Sunday, April 15, 2018

Military Records

We were fortunate to have Ann Mohr Osisek speak at our March meeting. Ann spoke about where to find military records for our ancestors that served. As usual, Ann gave a great presentation complete with types of records available and where to find them. Below is the handout she provided to the group.



“Marching Through the Files” – Military Records
Mount Dora, FL Genealogy Group
27 March 2018

 Military Records:

Generally speaking, five (5) main types of records were generated by wars:

·         Service Records - Enlistment, muster, pay, rosters, accounts, discharge, hospital, wounded, prisoner, deserter, death, capture, prison and parole.  These often give dates, places and events during service and sometimes descriptions, birthdates and/or ages, birthplaces and places of residence may also be listed.

·         Pension Records - Applications for both the soldier and his widow are rich in information and may include supporting documents such as birth, marriage and death records.  Children with ages/birthdates may be shown as well as all of the residences of the soldier after the war.  Checking the pension file is often a shortcut to other vital information on the family that should not be overlooked.

·         Bounty Land Records - Given by both the United States and individual states but none were given solely by the United States for service after 1855.

·         Claims - Filed by both military men and civilians (male & female) who were owed money for services and/or goods and supplies during wartime.

·         Histories - Reports of military units or regiments written both in an official and non-official capacity – many are published and available for the researcher.

Original Records on Colonial Wars are in State Archives - if your ancestor cannot be located in National Archives Records, they may have fought in a “State Militia”, look for those records in that particular State Archives.

Your first step is to check indexes to service records, pension records & bounty land records - read the chapter on Military Records in Dr. George Schweitzer’s Handbook of Genealogical Sources for a step-by-step process.  If you don’t find your ancestor in indexes, then check State Archives, State Library or Office of the Adjutant General.

Also see: Military Books by Lloyd DeWitt Bockstruck including Military Bounty and Donation Land Grants, Virginia Colonial Solders and much more.

The Source – Chapter 11 - Military Records by Lloyd DeWitt Bockstruck & Sandra Hargreaves Luebking.  Chapter 11 has approximately 32 pages of reference materials covering all time periods (and conflicts) as well as individual state reference materials.

http://www.cyndislist.com/milres.htm - Links to Worldwide Military Resources
http://www.archives.gov/research/veterans/ - National Archives site for reference materials & specifically, Veterans Service Records


MILITARY RECORDS:
Looking at a list of wars in which Americans have fought, determine which of these may have produced records for one of your ancestors (i.e. any male approximately 16-60 years of age during these wars)

King Phillip’s War -                  1675-1676
King William’s War -                1689-1697
Queen Anne’s War -               1702-1713
King George’s War -               1744-1748
French & Indian War -            1754-1763
Revolutionary War -                1775-1811 (including Frontier conflicts)
The War of 1812 -                   1812-1815
Indian Wars -                           1815-1858
Mexican War -                        1846-1848
Civil War -                               1861-1865
Spanish American War           1898
Philippine Insurrection 1899-1902
World War I -                           1917-1919
World War II -                          1941-1945
Korean Action -                       1950-1953
Vietnam Action -                     1965-1973
Gulf Wars & conflicts              1990-

Early Records -           Textual Archives Services Division
                                    Washington, DC 20408

Request copies of NATF Forms #85 - Military Pension/Bounty Land Warrant Appls.
                                                    #86 – (Pre WWI) Military Service Records
                                                    #SF180 – (Post WWI) Military Records

WWI Draft Registration Cards -          May be ordered from National Archives on-line or viewed on sites such as Ancestry.com (and printed)

WWI, WWII to present -                      National Personnel Records Center
                                                            (Military Records) NARA
                                                            1 Archives Drive
                                                            St. Louis, MO  63138
Also consult:   
  • Lineage Societies such as DAR, SAR, UDC, etc. (publications and records)

·         Regimental Histories or State & Local Histories

  • National Union Catalog of Manuscripts
  • Historic Battle Sites & Museums
  • U. S. Army Military History Institute @ Carlisle Barracks, PA 17013 (on Internet)
      www.carlisle.army.mil or www.history.army.mil


“Marching Through the Files” - Military Records – #1 – Mount Dora, FL Genealogy Group
27 March 2018 – Ann Mohr Osisek – Permission needed to copy