Showing posts with label how-to. Show all posts
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Wednesday, June 5, 2019

U. S. Military Records





It seems appropriate in the days after Armed Forces Day and Memorial Day to learn about U.S. Military Records. Military records are some of my favorite to research. The documentation of an individual's life when it is intersecting with big historical events is intoxicating!

Here is some of the information you can learn from your ancestor's military records:
  • Age, including date and place of birth.
  • Dates and places of marriages.
  • Dates of birth of children.
  • Physical description, including any distinguishing scars or birthmarks.
  • Residence
  • Medical conditions and wounds.
  • Military Unit membership.
  • Participation in battles, campaigns, etc.
My Great Great Grandfather, James
Tanner on the right. He is in a Civil
War Navy Captain's uniform. His 
son, George Tanner is in his World 
War I US Army uniform.




How do you know if an ancestor served in the military?
  • Family stories and traditions
  • Photographs
  • Published histories
  • Cemetery markers
  • Biographies
  • Membership in a veteran’s organization




These sources could provide additional clues to possible military service:
  • Age at the time of major conflicts - https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Ages_of_Servicemen_in_Wars
  • Census records that have military service information:
    • 1930 Census asked if a person was a U.S. veteran who had served in any of the following wars: Civil War, Spanish-American, Philippine Insurrection, Boxer, Mexican Expedition, and World War I.
    • 1910 asked if they were a veteran of the Civil War
    • 1890 Census had special schedules that listed Union Civil War veterans or their surviving spouses.
    • 1840 Census lists Revolutionary War pensioners, or their widows, on the second page.

Once you have discovered an ancestor who was in the military, you need to know what types of records are available and where to find them.

There are two major types of military records: service records document the day-to-day records of an individual's service; and pension records, which document the benefits a person takes advantage of after their service has ended.

Each type of record produces very different information that a genealogist would be interested in. The service record will tell where the person served and in what capacity, at what rank, if he/she had any awards or medals, what training was received and their medical records. It generally does not have any information about family members or the military members movements after they left the service. That is where the pension records come in. I LOVE pension records!

Military Service Records…

  • Are the day-to-day records of a military members’s service.  
  • They include enlistment papers, military rosters, draft records, payrolls, and hospital rolls. 
  • They rarely contain a lot of family information, but do include vital information about the soldier, including a description. 
  • Access to recent military service records are restricted for privacy reasons and are only available to the member or next of kin. 
  • Enlistment papers record the soldier’s name, age, marital status and the date and place of enlistment. The soldier’s name then goes on a muster roll (attendance sheet) for the organization that he/she joined. 
  • Draft, conscription or Selective Service records The federal government has been registering men for military service since 1863. Draft registration cards list name, residence, age, occupation, marital status, birthplace, and physical description. 
  • Discharge papers are not part of the military service records that the federal government maintains, but they do contain a lot of valuable information. Discharge papers, for service from 1865 to the present, include duty assignments (locations), training, any discipline or commendations received and date and location of discharge. Discharge papers are usually found with family members. Copies of veteran’s discharge records can sometimes be found in the County Recorder’s Office, but only if the veteran filed a copy. Otherwise, the discharge papers remain in the veteran's hands.
U.S. Civil War Draft Registrations Records, 1863-1865

Draft Registration list for Lawrence & Gallia County, Ohio from the Civil War.
This document DOES NOT mean that these men served. In fact, William TAGG (red arrow) is my 3X great uncle,
and he never served. Most likely he was deferred because of a physical disability or a "substitute" soldier was
paid to take his place.

U.S Naval Discharge From the Civil War:

James TANNERs discharge from the U.S. Navy 

DD-214 Modern U.S. Military Discharge Papers:

I found this DD 214 on Wiki Commons and thought it would be more interesting
than a copy with all the personal information redacted.
This person is deceased.
  • Other service records that may exist are pay rolls, order books, hospital records, prisoner of war records, promotions, desertion records and records of court martial. 
  • State Records would cover service in state militias, volunteer regiments or National Guard units. These are usually held by state archives, historical societies or by the state adjutant general.  
The set of the Official Roster of the Soldiers of the State of Ohio in the War of 
the Rebellion (Civil War) was created in the late 19th century. It has been digitized and
is available online: https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000454243

This page from the book listed above gives a brief history of the 91st Ohio Volunteer Infantry.


And this brief excerpt shows some basic information for my 3X great grandfather, Jame TAGG.

Where to find Military Service Records:

  • Military Service Records have been microfilmed and are available from the National Archives: 
  • Civil War Soldiers & Sailors System https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/soldiers-and-sailors-database.htm 
  • DAR – Daughters of the American Revolution www.dar.org and http://services.dar.org/public/dar_research/search/ 
  • World War I Draft Cards lists the full name of the registrant, current address, age, birth date, if a U.S. citizen, race, location of employment, name and address of kin, marital status and how many dependents he supports. The back side notes the physical description of the draftee. The registrant did not have to register in his county of residence. 
  • Access to some of these records are available on popular genealogy sites such as: 
  • Records relating to the following groups of military personnel are at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, MO: 
    • U.S. Army personnel separated after 1956. Records for 1912 through 1956 were destroyed by a fire in 1972. Many of these records are being reconstructed from other sources. 
    • U.S. Air Force personnel separated after 1956. Earlier records for Army Air Corps and the Air Force were destroyed by fire in 1972. 
    • U.S. Navy officers separated after 1902 and enlisted men separated after 1885. 
    • U.S. Coast Guard officers separated after 1928 and enlisted personnel separated after 1914. 
  • Requests for information about veterans should be submitted using Standard Form 180 to the following address: 
                  National Personnel Records Center (MPR)
                  9700 Page Ave.
                 Louis, MO 63132
Fold3 and Ancestry Library Edition are databases that are available from the Medina County District Library
website: www.mcdl.info  under the Your Library 24/7  and the Online Learning Link. Ancestry LE is only
available from inside the Library, while Fold3 can be accessed from home. 

Pension records and bounty land records

  • These records focus on the benefits that a soldier receives after his/her service. They often contain a great deal of family information, including names of spouses and children, places of residence, occupation, and health status. 
  • If the service was for the Confederacy or for a state militia, the records will be held at the state level, not by the federal government. 
  • Pensions and bounty lands were granted to officers, disabled veterans, needy veterans, widows or orphans and veterans for major military actions. 
  • But not every veteran applied for or received bounty lands or pensions. Prior to the Civil War, the veteran had to prove financial need to receive a pension. 
  • Most veterans who served in the Union forces during the Civil War did receive some kind of pension. 
  • Pension records can include the soldier’s name, his rank and military unit, his wife’s name, date and location of the marriage, residence, age, children, occupation, health status and date and place of death.

Pension application for Christian Young for Revolutionary War Service. It continues for 8 pages giving a detailed account of his service. He listed his place and date of birth and death, but no other family information.

Bounty Land Warrants

  • Land warrants were offered for service in the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, the Mexican War and Indian Wars between 1790 and 1855. 
  • Bounty land could be claimed by the veteran or by his heirs. 
  • Often, the veteran never lived on the land, but sold it for profit. 
  • Bounty land warrants and applications for the Revolutionary War and War of 1812 have been microfilmed.
This document was obtained from the Bureau of Land Management site:https://glorecords.blm.gov/default.aspx


Where to find pension & bounty land records:

Other Sources of Military Information

  • General Histories can give you detailed information on a particular battle or war and contain information on which military units participated. Histories of the war or the battles that your ancestor participated in can give insight into the conditions he/she endured.


Map of Fort Montgomery where Christian Young served during the Revolutionary War.

Atlas of the American Revolution Kenneth Nebenzahl

Washington’s Headquarters at Newburgh, New York

Washington's Headquarters in Newburgh (Images of America: New York) by A. J. Schenkman
                      U.S. Army Military History Institute
                      Carlisle Barracks, PA 17013-5008
                      717-245-3611

Veteran's Burial Information can be found at these sites:

  • WW2 Casualties Database https://www.ww2research.com/ww2-casualties-database/  
  • Cemeteries The first National Military Cemetery was created in 1862. The National Cemetery System has a card index that identifies most soldiers buried in the National Cemeteries. Write to:    
                 National Cemetery System
                Department of Veteran Affairs
                810 Vermont Ave. N.W.
                Washington, D.C. 20422
                Or go to: www.cem.va.gov
  • Some states and counties have grave registration records that identify the graves of soldiers buried in local cemeteries. These are found at the in the county’s recorder’s office, the state archives or state historical society. 
  • Findagrave - www.findagrave.com A volunteer web site that has transcriptions & some photos of tombstones. 
  • Veteran’s Homes Congress established the first federal home for disabled veterans in 1866. In 1930, these homes combined with other agencies to form the Department of Veteran Affairs. Their records are held by the National Archives and their branch locations. Some states, like Ohio, also have established and still operate homes for disabled veterans. 
  • If your ancestor's service was for the Confederacy or for a state militia, the records will be held at the state level, not by the federal government. Foreign military service records are generally available from the foreign government.

So what kind of genealogical information have I uncovered in military records??


This spike from the Chevaux-de-frise was raised from the bottom of
the Hudson River and is on display at Washington's Headquarters in
Newburgh, New York. Perhaps my ancestor worked on this very spike?
1. My Revolutionary War Ancestor, Christian Young, in his pension application, reveals all the different places he served and the battles he participated in. He also mentions that he helped build the chevaux de frise (barrier made of spiked posts) across the Hudson River that was supposed to keep (it failed) the British from sailing up the Hudson from New York City, which they occupied. This was while he was stationed at Fort Montgomery. He goes on to tell how he and others from the fort escaped when the British over-ran the fort. They crawled through the trees and rocks to a ship waiting just off shore.


2. In James Tanner's (pictured at the top of this blog) Civil War pension records, I discovered that his rank was never higher than Common Seaman, despite the stories he told his grandchildren and the photo he posed for with his son. I also discovered why it was so difficult to pin him down in the census records. From his pension record, I learned he moved every 18 months. I later learned from a cousin that he worked for the railroad and that was why he moved so often. His record also revealed what ships -- actually,boats, river boats, he served on.
The Grampus


These are the two ships James Tanner served on. The Grampus was a training ship.



The Peosta was a steamboat outfitted as a gun boat. It patrolled the Tennessee River.
The Peosta

3. James McComas' pension record revealed that his wife, my 4X great aunt, Mary Ann, died of typhus, a disease quite probably brought home from the returning Civil War Soldiers. (I thought it likely that she died of exhaustion after giving birth to 11 children in less than 20 years!) 

4. Later in James' record, Mary Ann's brother, James Tagg, my 3X great grandfather, served as a notary, taking James McComas' statement for his pension record. After several pages of recording the statement, fatigue must have set in. The 73 year old slipped into the English accent of his youth by writing "he as ad"  when he clearly meant "he has had"!  


This Affidavit from the pension file for James McComas and is dated 1893. In it, George Corn is
attesting to James McComas' disability, but the writing is done by my 3X great grandfather, James Tagg.
He had immigrated from England to America in 1836, nearly 60 years before when he was 12 years
old. But from his writing, we can tell he still retained some vestiges of his English dialect.
James Tagg's signature is on the following pages and identifies him as the Notary Public that took the
testimony. I had thoroughly researched his life, but did not know he was a Notary until finding
this document!


That kind of personal detail you can't find in many records!!

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Wednesday, March 6, 2019

VITAL RECORDS

The third in a series of instructional genealogy research blogs.


From Wikipedia:

Vital records are records of life events kept under governmental authority, including birth certificates, marriage licenses, and death certificates. In some jurisdictions, vital records may also include records of civil unions or domestic partnerships. In the United States, vital records are typically maintained at both the county and state levels.




Vital records are the framework, or the bones, that our family history is built on. The dates and locations for the deaths, marriages and births of our ancestors is the bare minimum we try to collect on each individual. Vital records can help direct your research in the right direction.Pursuing these records starts early in the research process and NEVER stops!

Primary vs. Secondary Sources:

The documents which are created at the time of the event by people who should have personal knowledge of the event, are primary source material for the event being recorded. The best example of this is the death certificate. The person who provides the information on the death was present at the death or in the days leading up the the death. It is a primary source for that person's death information.
 Besides recording information on the death, a death record usually also contains a spouse's name and the individual's birth date and parents' names, but it is considered a secondary source for the information on the individual's marriage and birth information. Secondary sources are created long after the event or by someone who would not have direct knowledge of the event. The person providing information on the death would not have been present at the time of the birth or marriage.

Primary source materials are always the preferred source.

Keep in mind:
  • When acquiring vital records for an individual, work from the most recent, death, to the earliest, birth. 
  • In the United States, these records are maintained by a clerk in the city, town, county or state where the event took place. 
  • Since around 1900 (varies by states) most states keep the records of these events. 
  • You may not have access to some records, such as recent birth records, due to privacy concerns.

Map showing dates that each state went to statewide registration of births, marriages and deaths.
Registration might be at the county or town level prior to these dates.

DEATH RECORDS

  • Originally deaths were registered to compile medical statistics on epidemics. 
  • Even after registrations were required, compliance with the law was haphazard and incomplete. 
  • The information about the death will probably be accurate, but other events reported on the records, such as birth date, parents and spouse may contain errors, depending on who provided the information. 
  • Death records only exist in the United States for approximately the last 150 years. 
  • Prior to around 1900, look for death records at the county or city level. 
  • After 1900, check the state level for death records. The farther back in time you go, the less information you will find on a death record. 
  • Good sources for finding dates that death records were required are the Redbook and VitalRec.com
This Certificate of Death is from 1959 in Ohio. It is a wealth of information.
But as we will see in other documents, it does not tell the whole story.

Alternatives to official Death Records

  • Sometimes, an official death record is not available or doesn't exist. When this happens, you need to turn to other sources. Ideally, you would use multiple sources to verify the death information. 
  • Obituaries, while not official records of death, can contain valuable family information. 
    • Check all obituaries for errors, due to incorrect information being given by the informant and typographical errors. Obituaries can be the one place where all the pertinent facts of a person’s life are revealed. 
    • Earliest newspapers tended to only report the deaths of the most prominent citizens. Late in the 1800’s, obituaries became more common for everyone. 
    • Obtain obituaries not only for your direct ancestor, but for their siblings, wives and children. 
    • Obituaries are best obtained from the local library that holds microfilmed copies of the local papers. 
    • Many indexes for obituaries are online. 
    • There are online databases for obituaries that cover the last 20-25 years.
      This obituary from the Gallipolis (Ohio) Journal,
      dated 26 June 1959 reveals that Lunas Johnson,
      from the above death certificate, died alone at
      home and his body was not discovered for
      "a considerable time." So his date of death is
      estimated.
  • Probate Records – Closing out the estate of someone happens only after they have died. Can also reveal wives and children. 
  • Cemetery Records – besides the tombstones, various other records exist in relation to burial of an individual, such as plot deeds, plat records, sexton’s records, and grave opening orders. While a tombstone should be accurate as to the date of death, it may not be as accurate for date of birth. 
    • Catholic Cemetery Association (Cleveland Area)
      • http://www.clecem.org/
      • Relatively new site 
      • Registration is free 
      • Registration is necessary for searching 
      • Can search where someone is buried 
      • Sometimes can view section map that will precisely locate grave site
  • Social Security Death Index - while this is not a true substitute for a death record, it can help you determine in what location to find a death record. http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=3693 or at https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1202535 
  • Funeral Cards 
  • Mortality Schedules – for the 1850-1880 Census enumerations, there are also lists of people who had died in the 12 months prior to the census being taken. Available on Ancestry Library Edition and FamilySearch.org

MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE RECORDS  

  • Marriages were required to be registered much earlier than births and deaths, as a rule. Marriage records come in various forms, such as marriage licenses and marriage certificates. These documents will provide the maiden name of the woman. They are most often filed at the county courthouse. 
  • In New England, town clerks began registering marriages in the 1600s and in the South, in the 1700s. Only much later are the parents names included on a marriage record. Information on a marriage record can be inaccurate, due to the couple falsifying their ages, etc. Consent affidavits would have to be filed if either of the parties were under aged at the time of the marriage. 
Besides learning the names of the parties involved, the date and place of the event and the parents names, we
learn so much more from this 1918 marriage record from Gallia County, Ohio.
 Both William Tecumseh Sherman Johnson and Stella Belle Berry used their middle names.
Lunus' first name is misspelled and his signature is illegible. Could he have been illiterate?

  • Marriage banns were required by some church denominations. They were usually read aloud on three consecutive Sundays in church. They might also be posted in a public place. It was an opportunity for any objections to be raised. 
  • Bonds would be posted prior to the marriage. It was money set aside to defray expenses in case in the event the marriage didn’t take place. The money was posted by the groom or his father. Marriage bonds are NOT positive proof that a marriage took place. 
  • Church records 
  • Bible Records 
  • Newspaper announcements
  • Unofficial unions usually have no official documentation. 
    • Should be noted for a complete view of a person’s life. 
    • MOST important if the union results in any children. 
    • Documenting and displaying this information is a matter of personal preference.


DIVORCE
  • In a divorce, the date of the marriage is usually given. 
  • Divorce legislation has always varied greatly from region to region and state to state. 
    • New England states granted divorces from an early time period. 
    • Southern states had more restrictive divorce laws. South Carolina did not grant divorces until 1949
  • Earliest divorce records were handled by state governments
  • As divorces became more common, the legislatures passed the work load onto the county court systems. 
  • Divorce records could be handled by; Superior Court, Equity Court, Probate Court or Family/Domestic Court 
  • Certain areas became divorce “meccas” because of easy access and the laws were less restrictive 

BIRTH RECORDS

  • Only exist in the United States for approximately the last 150 years. The farther back in time you go, the less information you will find on a birth record. 
  • Prior to around 1900, look for birth records at the county level. Except for New England states, where the birth records are found at the town level. 
  • After 1900, check the state level for birth records. 
  • Delayed birth certificates were issued many years after the birth in cases where the person: 
    • Was born prior to the keeping of birth records 
    • Was not registered due to non-compliance. 
    • Needed proof of birth to register for Social Security benefits.

Alternatives to Official Birth Records

Baptism records can stand in for birth records
where a birth record doesn't exist.

  • Baptism or christening ceremonies have to be carefully checked. Often they only record the date of the ceremony, not the date of the birth. 
  • Birth announcements in newspapers. 
  • Bibles often have births, deaths and marriages. Check to see if the handwriting is the same throughout. If it is different, the events were likely recorded as they occurred. Check with family members, local and regional historical societies. http:///www.learnwebskills.com/patriot/biblerecords.htm
  • Military pensions or muster rolls - often the approximate birth date had to be given. 
  • Census records – The later census records state the age of each individual, but the earlier ones only state the age range of people. But the information can be unreliable.

WHERE TO LOCATE VITAL RECORDS

BOOKS:

WEBSITES:
STATE VITAL RECORDS; Examples:
  • Once your have your record, document the source of the information. Where did you get the records, when did you get it, etc. 
  • Do not fold it. Place it in an acid free sleeve. 
  • Store the original document in a safe place. 
  • Scan it or make a copy to use when sharing or researching.
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