Centre County
Military Pension Records

Military pensions are often overlooked resources when it comes to genealogy. However, in addition to documenting one's service, they often show family relations, location of enlistment, and in the case of bounty land claims movement after the military service. Pension records for Centre Countians' military service through the time of the Civil War in 1861 can be found in the following national indexes which are available in the Pennsylvania Room of the Centre County Library in Bellefonte:

  • Virgil D. White's Genealogical Abstract of Revolutionary War Pension Files (1890, in 4 vols., including index).
  • Virgil D. White's Index to War of 1812 Pension Files (1989, in 3 volumes).
  • Virgil D. White's Index to Old Wars Pension Files 1815-1926 (1993).
  • Virgil D. White's Index to Mexican War Pension Files (1989).

    The Pennsylvania Room of the Centre County Library and Historical Museum in Bellefonte has a growing collection of Civil War Pension files in its vertical files, and welcomes anyone with a Centre County ancestor to submit these for inclusion.

  • Posting Pension Records Online: Transcribed pension records for persons with a Centre County connection can be posted online: