Ever had child

Those of you who are working on Project 1 might remember that there is a column on your input log called "Ever had child." I thought I'd give you an explanation of what the information in this column means. The 1s and 0s in this column don't guarantee that the soldier did or did not have children. They merely indicate that he might or might not have children. In short, the numbers mean the following:

• 1 = something is entered in the pension children fields
• 0 = nothing is entered in the pension children fields

If a 0 is entered in this column, all it means is that there was no indication in the pension that the soldier had children. There weren't any letters, affidavits, or family circulars that noted the presence or absence of children in the soldier's family. We just don't know if he had kids. Often, if the soldier had children we would find mention of them in the pension, but this is not always true.

If a 1 is entered in this column, it means that there is some indication in the pension that the soldier did or did not have children. There will be a 1 in this column if the pension contained any of the following kinds of information in Children: Name field in the pension data:

• a child's name
• (child) - indicating that there is evidence of a child, but no further information
• (no child) - indicating that somewhere in the pension it was stated that there are no children

Often, you'll see a 1 and be surprised that the soldier has no kids. That's fine. Other times you'll see a 0 and think the soldier is childless only to find out that he has 14 kids. That is a bummer.

I hope this information helps as you use the information in the Ever had child column.