Tuesday, November 06, 2007

Special Delivery...

On September 2nd this year (before the price increase went into effect) I placed on order online with NARA for the full Civil War Pension Files of my 2nd great grandfather, Eli Yarian, and for Aaron Conroy, the husband of Lydia Fisher. Two weeks later I placed an order for the pension records of Samuel Fisher. I'm fairly certain that Lydia and Samuel are the children of my 3rd great grandparents, Michael and Christenia Fisher.

Today UPS delivered a thick envelope with the records of Aaron Conroy. I haven't counted the number of pages yet, but the stack is about ½" thick. A quick look through the papers shows that Aaron Conroy married Lydia Fisher on September 8, 1870 in Douglas County, Kansas which matches up with the record I had previously found online. "Aldia" Fisher was enumerated in the household of Samuel Fisher in the 1870 census of Marion Township, Douglas County. Additional records found online show that Samuel was the son of Christopher Fisher and Christine Houk. Though the names don't quite match up I'm convinced that this Samuel is the "right" one. The 1910 federal census of Lawrence, Douglas County, Kansas shows Samuel living on Connecticut Street and the 1913 Phend-Fisher Reunion Ledger gives his address as "621 Conne St Lawrence Kan." The 1914 Ledger states simply that "Samuel Fisher died" while online records show that he died September 7, 1913.

A few minutes ago, at the NARA site, I entered the order numbers for the remaining two requests. They have copied the records for Eli Yarian and that file is awaiting shipment. For Samuel Fisher, whose records were ordered two weeks later, the request is still in servicing, which means they are looking for the file. It's kind of neat that you can check the status of your orders online.

Now, I've got some reading to do!

Oh, and something else came today, but not via UPS. This came from Mother Nature - the first snow flurries of the winter season along with cold winds. There was a light dusting of white on the ground and rooftops this morning and a "whiteout" for a few minutes at about 10 a.m. Thankfully, it didn't last long.

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