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iArchives Announces Collaboration with the Federation of Genealogical Societies to Digitize 7.2 Million Pages of Pension Applications from the War of 1812

Footnote.com will be the first online home of the digital pension applications

Lindon, UT (April 11, 2011) – iArchives today announced a collaboration with the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) to digitize 180,000 pension applications, or an estimated 7.2 million pages of War of 1812 Pension Applications and Bounty Land Warrants. The collection will be available on iArchives’ military records website, Footnote.com, home of more than 72 million historical records.

The multi-year project will consist of scanning the pension files at the National Archives in Washington D.C. and creating a searchable index to the digital images. FGS has targeted the War of 1812 Pension Applications as a high priority project based on the value of the content for genealogists as well as the importance of preserving the fragile records.

“Our goal with any collaboration is to honor our nation’s heritage by preserving the records of our past,” said Patricia Oxley, President of FGS. “In the specific case of the War of 1812 pension records, there is an added priority due to their frail state where not acting may mean sacrificing these for future generations.”

With the burden of proof on the applicant to qualify for a pension, those applying proved participation in the war by including dozens of vividly descriptive pages.  Details recorded include military battle stories, service dates, mentions of fellow soldiers, family relations, marriages, widows’ maiden names and many other clues significant to researchers. The breadth of information allows the pension files to tell the richest story of that time period.

“The most popular database on Footnote.com today is the Revolutionary War Pensions which is very similar content,” said Brian Hansen, General Manager at Footnote.com. “Our users have been asking for the War of 1812 pension records for some time, and I expect this collection to be very popular based on the rich war time detail it contains.  We are pleased to make these records available for free on Footnote.com as a result of FGS fundraising efforts to subsidize the production cost.”

FGS is proud to be leading the national fundraising to support this project and is actively seeking donations from genealogical and historical societies, patriotic and military heritage societies, as well as interested corporations and individuals.  iArchives is providing a dollar-for-dollar match of each donation through a provision of services. To learn more and contribute to the project, visit www.fgs.org/1812.

About iArchives

iArchives is a leading digitization service provider and subsidiary of Ancestry.com (NASDAQ: ACOM). The company operates Footnote.com, the leading U.S. military record resource on the web with more than 72 million records online. The site provides searchable original documents, providing subscribers with a view of the events, places and people in the conflicts that shaped the American nation and the world. For more information, visit www.footnote.com.

 About FGS

The Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS), founded in 1976, links the genealogical community by serving the needs of its member societies, providing products and services needed by member societies, and marshaling the resources of its member organizations. FGS represents the members of hundreds of genealogical societies and engages in projects that help genealogical societies strengthen and grow as well as call attention to records preservation and access issues. FGS can be found on the web at www.FGS.org.

3 Comments

  1. Shirley Rogers says:

    I thought these records weregoing to be available thru FAmilysearch where th woul be free to the public, not a paid website.
    Very disappointing.

  2. Peter says:

    Shirley, as Brian mentioned in his statement in the press release above, the 1812 pension records digitized through the partnership between Footnote and FGS will be available for free on Footnote.

  3. Sharon Hawkins says:

    In reference to funding, I don’t see why you couldn’t get something on tax returns such as the donation to presidential campaign funds. I never donate to that, but I would donate to something like this.