Index to the List of Pensioners on the Roll, January 1, 1883

The List of Pensioners on the Roll, January 1, 1883 is a multi-volume set originally produced by an order of Congress in 1883. It consists of five volumes containing over 285,000 names of individuals who received pensions for serving in the United States military, mostly the War of 1812 and the Civil War. In addition to living soldiers receiving pensions, there are also recipients who had no military background, such as their mothers, widows, minors or other dependants. The pensioners are listed by their current residence. Prior to this index, searching for these soldiers was difficult, as soldiers did not always settle in the same location in which they served. The set lists the pension certificate number, name of each individual receiving a pension, post-office address, cause for which pensioned, monthly rate and date of original allowance. Entries are not complete in every field. Because the original multi-volume set is out of print and not widely available, a list of states and counties for all volumes have been included with their page numbers. This geographical list should be helpful in narrowing the search for a pensioner’s residence in 1883 if the original source is unavailable to the researcher.