The following documents will be found most of the pension files:

Original application

Proof of soldier's service

Proof of death

Proof of marriage - affadavits or certificates proved that the widow seeking the pension was, indeed married to the soldier.

Proof of children - when children are listed, you often will find copies of bible records or town records.

Declaration of a Widow for Restoration of Pension - when a second marriage revoked the pension and the death of the second husband left the widow once again without support.

Dropped from rolls - this record will give a date of death or other circumstance which required the widow to be dropped from the rolls. In this particular example, note the odd phrasing: "I have the honor to report that the name of the above-described pensioner who was last paid at $12, to Nov. 4, 1913, has this day been dropped from the roll because of death Nov. 23, 1913."

Note: Some pension files with early certificate numbers may include a cover page to the file which lists the name of the soldier; company, regiment, and state of service; the name of the widow, often with her maiden name; and the names of any dependent children. It also lists which of the above documents are within the file.

As the Civil War Widows' Pensions project has evolved, the cover page has also been through some changes. In pension files with higher certificate numbers, the page looks like this, with a soldier's service information, the names of the pensioners, and their relationship to the soldier. The form was created during the digitization process, and like the earlier cover pages, is not part of the original case file.

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