asa appears to have traveled abroad as evidenced by two passport applications. One in 1855 and another in 1873, both with particulars of his physical features, including that he had no sight in his right eye. Francis’ great grandfather, Thomas Millet, fought in the Revolutionary War. His pension file is on Fold3.

Although he perished aboard the Titanic, Francis left a legacy to U.S. military history. He designed the now obsolete Civil War Campaign Medal. It was issued to Union or Confederate soldiers and sailors for service during the war.

Major David F. Watson, Colonel Jack W. Durant, and Captain Kathleen Nash were the perpetrators. The court cases for the three defendants, brimming with documents, photos, testimony, and correspondence, can be viewed in the Court-Martial Case Files Relating to the “Hesse Crown Jewels Case“, 1944-1952.

As the Allies moved into Germany toward the end of World War II, Prince Wolfgang of Hesse abandoned his family’s castle in Kronberg, north of Frankfurt, Germany. Before leaving, he placed family heirlooms and jewels in a zinc-lined box, buried it in a hole in the castle basement, and covered it with concrete, hoping it would be safely hidden until the end of the war. It wasn’t.

In April 1944, American Forces occupied the castle to use as an officers’ club. Shortly thereafter, Capt. Nash discovered the cache. She, along with Watson and Durant conspired to steal the valuables. Many of the items were sold in Switzerland and Ireland, the rest were mailed or smuggled to the U.S. The property—including jewelry, silverware, gemstones, and books—is identified in lists and photos within the court records. Details of how the heist came about can be found within Kathleen Nash Durant’s testimony at her trial, as well as in depositions by those who either stayed at the castle or encountered the trio at some point after the theft.

Col. Robert Q. Brown, in charge of the staff running the officers’ club in the castle, testified during Capt. Durant’s hearing that he “knew firsthand that the Castle was jam-full of valuables – pictures and all sorts of things.” But, “never heard secondhand or otherwise of any buried valuables.”

Many of the treasures were never recovered. Kronberg Castle was eventually returned to the royal family and became a luxury hotel. View the Hesse family chart to see where Prince Wolfgang, a descendant of Kaiser Wilhelm, fits into the German royal line.

Dozens of friends, colleagues, and family members sent pleas for clemency in Watson’s case beginning with this letter from Lt. Col. H.T. Peery, a vice president at Bank of America. Ultimately, Watson was sentenced to three years, but paroled early. Nash received five years and Durant fifteen. More of the story can be found in the Hesse Crown Jewels Case description and, of course, within the documents themselves.

Some members like vbetts, patootie63, aircraftclocks and others have made thousands of contributions.

We have a few great projects underway.  The Lowcountry Africana group is indexing records from the South Carolina Estate Inventories and Bills of Sale, 1732-1872 and a group of NARA Volunteers is keying the captions from the Vietnam War photos.

We also have thousands of members who make the occasional contribution that relates to their research.

They may add valuable information that’s not available on the image:

or annotate a name, date or place which will help others find what they are looking for:

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Each contribution, big or small, makes a difference.  Thank You.

To learn more about how you can contribute to Fold3, visit the Training Center.

In 1987, Women’s History Week became Women’s History Month. Since then, March has been observed as a month-long tribute to women and their significant contributions in American history. Numerous records and stories on Fold3 make these contributions more evident.

Women have served the military since the Revolutionary War. While their roles were initially as nurses and laundresses, there are many noteworthy instances of women serving as spies, and as soldiers while disguised as men.

Records on Fold3 attest to women’s triumphs in many areas where they famously and infamously made a mark on history. Some of the more intriguing include former slave Cathay Williams who went undercover as a man named William Cathay to become a Buffalo Soldier.

Several Spotlights about women in the Civil War have been published by our Fold3 Team. Documents relating to these women, under their male guise, are also evident within the Civil War Collection and on this member’s memorial page: Women Soldiers of the Civil War. Other Fold3 titles, including references to photos, stories, and documents about contributions made by women can be found on this Women’s History Month member page.

Of course, since WWII, women have a more active and official role within the military, both in war and peace. The Library of Congress dedicates a special page within its Veterans History Project profiling “Women of Four Wars.” Those resources, used in tandem with the military collections on Fold3, represent a special tribute to Women’s History Month.

Index to Compiled Service Records of Union Soldiers

Each index card gives the name of a soldier, his rank, and the unit in which he served. Anyone looking for a Union a soldier in the Civil War will find these cards useful in identifying the state and regiment in which a man served and how his name appears in the military records. You can then locate his records to learn about his service in the war and the battles in which his regiment fought.

Beginning in 1890, Capt. Fred C. Ainsworth, head of the Record and Pension Division of the War Department, spearheaded an effort to create card abstracts of information from muster rolls, regimental returns, descriptive books, and other military records to build a compiled service record for each Union soldier. The index cards reference the resulting Civil War Service Records, many of which are also available on Fold3. As an example, the index card for Timothy Canty tells us that he served as a private and an artificer in Company A of the 1st New York Engineers. We can then find Canty’s service record as the 1st New York Engineers is one of regiments digitized on Fold3.

This new index, viewed as card images on Fold3, may be familiar to some. The National Park Service transcribed these cards, referred to as “General Index Cards,” and placed the data online in its Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System. When searching for a soldier there, you are provided with a transcription, while Fold3′s images allow users to view the original card as well as determine the accuracy of the transcription. Once you find the soldier you’re looking for, you can connect his index card to his service record on Fold3, or contact NARA for copies of his documents.

In 1976, President Ford designated February as Black History Month to highlight the achievements of African Americans in U.S. history. He encouraged the nation to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.”

In honor of Black History Month, we invite you to enjoy Fold3′s Black History Collection. This collection includes many enlightening historical records documenting African American achievements since the earliest days of our nation. Of particular interest are those from the Civil War era as we continue to observe the 150th anniversary of the Civil War.

As soon as black soldiers were recruited to serve the Union in 1863, records were generated to document their service including Compiled Service Records for the U.S. Colored Troops and, ultimately, pension files. The pension file index cards, like this one for Joel Bedenbaugh, include a soldier’s rank, company, and regiment within the U.S.C. Infantry, his pension numbers, and sometimes a death date, 24 August 1913, in this case. Private Bedenbaugh’s 16-page service record also includes his enlistment record from when he joined up in Dayton, Ohio, in 1864.

Southern Claims Commission files are petitions by southerners who lost property to Union troops during the Civil War, including many blacks, like William and Louisa Ferguson. Though freeborn, Louisa was not only the wife of a slave, but also the daughter of George Washington’s carpenter, also a slave. Their claim for compensation of $150 for the loss of a horse was denied, but Louisa’s tales of Union and Confederate troops in the vicinity includes her encounters with the rebels and her service to the Union hospital nearby. View the transcription.

Explore these and thousands of other records documenting the history of African Americans in the U.S., from before the Civil War to the War in Vietnam. Join us as we recognize Black History Month with free access to our African American Collection during the month of February.