This image seemed especially appropriate for Veterans' Day so we're using it for a blog post today. The color images obtained from the National Archives give an entirely different feel to using these records than when only black and white copies are obtained.
James Kile died in Mercer County, Illinois, in the early 1850s. He had received his warrant, but the land had not yet been patented. Fortunately, his heirs patented the property after his death and the surrendered warrant file contains names and counties of residence for his eleven sons.
From a genealogy standpoint, that's the best time for him to have passed away. Had James lived to patent his warrant there would have been much less in the way of genealogical information in his file.
