Footnote: Civil War widow's pensions

Footnote.com has released Civil War widows' pension records, and is also offering a special free seven-day trial with registration.

Jews fought for both sides - Confederate and Union - during this war. If your ancestors came to the US early on, you may discover important details relevant to your research.

Footnote also has the records of the Civil War Soldiers and the Southern Claims Conference and I have located Jewish records in that as well, such as that of Private M.J. Cohen of Georgia (left). Cohen enlisted April 1862 in the lst (Olmstead's) Georgia Infantry CSA, was transferred to the Confederate States Navy in August 1863, was 3rd assistant engineer on the steamer Drewry in June 1964, was captured April 1865 at Appomattox River and releasted June 1865 at Johnson's Island, Ohio after taking the oath of allegiance.

Searching for Cohen+civil war soldiers+confederate resulted in 1,624 items on this one name and historical period alone. There are 12 Levys in the Southern Claims Conference group, and 226 in the Civil War pension record group.

Civil War Widows’ Pension Now Available
On The Internet For The First Time

Lindon, UT – October 16, 2008 – Today, Footnote.com released the first digitized versions of the Civil War Widows’ Pension Files.

Through its partnership with Footnote.com, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and FamilySearch, Footnote.com has worked together to prepare, scan, index and now publish these highly popular original documents. “These are one of the most heavily used series of original records at the National Archives,” said James Hastings, NARA Director of Access Programs.

Having never been microfilmed before, the Civil War Pension Files were previously accessible only at the National Archives in Washington, DC. Now, through this project, anyone can access these records via the internet exclusively on Footnote.com.

“The significance to family historians is obvious,” says Cynthia Fox, a NARA Deputy Director. “However, these records offer much to the scholarly community as well. They document the lives of common Americans; people who rarely left journals or collections of letters. They often tell the life stories of people whose daily lives would otherwise be undocumented. Having these records online opens this virtually untapped resource for the study of social history in new and exciting ways.”

Footnote.com has additional paper-to-digital projects to the site including:
• The Southern Claims Commission
• WWII & Vietnam War Photos
• Homestead Records

“It’s crucial to preserve this information and make it available on the internet where more people can interact with these records,” explains Russ Wilding, CEO of Footnote.com. “At Footnote.com we believe it’s all about people connecting with history in a unique way and our goal is to make sure we provide the best content to help make that connection.”

Footnote.com now features over 45 million records ranging from the time of the Pilgrims and the Revolutionary War to the Vietnam War. Millions of documents are added every month with increasing numbers of people adding their own piece of history to the Footnote.com site through photos, documents, letters and stories.

Visitors can view every image on Footnote.com by signing up for a free 7-day trial. To learn more, visit www.footnote.com today.