The
Illinois State Genealogical Society is proud to support the Federation of
Genealogical Societies’ “Preserve the Pensions” campaign.
In support
of this digitization project the ISGS announces the ISGS $10,000 War of 1812
Pension Match Challenge. ISGS will MATCH any contribution (up to the first
$10,000) made to the Preserve the Pensions project before December 31, 2012. For
instance, if you donate $100, the ISGS will match your contribution for a total
of $200! In addition, Ancestry.com has announced it will also match ALL ISGS contributions
which would mean any contribution you make will actually be QUADRUPLED! Your
$100 contribution would become a $400 contribution! Any size contribution is
welcome! A $10 contribution equals about 80 pages of Pension files digitized as
part of the Preserve the Pensions project.
The goal of
the “Preserve the Pensions”
campaign is to raise the $3.7 Million needed to digitize the War of 1812
Pension Application Files that are currently stored in the National Archives
and make them freely available online. There are over 180,000 Pension files
that total over 7.2 million pages! The National Archives gets over three
thousand requests per year to photocopy these records and this hard use is
taking its toll on the original documents. By digitizing these documents we
could halt further damage to these historical documents. The pages are being
digitized as funds become available and some of these files are already
viewable by visiting http://go.fold3.com/1812pensions/.
To make a contribution
via Pay Pal or for more information visit our web site at http://ilgensoc.org/cpage.php?pt=268
. Or mail a check, made payable to Illinois State Genealogical Society (Put
“War of 1812” on Memo line), to Illinois State Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 10195 , Springfield
IL 62791-0195
The War of 1812 –
America’s Second War for Independence
The War of
1812, often called the “forgotten war”, shaped the identity of the United States
Editors Note: The War of 1812 pensions can contain invaluable genealogical information and are a wonderful early 19th century set of records for a time period when not all records survive!
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Exciting news ... FGS Announces $135,000 Donation to war of 1812 Pension project
ReplyDeleteEstate of Jon Stedman To Help Digitize Important Family History Records
June 25, 2012 – Austin, TX. The Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) announces the donation of a generous gift in the amount of $135,000 from the estate of the late Jon Stedman in memory of his mother, Ardath Stedman. The donation to the Preserve the Pensions – War of 1812 Pension Digitization Fund will be used to help preserve and digitize War of 1812 Pension records.
Hollace Hervey, executrix of the estate, indicated that Jon Stedman was "always interested in preservation and bringing information to the front" so genealogists could more easily use it. Besides caring passionately for facilitating genealogists doing good research, Stedman had a deep love and affection for his mother who was a genealogist in her own right. The Preserve the Pensions project is just such a preservation and access endeavor, and FGS is honored in receiving this generous donation.
The $135,000 donation is a significant lead gift to the Preserve the Pensions project as FGS ramps up its fundraising efforts during the bicentennial of the War of 1812 which started on June 18, 2012. Members of the genealogy and family history communities as well as the general public are invited to learn more about this important record preservation project by visiting the Preserve the Pensions website at www.fgs.org/1812 and assist with honoring our nation’s heritage by preserving the records of our past.