The following news release was received from FGS:
November 23, 2017 – Austin, Texas – The Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) is pleased to announce new pension images available at our hosting partner, Fold3. As we detailed in August of this year, conservation had resumed and digitization would shortly follow on War of 1812 Pension files covering surnames M(Moore)-Q. This new release of images is the first installment on the promise made by FGS, National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and Ancestry to complete the project we started and to which you all have so generously contributed. Additional images will follow as the Ancestry digitization team continues to refine their process and achieve full capacity in accord with NARA protocols.
The War of 1812 pensions are among the most frequently requested set of materials within NARA’s holdings, yet had never been microfilmed or digitized. Through a fundraising effort unprecedented in the genealogical community, more than 4,000 individuals, 115 genealogical and lineage societies, and industry leaders such as FamilySearch helped FGS secure the funds, matched by Ancestry, to preserve and share this invaluable genealogical resource. The images already captured, as well as those soon to be, are hosted at Fold3 and available for free at https://go.fold3.com/1812pensions/
“The Federation remains grateful to our partners and our supporters for their commitment to this important project. We are as excited as our community to reach this milestone.” – Rorey Cathcart, FGS President
“Accelerating public access to our holdings is key to successfully meeting NARA’s mission and we are extremely pleased to see this project contribute to that overarching goal.” Pamela Wright, Chief Innovation Officer, NARA
“We are excited to have images flowing to the Fold3 site again and look forward to completing the collection as quickly as NARA’s process will allow.” Brian Hansen, GM Fold3
The Federation is committed to seeing the entire collection conserved, digitized and freely online at the earliest possible date. We will continue work with our partners to complete the current project plan in a timely manner and to secure a project plan for the remaining portion of the War of 1812 Pension files.
