Showing posts with label Military Records. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Military Records. Show all posts

Saturday, November 10, 2018

List of U.S. World War I Records and Indexes on the Internet - Latest Additions

The Online U.S. World War One Indexes and Records webpage has been updated with the following links...

World War I - New General Additions
- Burial Cards of World War I Soldiers -- Card Register of Burials of Deceased American Soldiers, 1917-1922 from the U.S. National Archives (NARA)
- Veterans Administration Master Index, 1917-1940 from FamilySearch (Indexes World War I veterans who made (or whose heirs made) pension or benefits claims of the Veterans Administration from 1917 to 1940.)
- World War I American Expeditionary Forces Deaths, 1917-1919 from FamilySearch

World War I - New Additions for Individual States
- Connecticut: World War I Military Census of Nurses, 1917 from FamilySearch
- Delaware World War I Servicemen Records, 1917-1919 from FamilySearch
- Florida World War I Navy Card Roster, 1917-1920 from FamilySearch
- Georgia World War I Statement of Service Cards Index, 1920-1929 from FamilySearch
- Illinois Digital Archives: World War I Documents
- Maine State Archive Collections, 1718-1957 (from FamilySearch; includes a World War I Card Index to Soldiers by Town, 1917-1919)
- Maine State Archives, World War I (WWI) Grave Cards, 1914-1950 at FamilySearch
- Mississippi World War I Service Cards, 1917-1919 from FamilySearch
- Missouri: World War I Biography and Service Records Index for Persons Who Enlisted in St. Louis City and County
- Oregon: World War I, Veteran State Aid Applications, 1921-1938 from FamilySearch
- Tennessee: Record of Ex-Soldiers in World War I, Tennessee Counties, 1917-1919
- Washington State - Spokane County War Committee, Veteran Service Record Cards, 1921-1922
- Wisconsin World War I Roster Database

This is a list of the most recent additions. There are many more links to U.S. World War I records listed at: Online World War One Indexes and Records - WWI (USA)

Sunday, May 06, 2018

Online Military Records and Indexes Website (USA) - Latest Additions

Links to the items listed below have been added to the Online Military Indexes and Records Website (USA)...

Revolutionary War
- Massachusetts Revolutionary War Index Cards to Muster Rolls, 1775-1783 (from FamilySearch)
- North Carolina Troop Returns, 1747-1893

Civil War
- Alabama: Census of Confederate Veterans, 1907, 1921, 1927 (from FamilySearch)
- Georgia Confederate Muster Rolls
- Illinois: Register of Confederate Soldiers Who Died in Camp Douglas, 1862-65 and Lie Buried in Oakwoods Cemetery, Chicago, Ills., 1892 (scanned book at Archive.org)
- Iowa Grand Army of the Republic Membership Records, 1861-1949 (from FamilySearch)
- Maine Civil War Enlistment Papers, 1862-1865 (from FamilySearch)
- Pennsylvania: History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-5 by Samuel P. Bates (scanned searchable books; 5 volumes)

World War I
- Alabama World War I Service Cards
- Kentucky: Fallen Kentucky Soldiers in WWI
- Kentucky: Kenton County World War I Records
- Louisiana World War I Service Records, 1917-1920 (from FamilySearch)
- Maine: Record of Deaths in World War I
- Massachusetts: World War I Soldier Photographs (has 8500 digitized photographs of WWI soldiers from Massachusetts)
- North Carolina World War I Service Cards, 1917-1919 (from FamilySearch)
- South Carolina: The Official Roster of South Carolina Soldiers, Sailors and Marines in the World War, 1917-18 (from the South Carolina State Library)

World War II
- Minnesota: Duluth War Casualties Index: WWII, Korean War, and Vietnam War - Duluth Public Library
- Missouri: St. Louis Post-Dispatch WWI and WWII Casualty Lists
- Ohio: Muskingum County: Schneider WWII Veterans Archive (scanned service cards)

This is a list of the most recent additions. There are many more military records links at: Online Military Indexes and Records

Sunday, October 23, 2016

Online Military Indexes and Records Website (USA) - Latest Updates

The Online Military Indexes and Records Directory (USA) has been updated with links to the following items...

Revolutionary War
 - New Hampshire Revolutionary War Records, 1675-1835 (at FamilySearch)
 - New Jersey Revolutionary War Damage Claims, 1776-1782
 - North Carolina Revolutionary Pay Vouchers, 1779-1782 (at FamilySearch)
 - Revolutionary War Soldiers of North and South Carolina

War of 1812
 - War of 1812 Index to Service Records, 1812-1815 (at FamilySearch)
 - North Carolina War of 1812 Pay Vouchers

Civil War
 - Arkansas Ex-Confederate Pension Records, 1891-1939 (at FamilySearch)
 - Florida Confederate Veterans and Widows Pension Applications, 1885-1955 (at FamilySearch)
 - Illinois: Photographs of Civil War Soldiers (ongoing project; does not have photos of every soldier)
 - Kentucky Confederate Pension Applications, 1912-1950 (at FamilySearch)
 - Maine Civil War Era Soldiers (2500 digitized images of veterans of the Civil War from the Maine State Archives)
 - Massachusetts: Middlesex County: Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Mustered out from Lowell, Massachusetts; also has a list of Civil War veterans buried in Lowell Cemetery
 - Minnesota Grand Army of the Republic Membership Records, 1869-1940 (at FamilySearch)
 - Mississippi Confederate Veterans and Widows Pension Applications, 1900-1974 (at FamilySearch)
 - New Hampshire Civil War Service and Pension Records, 1861-1866
 - North Carolina Confederate Pension Applications, 1901
 - Pennsylvania Civil War Muster Rolls, 1860-1869 (at Ancestry/requires payment)
 - Pennsylvania Grand Army of the Republic Membership Records, 1865-1936 (at FamilySearch)

World War I
 - Kansas: Camp Funston Military Records, 1914-1919 (at Ancestry/requires payment)
 - Maine World War I Draft Registration Index, 1917-1919 (at FamilySearch)
 - Minnesota: YMCA World War I Service Cards, 1917-1919 (digitized index cards from FamilySearch)
 - New York: Roll of Honor: Citizens of the State of New York Who Died While in the Service of the United States During the World War [WWI]
 - Pennsylvania WWI Veterans Service and Compensation Files, 1917-1919, 1934-1948 (at Ancestry/requires payment)
 - Texas World War I Records, 1917-1920 at FamilySearch

  World War II
 - Fields of Honor Database (burials database for three American War Cemeteries in Europe: Ardennes and Henri-Chapelle -- both in Belgium, and Margraten in the Netherlands. Many of the listings include memorial pages with a photograph.)
 - Arizona World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1940-1945 (at FamilySearch)
 - Colorado World War II 4th Draft Registration Index
 - Iowa World War II Bonus Case Files, 1947-1954 (at Ancestry/requires payment)
 - Iowa World War II Bonus Case Files for Beneficiaries, 1947-1959 (at Ancestry/requires payment)
 - Missouri Reports of Separation Notices, 1941-1946 (at FamilySearch)
 - New Mexico World War II Records, 1941-1945 (at Ancestry/requires payment)
 - North Carolina: Discharge and Statement of Service Records, 1940-1948 (at FamilySearch; does not include all counties)

Vietnam War
 - United States Casualties of the Vietnam War, 1956-1998 (at FamilySearch; includes Vietnam War dead, missing and prisoners of war)
 - Arkansas Vietnam War Project: Killed in Action

This is a list of the most recent additions. There are many more links for military records and indexes at: Online Military Indexes and Records (USA)

Tuesday, July 01, 2014

Online Military Records and Indexes Website (USA) - Latest Updates

The Online U.S. Military Records and Indexes website has been updated with links to the following items...

War of 1812
 - War of 1812 Index to Pension Application Files, 1812-1910 from FamilySearch
 - War of 1812 Pension Application Files at Fold3 (not yet complete; ongoing project)
 - Michigan: War of 1812 Pensioners Index, 1883

Spanish American War
 - Wisconsin Genealogy Spanish American War Database

Civil War
 - United States Veterans Administration Pension Payment Cards, 1907-1933 at FamilySearch
 - Kentucky: Battle of Perryville Casualty Database
 - North Carolina Confederate Soldiers Burial Database (ongoing project)
 - South Carolina: Confederate Rolls of South Carolina
 - Texas: United Confederate Veterans Robert E. Lee Camp No. 158 in Fort Worth (from the Fort Worth Library Digital Archives)
 - Washington: Civil War Veterans Buried In Washington State
 - Wisconsin Genealogy Civil War Database

World War I
 - Alaska WWI Military Service Records: Personnel Information and Death Statistics
 - Arkansas World War I Discharge Records Index
 - California: San Francisco World War I Enemy Alien Registration Affidavits, 1918, from FamilySearch
 - New York Soldiers of the Great War: Fallen New York Soldiers of World War One
 - Texas: A Short History and Photographic Record of the 359th Infantry Texas Brigade (scanned searchable book); primarily from 39 Northeast Texas counties, but some other counties are included

World War II
 - United States Marine Corps Casualty Card Databases (for World War II, the Interwar Period 1946-1950, and WWII War Dogs)
 - Arkansas First Registration Draft Cards, 1940-1945 from FamilySearch (index is not yet complete)
 - Louisiana First Registration Draft Cards, 1940-1945 from FamilySearch (not yet complete)

Vietnam War
 - Indiana Vietnam War Deaths

This is a list of the most recent additions. There are many more military indexes listed at: Online Military Indexes and Records

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Online Military Records and Indexes Website - Latest Additions


The Online Military Records and Indexes website has been updated with links to the following...

Revolutionary War
 - Indiana Society Sons of the American Revolution Patriot Graves Registry

War of 1812
 - National Society United States Daughters of 1812 Ancestor Database
 - Pennsylvania: War of 1812 Index of Soldiers

Mexican War
 - Indiana Mexican War Veterans (from the Indiana Digital Archives)
 - New York: Pension Claims of First N.Y. Regiment Volunteers Who Fought in the Mexican War

Civil War
 - Indiana Civil War Muster Rolls Index (213,000 entries; from the Indiana State Digital Archives)
 - Kentucky Confederate Pensions 1912-1946
 - Mississippi Confederate Pension Applications, 1889-1932 (about 36,000 applications arranged alphabetically by name)
 - New Jersey Civil War Gravestones Database
 - North Carolina Civil War Confederate Soldiers and Widows Pension Applications, 1885-1953 at FamilySearch
 - Pennsylvania: Registers of Pennsylvania Civil War Volunteers, 1861-1865 (PDF images; not indexed)
 - South Dakota: Special Census of Civil War Veterans Living in Dakota Territory (South Dakota) in 1885

World War I
 - Mississippi World War I Statement of Service Cards and Indices
 - World War I Draft Registrations for Northern Virginia (Draft registrations from the City of Alexandria, Arlington County, and Fairfax County)

World War II
 - World War II Draft Cards (Fourth Registration) at FamilySearch (includes digitized images) update: more states added
 - Georgia World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1940-1942 for individuals born between 1897 and 1929 (at FamilySearch)
 - Indiana - St. Joseph County: South Bend Tribune Service Notes Database for World War II, Korea and Vietnam
 - Oklahoma Military Deaths - WWI, WWII, Korea and Vietnam

Korean War
 - Arkansas Korean War Project

Vietnam War
 - Michigan Military Personnel Who Died in the Vietnam War

This is a list of the most recent additions. There are many more military records links at: Online Military Indexes and Records

Monday, January 03, 2011

Online Military Records and Indexes Website - Latest Updates

The Online Military Records, Indexes and Databases of Soldiers Directory has been updated with the following links...

Revolutionary War
 - General Section: Daughters of the American Revolution Genealogy Databases

Civil War
 - General Section: The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies (searchable multi-volume scanned Civil War book series)
 - Colorado Territory Civil War Volunteer Records
 - Connecticut Civil War Manuscripts Project (from the Connecticut Historical Society Library)
 - Michigan: Department of Michigan, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (includes databases for graves and GAR records)
 - Missouri: State Historical Society of Missouri, the Civil War in Missouri
 - Missouri: Index to the List of Union Veterans Buried in and about St. Louis
 - New Jersey Civil War Treasury Vouchers, 1861-1865
 - North Carolina: Index of Confederate Section Burials at Oakwood Cemetery, Raleigh, NC
 
World War I
 - Hawaii World War I Service Records - Army and Navy
 - Kansas WWI and Military Indexes (includes Kansas World War I Bounty Claims Index and Kansas Soldiers of the Great War)
 - Michigan: Kalamazoo County World War One Veterans
 - Missouri History Museum: Genealogy Index (includes index of Casualties, European War, July 20, 1918-September 8, 1939; and index of Persons Who Enlisted in St. Louis City and County Who Died in Service)
 - Nebraska WWI Draft Registration Cards Database 1917-1918
 - New Jersey World War I Casualties Database (includes descriptive cards and photographs)

World War II
 - World War II Draft Cards (Fourth Registration) Indexed for Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas and Wisconsin at FamilySearch (includes digitized images)
 - Kansas WWII and Military Indexes (includes Kansas World War II Selective Service Index, Kansas World War II Army Casualties, Kansas World War II Oral Histories, Kansas Burials/Memorials at World War II Military Cemeteries Operated by the American Battle Monuments Commission)
 - Missouri: St. Louis in World War II Casualties, October 1941-March 1943, scrapbook index
 - International Section... Russia: Soviet Union WWII Prisoners of War Database
 
See: Military Indexes and Records

Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Online Military Records and Indexes - New Additions and Updates

Links to the items listed below have been added to the Directory of Online Military Indexes, Records and Rosters of Soldiers

Revolutionary War
- Southern Campaign Revolutionary War Pension Statements (partial collection)
- Alabama: Alphabetical List of Revolutionary Soldiers in Alabama

War of 1812
- Indiana Territory: War of 1812 Collection (consists of muster, pay and receipt rolls of Indiana territory volunteers or militia)

Civil War
- Arkansas Confederate Pension Records Index
- Delaware: Records Related to Delaware's Involvement in the American Civil War (from the Delaware Public Archives)
- Georgia Confederate Veteran Grave Database (work in progress)
- Kansas Virtual Civil War Cemetery Tombstone Photos (not complete, but has over 11,000 photographs of grave markers of Civil War veterans buried in Kansas - searchable by name)
- Mississippi Confederate Grave Registry
- Nebraska Civil War Veterans Database
- South Carolina: The New South Newspaper 1862-1866, Port Royal and Beaufort, South Carolina (digitized and searchable)

Spanish American War
- Kansas Troops in the Volunteer Service of the United States in the Spanish and Philippine Wars

World War One
- Denver Public Library World War I Indexes (includes: Fallen Heroes of World War I from Denver, Colorado; Colorado World War I Draft Registration Cards Index; Colorado World War I Draft Registration Index - Minorities; Colorado World War I Casualties Buried in Europe)
- Oregon WWI Draft Registration Index
- International WWI Section, Australia: World War I Service Records
- International WWI Section, New Zealand: New Zealand and World War One Assorted Indexes

World War Two
- Iowa: World War II Iowa Press Clippings Digital Collection
- Ohio: Cleveland Servicemen's Photographs Index 1940-1955
- International WWII Section, Canada: Second World War Service Files Canadian Armed Forces War Dead

Korean War
- Korean War/Access to Archival Databases (AAD) includes Korean War casualties, wounded, prisoners of war and missing in action

Vietnam War
- Vietnam War/Access to Archival Databases (AAD) includes Vietnam War casualties, wounded, prisoners of war, missing in action, and more items

See: Online Military Indexes and Records

Monday, November 12, 2007

Some Confederate Civil War Service Records Now Online

This article was updated on 12 September 2011.

Fold3 (formerly Footnote) has digitized Confederate Civil War service records for Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia from National Archives (NARA) microfilm publications. The records they have scanned can be downloaded from their website for a fee. (Some of the individual state or territory databases may not yet be complete.)
You can search the documents by name or browse the documents by military unit (regiment). Note that Civil War service records for one soldier can sometimes have as many as 20 pages or more.

Civil War service records sometimes include information about a soldier's age, residence, occupation at the time of enlistment, and physical description, along with basic details such as enlistment (and reenlistment) dates, and regiment. Some will show facts about a soldier's imprisonment if he was captured, or hospitalization if he was injured or ill.

Also Helpful:

Sunday, August 05, 2007

World War I Draft Registration Cards of Famous, Infamous, and Interesting People

This article was updated on 14 January 2019

While wandering around the National Archives website I came across several scanned World War I draft cards of a few famous and interesting people. I was fascinated by some of the details of the lives of these people, especially those who were not yet 20. Some were already well known. Some became famous much later.

The World War I draft card for legendary "Scarface" gangster Al Capone says the 19-year-old Alphonse Capone was a paper cutter for the United Paper Box Company in Brooklyn, New York in 1918.

World War I Draft Registration Card of George GerswhinGeorge Gerswhin's draft card, filed in New York City, gives his occupation as "actor - composor (sic)" at age 19. He would go on to write Rhapsody in Blue (1924) and Porgy and Bess (1935), among other great works. Another 19-year-old New York resident, Frederick Austerlitz Astaire, was already an actor. His place of employment in 1918 was "Winter Garden, Broadway & 50th St. NY." The Abba musical, Mamma Mia, once played at this theater. On the back of the famous dancer's draft card it says "legal name is Austerlitz but goes by name of Astaire." Fred Astaire would later star in George Gershwin's musical, Funny Face, in 1927, and the film version 30 years later with Audrey Hepburn.

The 19-year-old Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was a Federal government messenger in the War Dept. in Washington, DC. Unlike Gershwin, his 1918 draft card gives no indication of his future as one of the 20th Century's greatest composers.

On his June 5, 1917 World War I draft card, Joseph Patrick Kennedy, age 28, lists his dependents as "wife and 2 children." His wife was Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald (1890-1995). His children at the time were Joseph Patrick Kennedy Jr. (1915-1944), who died during World War II, and John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917-1963), who was elected president of the United States in 1960. JFK was born just a week before his father registered for the draft.

My favorite one is for master magician and escape artist Harry Houdini (1874-1926). On his 1918 draft card he put his middle name as "Handcuff," likely because he had become known as the "handcuff king."

World War I Draft Registration Card of Harry Houdini (detail)
These World War One draft cards of notable people at the National Archives website were scanned from the original cards, not microfilm, so you can get an idea of what the draft cards actually look like - they have been scanned in color and are reproduced fairly well. You can find scans of the cards mentioned in this article, along with draft cards of a few more famous people at: Notable Registrants of the World War I Draft at the National Archives at Atlanta

For help finding draft cards of your relatives and ancestors see:
How to Find World War One Draft Registration Cards 1917-1918

Thursday, June 07, 2007

World War II Database of Missing U.S. Service Personnel Now Online

The U.S. Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office has compiled a database of service members still unaccounted for following World War II. The database contains more than 70,000 names and was derived from records from the National Archives and the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command. You can access the database online here:

Service Personnel Not Recovered Following World War II (MIA)

Names will be removed from the database as remains are recovered and identified.

For a directory of more online World War II databases see:

World War II Indexes, Records and Databases on the Internet - USA

Monday, April 09, 2007

Newly Added Online Military Records Indexes

Links to the items listed below were recently added to the Directory of Online Military Indexes, Records and Rosters of Soldiers

Revolutionary War
- Sons of the American Revolution - Revolutionary War Patriots Index and Graves Registry
- List of 8000 Prisoners on the Old Jersey Prison Ship
- Georgia: List of Loyalists Banished from Georgia - 1783
- New Jersey: Official Register of the Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Revolutionary War
- New York: Index to New York Revolutionary War Invalid Pension Records 1801-1815
- New York Revolutionary War Pension Lists of 1792-1795

Mexican War
- Pennsylvania Soldiers in the War with Mexico, 1846-1847

Civil War
- Kentucky: Records of Death and Interment at Camp Nelson, KY, 1864-1865
- Michigan Civil War Principals and Substitutes Index
- Mississippi: Beauvoir Soldiers Home Veterans
- Missouri: Index to Descriptive Recruitment Lists of Volunteers for the United States Colored Troops for the State of Missouri, 1863-1865
- Pennsylvania Civil War Era Newspapers - Digitized and Searchable - a project of Penn State University

World War One
- Colorado: Fallen Heroes of World War I from Denver, Colorado

World War Two
World War II Prisoners of the Japanese, Data File (AAD)

American Merchant Marine Databases:
- Names of WWII Merchant Marine Killed
- Names & Fates of WWII Merchant Marine POWs
- Names of U.S. Naval Armed Guard Killed and Wounded

Vietnam War
- Names of Vietnam War Merchant Marine Killed

Sunday, January 21, 2007

A Book About Researching World War II Army Service Records

Book Review: Finding Your Father's War - A Practical Guide to Researching and Understanding Service in the World War II US Army by Jonathan Gawne

Finding Your Father's War - A Practical Guide to Researching and Understanding Service in the World War II US Army book coverIf you have an ancestor or relative who served in the Army during World War II here is an entire book about researching records of individual soldiers and Army units. The book is divided into five distinct sections.

The first section, "Introduction to Army Units," discusses rank, branches of service and unit size. Don't know the difference between a squad, a platoon, a battalion, etc? Here's where to find out. A subsection on rank covers enlisted men, technicians and officers. For each rank (private, sergeant, etc) the insignia is shown along with the base pay.

Section two describes the types of records kept for an individual soldier and explains the Army's serial number system. There's even an illustration of a soldier's dog tag, explaining what each line and code means. Section three describes organizational records for army units.

The fourth section, "Finding Records," tells you where to look for many of the records discussed in the book. Here you can learn about using the Freedom of Information Act, the 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, the National Archives, Veterans Affairs records, and other topics. The author lets you know that some records are only available to next of kin, while others may be public domain and available to anyone.

The last section has all sorts of useful information and illustrations of insignias, badges, uniforms and medals - things you might find in the attic and are wondering what they mean. Insignias for WWII Armies, Army Groups, Corps, Major Army Commands, the Army Air Force, and Divisions (Infantry & Airborne, Armored, and Cavalry) are shown in appendices. Most of the book's illustrations are in color.

Overall this book contains a wealth of information about a soldier's World War II Army service and how you can find many of the records that have survived. I found it to be a nice resource for U.S. Army WWII genealogy research.

The book can be ordered from Amazon:
Finding Your Father's War: A Practical Guide to Researching and Understanding Service in the World War II U.S. Army revised third edition from Amazon

Advertising Disclosure: The owner of this website/blog is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

May also be helpful: World War II Records and Indexes on the Internet

Sunday, October 01, 2006

World War II Army Enlistment Records Database

If you have any ancestors or relatives who enlisted in the US Army during World War II, you might be able to find them listed in the Army Enlistment database provided by the National Archives (NARA). The original computer files for this database were created in 1994 by the Bureau of the Census at NARA's request. The Census Bureau used their "Film Optical Sensing Device for Input to Computers" (FOSDIC) system from a series of 1,586 microfilm rolls of computer punch cards. The original punch cards, which had basic information about enlistees when they entered the Army, were destroyed after being microfilmed in 1947. Unfortunately 212 microfilm rolls could not be converted to computer files because the card images were too dark. In 2002 NARA edited, merged and cleaned up these files, then later put them online. They can be searched from: Access to Archival Databases (AAD) Click on "World War II" when you get there.

Example of a World War II Army enlistment computer punch card
click the image to see a larger view

The Army Enlistment database contains 9,200,232 total records. You will find some errors in the database due to all the changes and editing the originals went through from punch card to microfilm to computer files. Also, about 1.5 million punch cards were not readable by the FOSDIC system from the original microfilm so the database is incomplete. NARA considers the database with its 9 million entries to be a "best guess" file. Note that the database is for United States Army enlistments, including the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC or WAC), and not other branches of the service. Despite the errors and omissions this is still a great tool for finding basic information about WWII Army enlistments.

The National Archives also has an excellent article about the creation of this database: The World War II Army Enlistment Records File and Access to Archival Databases

For more online WWII indexes see: Online World War II Indexes & Records

Sunday, July 09, 2006

Civil War Pension & Service Records - Tips for Finding Them

This article was updated on 9 September 2018.

Civil War Service Records

For a guide to finding these records see:
Civil War Service Records Research Guide

To find a Civil War service record it is helpful to know the soldier's allegiance (Union or Confederate), and the regiment and state (example: 10th Missouri Infantry). You can usually find this information in the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System Online Database.

Civil War Pension Records

Most (but not all) Union soldiers or their widows (or other dependents) applied for and received a pension. Civil War pension records for Union soldiers are held by the National Archives, and can be ordered from them for a fee.

Confederate soldiers or their widows usually were only able to apply for a pension if the soldier was disabled or indigent (poverty-stricken). This varied by state. These records are usually held by a state archives (where the soldier was living at the time he applied for the pension) or similar repository.

For more information see: How to Find Civil War Pension Records & Indexes - Union & Confederate

Civil War Records and Indexes on the Internet

For online indexes to some Civil War service records, pension records, veterans census schedules, rosters of soldiers, and prisoners of war see: Online Civil War Indexes, Records & Rosters

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Veterans Affairs Adds to its Cemeteries Database

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has added 1.9 million burial listings to its cemeteries database. These are for military veterans buried in mostly private cemeteries, who have VA grave markers. The database already included more than 3 million graves in national cemeteries, bringing the total in the database to about 5 million graves.

VA has also added maps to show many of the grave locations for those buried in VA national cemeteries, in state veterans cemeteries, and Arlington National Cemetery. The Department of Veterans Affairs continues to add approximately 1,000 new records to the database every day.

The database is online at... Veterans Affairs Military Burials Locator

For more helpful military databases see... Online Military Indexes, Records and Rosters of Soldiers

Saturday, June 03, 2006

New Additions - Online Military Records

Links to the following items were recently added to Online Military Indexes & Records...

Revolutionary War
Pennsylvania...
- Pennsylvania Militia Officers Index Cards 1775-1800

Civil War
Georgia...
- Andersonville Prison - Search for Prisoners (Union Soldiers)
- Fulton County: Oakland Cemetery Book, Atlanta, Georgia - scanned book of Confederate soldiers buried in Oakland Cemetery between February, 1862 and July 5, 1864

Louisiana...
- Census Enumeration of Ex-Confederate Soldiers and Widows of Deceased Soldiers (1911) for Orleans Parish and 17 other Parishes
- Chalmette National Cemetery Burials

Maryland...
- Antietam National Cemetery Burials and Confederate Soldiers Killed at Antietam
- Baltimore: Fort McHenry Prison - Search For Prisoners (Confederate Soldiers)

Missouri...
- Missouri's Union Provost Marshal Papers 1861-1866

Nebraska...
- 1893 Nebraska Census of Civil War Veterans

World War One
Colorado Historical Records Index includes...
- World War I Civilian Service Questionnaires
- Weld County World War I Veterans

Happy Searching!

Thursday, May 25, 2006

Ancestry adds some World War II Draft Registration Cards

Ancestry has put some digitized images of World War II Draft Registration Cards online, and they are indexed by name (this database requires a fee-based subscription). These draft cards are from the Fourth Registration, which was conducted on 27 April 1942 - this is the only registration currently available to the public. This registration was for men born 28 April 1877 to 16 February 1897 (and not already in the military). It is sometimes referred to as "the old man's registration." These WWII draft cards are presently available online at Ancestry for the following states... Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, DC, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, New York City, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

NOTE: the Fourth registration ("old man's registration") records for the following states were destroyed and are not available: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

For a list of links to free and fee-based World War II indexes and records, including Ancestry's fee-based WWII Draft Cards database, see: Online World War Two Indexes and Records - USA

For information on World War ONE draft cards see: World War One Draft Registration Cards 1917-1918

This article was updated on 2 March 2018.