<HTML style="FONT-SIZE: x-small; FONT-FAMILY: MS Sans Serif"><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.3660" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV> <DIV>Judy,</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>This is possible; however, you need more evidence to support the believe that the Civil War soldier is the same person.  Two men with the same name and with a wife of the same first name are not necessarily the same person.  When researching my wife's ancestry I ran across two Patrick Reillys, each with a wife Mary, and in the same county.  Two different Patricks.  Took me a while to seperate them.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Have you searched the 1870 census for the person and his wife?  Finding the wife as a widow lends support.  However, the most valuable record you need to search is his widow's pension record.  There will be sufficient information on this pension record to determine if the soldier is the person you are researching.  Other evidence that can be useful are probate records, tax records, and land records.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Yours aye,</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Bob McLaren</DIV> <DIV>Genealogist, Clan MacLaren Society (based in Scotland)</DIV> <DIV>Chairman, Genealogy Committee, Clan MacLaren Society of North America</DIV> <DIV>Administrator, Clan MacLaren Surname DNA Project (Worldwide)</DIV> <DIV>Administrator, Lindo, da Silva, and Braham Surname DNA Projects (all Worldwide)</DIV> <DIV>Member, Association of Professional Genealogists</DIV> <DIV>Member, Genealogical Speakers Guild</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV></DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt Arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=riffelj@bellsouth.net href="mailto:riffelj@bellsouth.net">JUDY A RIFFEL</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To: </B><A title=apgpubliclist@apgen.org href="mailto:apgpubliclist@apgen.org">APG Public List</A></DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> 1/24/2010 10:25:15 AM </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [APG Public List] Civil War question</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV><FONT size=2> <DIV>To any Civil War expert:</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>How common would it have been for a man in his mid to late 60s to have served in a Union Cavalry unit during the Civil War?  I am editing an 1839 letter for publication trying to ID the individuals mentioned.  It's from a wife to her husband.  I traced the couple on the census up to 1860 in Steuben Co., Indiana.  Then, I found a man by the same name serving in an Indiana Cavalry unit and dying in the South in 1865.  No mention of his age, but he enlisted in Steuben Co.  Problem is, this guy would have been nearly 70.  I thought perhaps the soldier was someone from a younger generation, a nephew or son, but I'm not finding anyone else by that name.  Plus, there is a pension file that lists a widow with the same first name as the wife.  I don't have the actual pension record, so I don't know if her maiden name matches.  But the names are unusual enough that it would be too much of a coincidence.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Many thanks.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Judy Riffel</DIV> <DIV>Baton Rouge</DIV></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>