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Researching Your Veterans in Local, State & National Archives

and on the Web

Types of Military Records

�Enlistment Records/ Separation Papers

� Muster Rolls

� Service Records

�Pension Records

�Military Service Organizations

�County Histories

� Soldier & Regiment Lists

� War Histories

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Start Locally for Veterans Records

� Your Ancestor did not serve in a vacuum

� Men typically enlisted with friends and relatives

� Units were formed from available men within the town

and surrounding farms

� Local Genealogical and Historical Societies often have diaries, letters, photos and souvenirs from local soldiers and units

� County courthouses typically have the following types of information

� Records of enlistments and discharges

� Bonuses paid to soldiers, parents and widows

� Pension records for disabled veterans and widows

� Many towns have monuments with the names of soldiers who served

� Local newspapers are full of information regarding troop movements, returning soldiers, casualties, marriages etc…

State Military Records

� State Archives (and regional archives) will have state-generated paperwork on soldiers

� Adjutant General’s Office Records include:

� Muster Rolls

� Promotions

� Transfers

� Letters verifying service

� Military Censuses

� Veteran’s Censuses were conducted in 1891 to record military service

� Grand Army of the Republic Death Rolls (Civil War soldier’s & sailors only)

� Nebraska State Archives: http://nebraskahistory.org/lib-arch/research/public/state_finding_aids/military_dept.pdf

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National Archives � Military Records from the American Revolution to 1914

Old Military and Civil Records (NWCTB-Military) Textual Services Division 700 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. Washington, DC 20408-0001

� Military Service WWI-Present

The National Personnel Records Center1 Archives DriveSt. Louis, MO 63138

� Civilian Service During Military Engagements (Regional Archives)

National Archives Great Lakes Region

7358 South Pulaski RoadChicago, IL 60629-5898

National Archives Web Site & Forms

� National Archives Military Records Index: www.archives.gov/research/military/index.html

�Historical war photographs in the Archives collections www.archives.gov/research/formats/photographs-dc.html#online

�National Archives & Records Administration Military Service Forms www.archives.gov/veterans/evetrecs/index.html

�National Archives & Records Administration WWII Military Service Forms www.archives.gov/research/order/standard-form-180.pdf

�National Archives & records Administration Access to Archival Databases http://aad.archives.gov/aad/

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Revolutionary War 1776-1783� Daughters of the American Revolution

http://services.dar.org/public/dar_research/search/

� United States Revolutionary War Compiled Service Records, Revolutionary War Pension & Bounty Land Warrant Applications Files www.familysearch.org

� The American Revolution and it’s Era Maps and Charts of North America and the West Indies 1750-1789 http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/armhtml/armhome.html

� Kentucky Revolutionary War Warrants database http://sos.ky.gov/land/military/revwar

� Valley Forge Muster Roll Project http://valleyforgemusterroll.org

� Cyndi’s List is a great resource for finding genealogy subjects www.cyndislist.com/us/american-revolution/records

Revolutionary War 1776-1783 Continued

� Fold3 www.fold3.com

� Revolutionary War Pension Files

� Revolutionary War service Records

� Revolutionary War Rolls

� Revolutionary War Service & Imprisonment Cardfile

� Final Payment Vouchers Index for Military Pensions

� HeritageQuest

� American Revolutionary War Pension Files

� Ancestry Library Edition:

� Sons of the American Revolutionary War Membership Applications

� Abstracts of Graves of Revolutionary War Patriots

� American Revolutionary War Rejected Pensions

� Loyalists in the American Revolution

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Daughters of the American Revolution

National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution

www.dar.org/library

1776 D Street, NW

Washington, DC 20006-5303

Main Phone: (202) 628-1776

For a small fee, copies of application files can be ordered from the DAR Library. Mail record request orders to: Library Copy Services, DAR Library, 1776 D Street, NW, Washington, DC 20006-5303. Search Service phone number (202) 879-3245

The Photocopy Service handles written requests for specific copies from cited works available in the DAR Library. Fee for non DAR members is 15.00 per request for the first ten pages then .30 cents for all additional pages.

War of 1812� Fold3 www.fold3.com

� War of 1812 Pension Files.

� War of 1812 Prize Cases Southern District Court N.Y.

� War of 1812 Service Records (Erie Co. N.Y.)

� Ancestry Library Edition

� War of 1812 Pension Application Files Index 1812-1815

� War of 1812 Prisoner of War Records 1812-1815

� World Vital Records www.worldvitalrecords.com

� Major Index to Pension Lists of the War of 1812 (6 volumes)

� National Archives www.archives.gov/research/military/war-of-1812/index.html

� Access Genealogy www.accessgenealogy.com/military/1812/index.htm

� Internet Archive www.archive.org

� Index to compiled service records of volunteer soldiers who served during the War of 1812

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Black Hawk War 1831-1832� Fold3 www.fold3.com

� Ratified Indian Treaties

� Black Hawk War http://lincoln.lib.niu.edu/blackhawk/index.html

� Black Hawk War history and links http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~coppe/blackhawk.html

� Illinois Black Hawk War Rosters www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/databases/blkhawk.html

� National Archives www.archives.gov/research/military/indian-wars/black-hawk-war-1831-1832.pdf

� Wisconsin Historical Society www.wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/tp-012/?action=more_essay

Mexican War 1846-1848

� Fold3 www.fold3.com

� Mexican American War Service Records

� Ratified Indian Treaties

� Illinois Mexican War Rosters: www.sos.state.il.us/departments/archives/mexwar.html

� Descendants of Mexican War Veterans www.dmwv.org/mwvets/rosters2.htm

� National Archives www.archives.gov/research/alic/reference/military/mexican-war.html

� United States Mexican War Index and Service Records 1846-1848www.familysearch.org

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Civil War 1861-1865� Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System www.itd.nps.gov/cwss

� fold3 http://go.fold3.com/civilwar

� Confederate Amnesty Papers/Confederate Citizens File

� Widow’s Pension Files

� Civil War Soldier’s Service Records

� Southern Claims Commission Reports

� Matthew Brady Civil War Photos (free)

� Abraham Lincoln Assassination Papers (free)

� Ancestry www.ancestry.com

� U.S. Civil War Soldiers Database

� Civil War Pension Files

� American Civil War Soldiers

Civil War 1861-1865

� HeritageQuest: Freedman’s Bank Records

� National Archives: Records of the Claims Committees (1789-1989) www.archives.gov/legislative/guide/house/chapter-06-war-claims.html

� Missouri State Archives: Missouri Digital Heritage Civil War Collection www.sos.mo.gov/mdh/CivilWar/

� www.familytreemagazine.com/article/civil-war-genealogy-toolkit

� Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War www.suvcwdb.org/home/search.php?action=search

� Virginia Tech University Civil War Newspaper Collection https://dcr.emd.vt.edu/vital/access/manager/Index

� Son of the South (Harper’s Weekly) www.sonofthesouth.net

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Grand Army of the Republic

� The G.A.R., founded in 1866, was organized by veterans of the Civil War to remember and honor their brothers in arms. The G.A.R. established Decoration Day the precursor to Memorial Day

� G.A.R. meeting halls were called Posts. Each post was responsible for electing officers and collecting dues. As attendance dwindled posts often merged and eventually closed

� Yearly rosters and “necrologies” were created detailing those members from each post who passed away since the last meeting

� G.A.R. markers were created to decorate the graves of members

� County, State and National conventions were held every year

― Programs, flags and badges were just a few of the souvenirs

� www.archives.nysed.gov/a/research/res_topics_mi_GAR_guide.shtml

Spanish American War 1898-1902

� Often confused for the Philippine-American War. The Spanish-American War lasted for 8 months in 1898-1899. The Philippine-American war lasted from 1899 to 1902 (some fighting continued until 1906).

� Spanish American War Veterans www.spanamwar.com/geneaol.htm

� Sons of the Spanish-American War http://ssawv.org/index.htm

� Genealogy Forum Spanish American War http://genforum.genealogy.com/spanishamericanwar

� Spanish American War Naval History www.history.navy.mil/photos/events/spanam/eve-pge.htm

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Branch of Service Dates

Volunteers

Military service performed by persons serving during an emergency and whose service was considered to be in the Federal interest, 1775 -1902

Regular ArmyEnlisted personnel, 1789 - October 31, 1912Officers, 1789 - June 30, 1917

NavyEnlisted personnel, 1798 - 1885Officers, 1798 - 1902

Marine CorpsEnlisted personnel, 1798 - 1904Some officers, 1798 - 1895

Coast Guard

Persons who served in predecessor agencies to the U.S. Coast Guard: the Revenue Cutter Service (Revenue Marine), the Life-Saving Service, and the Lighthouse Service, 1791 -1919

Confederate StatesPersons who rendered military service for the Confederate States government in its armed forces, 1861 - 1865

Veterans Records

Claims files for pensions based on Federal military service, 1775 - 1916 andBounty land warrant application files relating to claims based on wartime service, 1775 - 1855

Pre WWI records

available at the

National Archives in

Washington D.C.

WWI 1914-1919 (U.S. Entry 1917)� Ancestry Library Edition:

� WWI Draft Cards 1917-1918

� American Soldiers of WWI (incomplete)

� U.S. War Mother’s Pilgrimage 1930

� Fold3:

� www.fold3.com Naturalization Index WWI Soldiers

� http://go.fold3.com/wwi-museum WWI Interactive Index

� Polar Bear Expedition (U.S. Troops in Russia) WWI

http://polarbears.si.umich.edu

� World War I Photos (Great Britain) www.ww1photos.com

� War Diaries of the First World War (Canadian State Archives):

www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/archivianet/020152_e.html

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WWI 1914-1919 (U.S. Entry 1917)

� American Battle Monuments Commission www.abmc.gov/search/wwi.php

� Flanders Field Museum Project www.inflandersfields.be/en/namelist

� Europeana Collections www.europeana-collections-1914-1918.eu

� Prisoners of the First World War http://grandeguerre.icrc.org/

� National World War I Museum https://theworldwar.org

� British Library www.bl.uk/world-war-one

� Brigham Young University WWI Links Indexhttp://wwi.lib.byu.edu/index.php/Links_to_Other_WWI_Sites

World War II 1941-1945� Fold3 www.fold3.com

�WWII Diaries�WWII JAG Case Files Pacific (Army & Navy)�Missing Air Crew Reports

� Ancestry.com�U.S. Army Roll of Honor 1939-1945�World War II Prisoners of War 1941-1946�World War II United News Reels 1939-1945�World War II Navy, Marine Corps, & Coast Guard Casualties, 1941-1945

� World Vital Records�World War II Army Enlistments�Air Force Register Extracts�World War II Reserve Corps Records

� World War II Museum www.ww2online.org

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Holocaust Websites

� www.jewishgen.org

� www.yadvashem.org

� International Tracing Service www.its-Arolsen.org/en/homepage/index.html

� United States Holocaust Museum www.ushmm.org

� Concentration Camp Listings: www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/cclist.html

� Ancestry Library Edition�Holocaust: Survivor names printed in Sharit Ha-Platah, 1946�Hungary: Jewish Names from the Central Zionist Archives�Holocaust: Auschwitz Forced Laborers

� Fold3 www.fold3.com/holocaust

Korean War 1950-1953

� Ancestry Library Edition� Stars and Stripes News: 1942-1964� Korean War Casualties 1950-1957� WWII & Korean Conflict Veterans Interred Overseas� Korean War Prisoners of War 1950-1954� U.S. Navy Cruise Books Index 1918-2009

� fold3 www.fold3.com� Korean War Casualties� Navy Muster Rolls and Cruise Books� Headstone Applications & Veteran’s Affairs Death Files (BIRLS)

� World Vital Records www.worldvitalrecords.com� Army Casualties 1953-2009� Air Force register 1952 -1959

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Vietnam War 1955 to the Present� Ancestry Library Edition

� Vietnam War: U.S. Military Casualties 1956-1998� U.S. Navy Cruise Books Index 1918-2009� Vietnam War Casualties Returned Alive 1962-1979

� fold3 www.fold3.com� Traveling Vietnam Memorial Wall� Navy Muster Rolls and Cruise Books� Headstone Applications & Veteran’s Affairs Death File Index

� World Vital Records www.worldvitalrecords.com� Army Casualties 1953-2009� Vietnam Casualties 1956-1998� Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and

Marine Corps and Reserve Officers on Active Duty Books (various years)� Official U.S. Army Register Books (various years)

� Honor The Fallen Casualties of the Iraq War: http:militarytimes.com/valor

Military Genealogy Web Sites

� Library Of Congress Veteran’s Oral History Project www.loc.gov/vets/stories

� Cindy’s List www.cyndislist.com

� Gettysburg College Digital Military Collection www.gettysburg.edu/library/gettdigital

� Veterans Benefits & Services (Cemetery Services) www.cem.va.gov

� Illinois State Archives Military Research Pamphlet #3 www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/gen_research.html

� Medal of Honor Recipients www.cmohs.org

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Military Genealogy Web Sites Continued

� United States Registers of Enlistments in the U.S. Army 1798-1914 www.familysearch.org

� Veterans Administration (National Cemeteries Database) http://gravelocator.cem.va.gov

� American Battle Monuments Commission www.abmc.gov

� Selective Service Records www.sss.gov/records.htm

� Wisconsin Historical Society www.wisconsinhistory.org

� Pritzker Military Library www.pritzkermilitarylibrary.org

Questions??