Getting Alfred Butler's Pension NOT at the National Archives

Apparently getting Alfred Butler's pension is going to be more of a trick than I thought.

The Civil War pension file for Alfred Butler is not at the National Archives (two requests for it came back with the same result--not there). Apparently it is at the Veteran's Administration and I will need to make a Freedom of Information Act request to obtain it.  Butler died in 1895, his children later received a pension (but only until they were sixteen), and his widow may have received some sort of pension as well. Her marriage to another veteran after Butler may have muddied the waters just a bit.

Here's Butler's card which was discussed in an earlier post.

I have already sent a request. Stay tuned! I know I am.

Alfred Butler's Payment Card--Even Though He Is Dead

There's yet another pension index card for Alfred Butler--the payment card. These cards were created for pensions that were paid between 1907 and 1933. The veteran did not have to be living during this time period, there just had to be a pension being paid.

We've already seen his organizational index card and the remarried widow's card. This card indicates that there were two minors who were receiving pensions based upon Alfred's service:

• Bessie who expired on 28 March 1909
• Margaret who expired on 1 July 1911

Those dates of expiration are when the minor "ages out" of the pension system--not when they die.

Butler, Alfred, "United States, Veterans Administration Pension Payment Cards, 1907-1933." Index and Images. FamilySearch. http://FamilySearch.org : accessed 4 March 2013. Citing NARA microfilm publication M850. Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.

These cards are available at FamilySearch.

Apparently She Got A Pension-Remarried Widow's Index

The organizational index card for Alfred Butler seems to indicate that his widow applied for, but did not receive a pension based upon his service.

That's not what is indicated on this card for Sarah Stevens that appears in the "Remarried Widow's Index to Pension Applications" on FamilySearch. These cards were created to assist clerks in the pension office in finding application and supplementary materials on individuals whose last names did not match those of the veteran upon whose service the pension was paid. These cards are online at FamilySearch.

Stevens, Sarah C.,  index card, "United States, Remarried Widows Index to Pension Applications, 1887-1942;" digital image, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org), citing National Archives microfilm publication M1785, 3 March 2013.

Speculation based solely upon these cards is that Sarah received a Civil War pension based upon her first husband (Alfred Butler)'s service and not that service of her subsequent husband. And this card makes it appear that Sarah was living at least until 1922.

We'll wait until records from Alfred's pension file are received before we discuss the pension any further.

That Cross-Referenced Pension

The organizational index card for Alfred Butler indicates a "see also" reference to the card of George A. Stevens. Stevens' card is shown below. 

Organization Index to Pension Files of Veterans Who Served Between 1861 and 1900, Michigan Light Artillery, Unit 1, Company K, Card for George A. Stevens; digital image, Fold3, (from National Archives Microfilm Publication T289) 3 March 2013.

Of course, it also indicates a "see also" reference to Alfred Butler. There are also references to the application of a widow under Butler's service, the service claim of Alfred Butler, and the children's claim under Butler's service. There was no apparenty widow claim filed under Stevens' service, so it is likely that his widow did not survive him. That will not be known for certain until the actual records have been searched.

The purpose of these cards must be kept in mind--they were to assist the pension office in finding material in an era when there was no computerization of records.

Research on Butler's pension is underway. Depending upon what is located in that file, Stevens' file may or may not be obtained. The real person of interest is Alfred Butler because he is the child of an ancestor. Stay tuned.

Alfred Butler's Pension Index Card

This images if of a pension index card for Alfred Butler who served in the US Civil War from Michigan. This image was obtained on Fold3.

Organization Index to Pension Files of Veterans Who Served Between 1861 and 1900, Michigan Calvary, 9th Unit, Company K, Card for Alfred Butler; digital image, Fold3, (from National Archives Microfilm Publication T289) 1 March 2013.

The Alfred Butler on this pension index card is likely the son of my ancestor Benjamin Butler who was in Davis County, Iowa, in 1870. Apparently Alfred remained in Michigan when his family moved west sometime in 1850s. There are several reasons I want to see the actual material in Alfred's pension, most notably information on where he was born any affidavits made by indidividuals who claimed they had known Alfred before his service in the war.

I know little about the Butler family during the Civil War time period and any information may help me to further my research.

There was an application made by a widow of Alfred, but as there is no certificate number given, her application was apparently denied. There was also a children's pension what was approved based upon Alfred's service as well.

Alfred died in 1895 and the card indicates a reference to George A. Stevens. It may be that Butler's widow married Stevens and that her marriage and his pension were the basis of her denial.

Reminder: This card is a finding aid. Details it provides should be validated with actual records whenever possible and should be considered seconadary information.That does not mean the information is incorrect, but there is always the possibility that information was copied incorrectly. The card was not meant to be a transcription or official copy of the documents it references.

Stay tuned, we'll have a brief update when the digital images of the files have been received.

 Citation reminder: We are a strong believe in citing genealogical source material in the spriit ff Evidence Explained. However, we choose not to include properly formatted citations in these blog posts. There's always enough information in the post to create a citation and full citations are included in my how-to newsletter Casefile Clues.