These can be especially helpful when looking for soldiers with common names. If there was a widow, Ancestry’s pension cards will tell her name. Fold3's pension cards will sometimes tell the date and place of death. Between these two cards, there may be enough identifying information to determine that is your relative.
From these pension index cards for George F. Williams, we can determine that he fought in Ohio, was married to Viola M. Williams at the time of his death, and that he died on 29 March 1915 in Eckleson, North Dakota. That information is specific enough that in many cases you should be able to use both versions of the pension index cards to determine if your relative received a Civil War pension.
Oh, and if you find an ancestor with a pension index card, let us know! When NARA reopens, we’ll be able to get that file for you. Our rates are cheaper than ordering directly through the National Archives, it’ll be a quicker turn-around time, and you’ll high resolution, full color scans of the entire file. Let us know if we can help!
