PA Spanish American War
Request Pension Records
Spanish-American War pension records typically have birth dates, addresses of next of kin, medical information, proof of marriage, proof of children's births, a summary of military service, pages from family Bibles, family letters, depositions of witnesses, affidavits, discharge papers and other supporting papers, and death certificates. The amount of data received varies from a few pages to 100's of pages.
To request your ancestor's military complete pension record, use the certificate number from the Spanish-American /Civil War Pension Index
- If the pension card does NOT include a "CX" or "C" number at the bottom, order the pension records from NARA. Order the "Federal Military Pension Applications - Complete File" from
NARA online. You may also order by mail by requesting Form 85 from the NARA website.
For best results, NARA suggests sending a copy of the Pension index card from Ancestry. Read more detailed info about Getting the Most Out of the Civil War Pension Index, Part IOrdering Copies of Original Pension Records from the National Archives. (The article refers to the Civil War Pension index, but this index actually includes Civil War as well as Spanish American War veterans.)
- If the pension card includes a "CX" or "C" number at the bottom, it is quite likely that the record is still in the custody of the Veterans Administration instead of NARA. Also, if your soldier died after 1928, the pension file may be held by the Veteran's Administration. In either case, send a letter to:
Department of Veterans Affairs
Director, Records Management Service (005E3)
810 Vermont Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20420
(Write Freedom of Information Act Request on the envelope.)
Veterans Administration Regional Office
(Your state of residence)
Dear Sir or Madam,
I am advised that there is a veteran's pension file for my (list relationship) (list name), designated C-(list certificate # from Ancestry database), and it is in the custody of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
I am requesting that you conduct a BIRLS search for the file and retrieve it for my use from the Federal Records Center where it is currently housed. Procedures for recall of records from Federal Records Centers are found in VA Handbook 6300.1, Chapter 6, Part 5.
Thank you,
your name, address, and phone number
For additional information about the Freedom of Information Act, visit Freedom of Information.
The address for the VA FOIA/ Privacy Act Officer is:
Department of Veterans Affairs
Director, Records Management Service (005E3)
810 Vermont Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20420
Ancestry.com Resources
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Pension Records
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