iArchives to Collaborate with FGS to
Digitize War of 1812 Pension Applications
The following announcement was written
by iArchives, a subsidiary of Ancestry.com. It is the division that
operates Fold3.com (formerly Footnote.com): Fold3 will be the first
online home of the digital pension applications
Lindon, UT – iArchives today
announced a collaboration with the Federation of Genealogical
Societies (FGS) to digitize 180,000 pension applications, or an
estimated 7.2 million pages of War of 1812 Pension and Bounty Land
Warrant Application Files. The collection will be available on
iArchives’ military records website, Fold3.com, home of more than
94 million historical records.
The multi-year project will consist of
scanning the pension files at the National Archives in Washington
D.C. and creating a searchable index to the digital images. FGS has
targeted the War of 1812 Pension Applications as a high priority
project based on the value of the content for genealogists as well as
the importance of preserving the fragile records.
“Our goal with any collaboration is
to honor our nation’s heritage by preserving the records of our
past,” said Patricia Oxley, President of FGS. “In the specific
case of the War of 1812 pension records, there is an added priority
due to their frail state where not acting may mean sacrificing these
for future generations.”
With the burden of proof on the
applicant to qualify for a pension, those applying proved
participation in the war by including dozens of vividly descriptive
pages. Details recorded include military battle stories, service
dates, mentions of fellow soldiers, family relations, marriages,
widows’ maiden names and many other clues significant to
researchers. The breadth of information allows the pension files to
tell the richest story of that time period.
“The most popular database on Fold3
today is the Revolutionary War Pensions which is very similar
content,” said Brian Hansen, General Manager at Fold3. “Our users
have been asking for the War of 1812 pension records for some time,
and I expect this collection to be very popular based on the rich war
time detail it contains. We are pleased to make these records
available for free on Fold3 as a result of FGS fundraising efforts to
subsidize the production cost.”
FGS is proud to be leading the national
fundraising to support this project and is actively seeking donations
from genealogical and historical societies, patriotic and military
heritage societies, as well as interested corporations and
individuals. iArchives is providing a dollar-for-dollar match of
each donation through a provision of services. To learn more and
contribute to the Preserve the Pensions project, visit
www.fgs.org/1812.
About iArchives
iArchives is a leading digitization
service provider and subsidiary of Ancestry.com (NASDAQ: ACOM). The
company operates Fold3, the leading U.S. military record resource on
the web with more than 94 million records online. The site provides
searchable original documents, providing subscribers with a view of
the events, places and people in the conflicts that shaped the
American nation and the world. For more information, visit
www.fold3.com.
About FGS
The Federation of Genealogical
Societies (FGS), founded in 1976, links the genealogical community by
serving the needs of its member societies, providing products and
services needed by member societies, and marshaling the resources of
its member organizations. FGS represents the members of hundreds of
genealogical societies and engages in projects that help genealogical
societies strengthen and grow as well as call attention to records
preservation and access issues. FGS can be found on the web at
www.FGS.org.
Created by fold3_catalog 30 Apr 2011
No comments:
Post a Comment