Kinda Confused- Need Help.

[Evan]

Well... as many of you know I am STILL looking. I've already posted 2 previous threads looking for ancestors in the Civil War. Being hard though for me as I am Canadian.

I subscribed to Ancestry the other day and been looking at records. One of my great-great-great-great grandfather's, Gregor McGregor had some census'... da duh duh da duh. But then a "Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934 Record for Gregor McGregor" popped up.

Margaret McGregor was his wife, nee- McKinnon.


This record was in the section of "most likely to be your ancestor". Problem is, I don't really know what it means. Since it says widow, does that mean he actually died? Or would that be his widow if he had died? See, this is the confusing part. I absolutely know he did not die if it was him because he lived to 1898.

Before I posted this thread I looked for the "1861" census to find out where he was. Turns out there was non, well there was, but it wasn't him, the birth-date-location was wrong.

Probably won't have any luck, just giving it a shot.

 

[Bonny Blue Flag]

From this form, it looks like your ancestor was concidered an invalid in 1888. By the time your ancestor's family was contacted again, your g x 4 grandfather had passed away. It appears he died between the previous contact in 1888 and the following contact which was in 1902.

--BBF

 

[Evan]

From this form, it looks like your ancestor was concidered an invalid in 1888. By the time your ancestor's family was contacted again, your g x 4 grandfather had passed away. It appears he died between the previous contact in 1888 and the following contact which was in 1902.

--BBF

So that means there still luck? Right now what you said is all correct. I'll keep looking for actual Civil War documents and files for Gregor McGregor.

Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention this, is said he served with the 125 Illinois Infantry.
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I also found out he served in Company A, stayed a Private the whole time in, and his Film Number: M539 roll 59.

I still can't confirm anything, I need to see his children, or someone in his family listed.

 

[XVfortyrounds]

There was a Gregor McGregor living in Danville, Illinois who enlisted as a private during the Summer of '62 call for 300,000 additional volunteers on July 25, 1862 to be mustered into Company A, 125th Illinois on September 3, 1862. He survived the war and was later mustered out as a private on June 9, 1865 in D. C.

As far as pensions go, his wife applied for a widow's pension on August 15, 1887, meaning that he would have had to have died prior to that date. She was awarded the same. The application number was 359,287 and the certificate number was 396,814. If you contact NARA with roughly $75-80 with this data as well as his service data (name, rank, unit, etc.), they will be able to pull and digitize both his Combined Service Records and his wife's widow pension packet (both of which will be likely quite valuable to you). A good place to start is: http://www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records/pre-ww-1-records.html

All the best.

 

[Evan]

There was a Gregor McGregor living in Danville, Illinois who enlisted as a private during the Summer of '62 call for 300,000 additional volunteers on July 25, 1862 to be mustered into Company A, 125th Illinois on September 3, 1862. He survived the war and was later mustered out as a private on June 9, 1865 in D. C.

As far as pensions go, his wife applied for a widow's pension on August 15, 1887, meaning that he would have had to have died prior to that date. She was awarded the same. The application number was 359,287 and the certificate number was 396,814. If you contact NARA with roughly $75-80 with this data as well as his service data (name, rank, unit, etc.), they will be able to pull and digitize both his Combined Service Records and his wife's widow pension packet (both of which will be likely quite valuable to you). A good place to start is: http://www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records/pre-ww-1-records.html

All the best.

Erm... That sucks, well I'm still looking for others!

 

[ExNavyPilot]

Evan -- The pension file card you show in your first post is for an Alexander McGregor of Company D, 1st Wisconsin Cavalry, with his wife Mary McGregor. Did you post the wrong image? You say you are looking for info on Gregor McGregor...

 

[Evan]

Evan -- The pension file card you show in your first post is for an Alexander McGregor of Company D, 1st Wisconsin Cavalry, with his wife Mary McGregor. Did you post the wrong image? You say you are looking for info on Gregor McGregor...

I did post the wrong one, I forgot there was two. I had got them mixed before. I'll update it.

 

[ExNavyPilot]

Evan--
Don't get too discouraged in your research. You might still be able to connect your ancestor with this pension file. Keep looking for more records which might confirm your information or perhaps refute other info.
Regarding the Gregor McGregor listed on the pension card, it appears he resided in Danville, Vermilion County, Illinois when he enlisted at age 30. (Type his name in the search section in the Illinois State Archives site; http://www.ilsos.gov/isaveterans/civilmustersrch.jsp and you'll get lots of good data.) If your ancestor is listed in a census for that county, was born in about 1832, and had a wife named Margaret, there could be a match. Perhaps the year listed on the pension file is wrong, or your info on Gregor's year of death is wrong. There might, however, be two different Gregor McGregors who each married a Margaret.
I found some more info (based on a quick Google search) at the following GenForum link (http://genforum.genealogy.com/mcgregor/messages/1156.html):

I have been able to trace a Gregor McGregor from Scotland born about 1792 to Vermilion IL. where I located another Gregor McGregor born in 1832 In Vermilion Il.
Married to a Margaret.. with childern being Ellie Cathrine , Edward ,John and Daniel ,and Franklin.
Gregor's father was from Scotland and mother from Ohio .
I have come to a dead end at this point .
I have Information from a tomb stone in Deer Creek Cem IL. that shows a Gregor mcGregor and A Margaret mcGregor.
Gregor haveing been born Dec 2 1829 d.1881 . a difference in dates and this is so often the case .it makes it hard to trace back to the correct McGregors.​

On the Find a Grave website, there's a Gregor McGregor that appears to match the info above ( http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/f...GSst=16&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=90917910&df=all& )
Good luck in sorting through the data and figuring out which one is yours. Meanwhile, you can keep looking at other ancestors to see if they served. Don't forget to check out the brothers of your female direct ancestors; they might have served. It might not be quite as satisfying as finding a direct ancestor who served, but this level of ancestry (brother of a direct ancestor) could make you eligible for membership in the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War or (I believe) the Sons of Confederate Veterans, depending upon the side they served.

 

[Evan]

Evan--
Don't get too discouraged in your research. You might still be able to connect your ancestor with this pension file. Keep looking for more records which might confirm your information or perhaps refute other info.
Regarding the Gregor McGregor listed on the pension card, it appears he resided in Danville, Vermilion County, Illinois when he enlisted at age 30. (Type his name in the search section in the Illinois State Archives site; http://www.ilsos.gov/isaveterans/civilmustersrch.jsp and you'll get lots of good data.) If your ancestor is listed in a census for that county, was born in about 1832, and had a wife named Margaret, there could be a match. Perhaps the year listed on the pension file is wrong, or your info on Gregor's year of death is wrong. There might, however, be two different Gregor McGregors who each married a Margaret.
I found some more info (based on a quick Google search) at the following GenForum link (http://genforum.genealogy.com/mcgregor/messages/1156.html):

I have been able to trace a Gregor McGregor from Scotland born about 1792 to Vermilion IL. where I located another Gregor McGregor born in 1832 In Vermilion Il.​

Married to a Margaret.. with childern being Ellie Cathrine , Edward ,John and Daniel ,and Franklin.​

Gregor's father was from Scotland and mother from Ohio .​

I have come to a dead end at this point .​

I have Information from a tomb stone in Deer Creek Cem IL. that shows a Gregor mcGregor and A Margaret mcGregor.​

Gregor haveing been born Dec 2 1829 d.1881 . a difference in dates and this is so often the case .it makes it hard to trace back to the correct McGregors.​

On the Find a Grave website, there's a Gregor McGregor that appears to match the info above ( http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/f...GSst=16&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=90917910&df=all& )
Good luck in sorting through the data and figuring out which one is yours. Meanwhile, you can keep looking at other ancestors to see if they served. Don't forget to check out the brothers of your female direct ancestors; they might have served. It might not be quite as satisfying as finding a direct ancestor who served, but this level of ancestry (brother of a direct ancestor) could make you eligible for membership in the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War or (I believe) the Sons of Confederate Veterans, depending upon the side they served.

Well that information is off for me.. So I guess Gregor McGregor from Illinois isn't an ancestor of mine... I'll keep out looking.
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Well wonderful news of Ancestry.ca! I found out I am related to the Sir John A. Macdonald (him being my 5th great grand uncle) and he was involvement in the war, only a bit though.

 

[JPK Huson 1863]

Have you left messages on the various genealogy forums? It takes TIME, generally, but you tend to get hits on these. There are tons of them, too. I receive emails in answer to queries I left all of 5 years ago- sometimes with really valuable information. Ancestry has it's own Gen Forum, I believe. Who knows who else out there might be researching the same thing and be a step or two ahead of you?

Much luck. I know it can be awfully frustrating.

 

[Evan]

Alright guys... Since Gregor McGregor is a no go I found somebody else. He may be easy or harder to find information out. The man's name is Donald MacDonald, born about 1819, which my family's Donald was. He was born 12 Jul 1819 in Scotland, where most of my ancestors came from. But here's the better part, he died 2 Jun 1885 in Fargo, Cass, North Dakota, United States.

I looked up some 1861 census' and only found Scotland ones, thing is non of the family member's matched mine. Which was good and bad, meaning he was most likely not in Scotland during 1861, but I also have no clue where else he would of been.

The record I found was "U.S. Army, Register of Enlistments, 1798-1914 Record for Donald Macdonald". (I got two screenshots for the file, I had to split it up because it was way to big, and no one would be able to see it)
*My Cursor (mouse) is lined up with Donald*

Registration:

Regiment:

I have a feeling I may be lucky on this one, I dont know why though...

 

[ExNavyPilot]

Looks promising. Keep digging for more info that will tie your ancestor to this listing.

 

[Evan]

Actually doesn't look to promising anymore!
I actually looked and found some census', an 1871 England Census, which matched him and his family, and an 1880 United States Census, also matching him and his family. So he obviously came between 1871 and 1880....
So god darn frustrating.. Oh well, I'm starting to find more ancestors from the United States.