How do I use the United States Mexican War Pension Index,1887-1926 to find information the index cards lead to? I found my great grandfather's name (Leonard McLeod) who became entangled with another man's name (Alfonzo Vinton, as an Alias) when it turned up that their wives both filed for the same widow's benefits. I hope there are files behind the index records which might reveal the information I need to work with to sort out what happened, why the identity of the two men has become entwined and why two widows applied for the same soldier's pension when I have no evidence they each deserved it. My sixth sense tells me there's a case of stolen identity behind it all (at best) and at worst a case of one man somehow impersonating the other through the last half of his life. I am reasonably certain a man known as Alonzo Vinton did served in the Mexican War; I am also reasonably certain a man known as Leonard McLeod did not. I'm trying to prove or disprove that they are one-and-the-same person, and I feel there's information in those files which will assist my doing that. Does anybody know how to access the files behind these index cards?
