A lucky break for some researchers trying to trace ancestors through the 20 year period between 1880 and 1900, a special Veterans census was taken in 1890 along with the regualar census. Since the 1890 census was all but completely destroyed in a fire in January 1921 at the Commerce Building in Washington D.C., this 1890 Veteran's schedule is an alternative means of documenting veterans or widows of veterans from the Civil War and War of 1812 who were still living and collecting pensions in 1890. The special census schedule still exists only for the states of Kentucky - Wyoming (the first group of states alphabetically appear to have been destroyed), and documents only Union veterans since the U.S. government obviously had little interest in keeping track of Confederate soldiers.