Relay – A Family History Blog

I’m leaving in a week for DC on a business trip, but of course I can’t just avoid the National Archives. Given the increased fees for Civil War pension records, I’m going to overdose on Pension files. I can’t wait. I plan on checking every Whitman, Decker, Asher, Overman, Swartz, Gould, McLeland, Thomas and Wieser I can think of. Even if they may not be closely related. Better to get possible cousins now for low cost than need one later and pay huge fees. If I can manage I will also troll for Revoluntionary War files and maybe see what I can do with homestead files. I know the Goulds homesteaded in Nebraska. As far as I know they are the only “official” homesteader on the family tree. Several branches of the family refer to the family “homestead” but what they really mean is this is the farm that has been in the family awhile. I’m pretty sure that the Gould files will tell me little I don’t already know but they might be interesting just for collaborative detail.