Genealogy Class 4

This week we will look at Military Records and a few additional resources. Here is the revised  handout with lots of clickable links:

MILITARY RECORDS

Military records are wonderful sources of family information.  Many are online. Many are free.

These records include:

     Draft and Enlistment records

     Service deployments

     Pensions

     Death and burial information

   

FIRST: 

Find out as much as possible about individuals who served in the military or Merchant Marine

What Branch, Dates, Rank, Pension Application, What wars were fought in his or her lifetime.

Census records that offer clues:

1940 – Supplementary form for those on lines 14, 29, 55 and 68 asks:

Is this person a veteran of the US military or wife, widow or under 18 child of a veteran?

If Yes it gives the code for which war:   

W (WW 1)   

S (Spanish-American war, Philippine Insurrection or Boxer Rebellion)

SW (Spanish-American and WW I)

R (Regular establishment, Army, Navy or Marines, peace-time service only)

Ot Other war or expedition

1930 – Right two columns for veterans of previous wars. Yes if veteran and abbreviation for the war served in, Civil War, Spanish-American War, Incursion into Mexico and WW I

1910 – Third to last column “Whether a survivor of the Union or Confederate Army or Navy”

1890 - Veterans Schedule – Includes names of surviving Union veterans, details of service. 

Alabama through Kansas and part of Kentucky destroyed

Born between:                                                   War Years           NARA mfilm #

1726 – 1767            Revolutionary War             1775 – 1783          M860

1762 – 1799            War of 1812                        1812 – 1815           M602

1796 – 1831            Mexican War                      1846 – 1848           M616

1811 – 1848            Civil War                           1861 – 1865     Union by state; CSA M253

1848 – 1881            Spanish American War      1898                        M871

1849 – 1885            Philippine Insurrection      1899 – 1902            M872

1872 – 1900            World War I                       1917 – 1918            NARA AAD

1877 – 1925            World War II                      1941 – 1945            NARA AAD

1900 – 1936             Korean War                       1950 – 1953            NARA AAD

1914 – 1955             Vietnam War                     1964 – 1972            NARA AAD

A GOOD PLACE TO START

NARA National Archives and Records Administration, Wash. DC

http://www.archives.gov/research/military/genealogy.html

https://www.archives.gov/veterans

https://www.archives.gov/research/military/ww2

BROCHURE on Getting Started:

https://www.archives.gov/files/research/military/ww2/ww2-participation.pdf

How do I begin? [from NARA website]

There is no simple explanation for how to begin research in military records. Your research path will depend on aspects such as: what branch of service your ancestor was in, which conflict, what dates, whether Regular Army or a volunteer unit, whether your ancestor was an officer or enlisted personnel, and whether there was a pension application.

The approach to researching records of enlisted men and women, officers, and for the different branches of the military is described in this article:

An Overview of Records at the National Archives Relating too Military Service
https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2002/fall/military-records-overview.html

Revolutionary War – War of 1812 records are held at the National Archives, Washington D.C.

World War I – Present are held in the NPRC National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, MO.

This includes WWII Official Military Personnel Files (OMPFs)

A 1973 fire destroyed Army personnel records created from 1912-1963, but other Army files and Navy and Marine personnel files still exist.

WW II and Later Wars

WW II Army enlistment records and casualty and POW records for WWII, Korea and Vietnam in addition to other records are searchable online at NARA's AAD Access to Archival Databases website: http://aad.archives.gov//aad/   
On the AAD Home Page click on the Getting Started Guide in upper right of the screen.

FamilySearch wiki has a section on Getting Started with US Military Records:

https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/United_States_Military_Records#Getting_started_with_United_States_Military_Records_research

Other sites: $ Ancestry.com and fold3.com

Death Records

National Archives WW II Honor List of Dead and Missing

Army and Army Air Force Personnel by state

There is a link on this page to Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard

https://www.archives.gov/research/military/ww2/army-casualties

Veterans Affairs Burial Search for 120 National Cemeteries (USA)

http://gravelocator.cem.va.gov/

American Merchant Marine at War

Includes lists of Merchant Marine casualties and POWS
http://www.usmm.org/

Pearl Harbor Casualty List December 7, 1941

http://www.usswestvirginia.org/ph/phlist.php

National World War II Memorial Registry (USA)

https://www.wwiimemorial.com/Registry/Default.aspx

   Combines 4 databases of names that can be searched:

   Those buried in American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) overseas

   Memorialized on ABMC tablets as Missing is Action

   Listed as Missing in Action on official War and Navy Dpt. Rosters held by NARA

   Registry of Remembrance – Public acknowledgments

WW II Discharge Papers were supposed to be recorded in veterans' county courthouse, as in WW I.

Military records become available 62 years after death or discharge.

WW II Draft Registrations

Sep 16 1940 – Selective Service System (SSS) established as independent agency.

First peacetime draft. Service length 12 months

(That same summer the National Guard became part of the regular Army. Those already in the military did not have to register.)

Oct. 16, 1940 – First draft registration, Men 21-36 required to register. 16 million men registered.

Oct. 29, 1940 – First draft lottery.

July 1, 1941 - 2^nd draft registrations, Men who turned 21 after Oct. 16, 1940

Aug 18, 1941 – Service length increased to 18 months

Feb. 16, 1942 - 3^rd draft registrations. Men born on or after Feb. 17, 1897 and Dec. 31, 1921

Apr. 27 1942 – 4^th, Old Mans Draft. Men 45 to 64 (born 28 Apr 1877 16 Feb 1897.

Images at $Ancestry.com and familysearch.org except AL-TN. Only NYC for NY.

Jun 30, 1942 – 5^th, Men 18-20. First time men under 21 required to register.

Dec 10-31, 1942 – 6^th, Men 18 after June 30, 1941.

1943 – Navy and Marines accepted draftees.

Nov 16 – 31 Dec, 1943 - 7^th , Men 18-44 living abroad.

1947 – Selective Service System act expired.

Registered – about 50,000,000 men.

Drafted – 11.5 million men, ages 18-38, 65% of those who served.

Enlisted voluntarily – 6.3 million, including 350,000 women

Draft Cards – Information includes Name, age, address, name and address of contact person, occupation, schooling, physical description.

Once a man's number was pulled, he filled out forms which were used to classify him from 1A to 4F.

Deferments were for 2-occupation, 3-dependents, or 4-by law or medical reason.

Occupations deferred – farmers, factory workers making military equipment or supplies.

Originally married men were deferred which led to marriage boom.

Then fathers were deferred which led to a baby boom.

No one over 38 was drafted.

Classification record – shows name, local draft board number, classification, dates he received the classifications.

For more information and to obtain copies of draft and classification cards:

https://www.archives.gov/st-louis/selective-service

WWI and Earlier

Draft Registration

http://www.archives.gov/research/military/ww1/draft-registration/index.html

May 18, 1917 – “ The Selective Service Act was passed authorizing the President to increase temporarily the military establishment of the United States.” Registration took place in the 48 states, the District of Columbia and the territories of Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico.

June 5 1917 – 1^st registration - Men ages 21-31

June 5, 1918 – 2^nd registration - Men now age 21

Aug 24, 1918 - Men becoming 21 after June 5, 1918 – included in 2^nd registration

Sep 12, 1918 - 3^rd   registration - Men 18-45

Nov 11, 1918 - SSS rapidly curtailed
Mar 31, 1919 - All local, district and medical advisory boards were closed

May 21, 1919 - All state headquarters closed

Jul 15, 1919 - Provost Marshal General relieved from duty ending SSS

WWI draft registration card images are available at Ance$try and Family Search. The actual cards are

stored in the NARA branch in Morrow, Georgia. There are about 24,000,000 cards, about 23% of the population.

Information includes name, address, telephone, age, date and place of birth, contact person, employer's name and address, place of employment and signature. Back shows race, height, color of eyes, hair and complexion and any other physical characteristics. On cards for African Americans, the lower left corner was clipped off.

Some WWI records are at:  www.archives.gov/research/military/ww1/st-louis-ww1-series

Civil War
National Park Service listing of Civil War Soldiers and Sailors.

<https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/soldiers-and-sailors-database.htm>

Most Confederate records are held at the State level. Check individual state archives.

War of 1812

https://www.archives.gov/research/military/war-of-1812

ORDERING RECORDS

Older military personnel records (prior to 1917): Many are online $ at http://www.fold3.com

To order from the National Archives in Washington DC use Form Number NATF86, available at:

www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records/pre-ww-1-records#wctb-list

Military Records from 1917 – Present:

At National Military Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in St. Louis, MO

Most are not digitized and not online.

To order follow instructions at https://www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records

Order online or by mail. Make sure you ask for all documents.

1957 or before - open to public. 1958 and after next of kin only.

Cost – 5 pages or less $25, 6 pages or more $70

Revised June 2019

Genealogy Class 3 - Fill in the Dates

Tuesday's class 3 is Fill in the Dates and we will look at Vital Records and using the 1920, 1910 and 1900 U. S. Censuses to find the dates you need. This is the heart of the Who What Where and When of our research. We will also spend time looking at Maps, the all-important Where.

Besides the Handybook, the Source, and the Red Book in the Genealogy Department at the library you can find information on where to look for various vital records through Cyndi's List and Family Search.

https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Main_Page

Look for your state and explore the links to find How to Find Birth, Marriage and Death Records and much, much more. There is a map where you can click to your county for even more information. For example:

https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Florida,_United_States_Genealogy

If you print out the Florida information there are 16 pages. The part on Vital Records has dozens of links that will help you. The Brevard Genealogical Society is even listed under Societies and Libraries.

Another good resource is the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC. Their National Center for Health Statistics page has a Where to Write for Vital Records section that is very helpful. There are links to Application Guidelines and U.S. Passport Applications, too.

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/w2w/index.htm

Once again the Family History Guide is a great place to learn how to take advantage of everything that Family Search offers. https://thefhguide.com/research.html

In fact that's where I found a link to Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness's website and their Vital Records Research Guide: https://raogk.org/vital-records/

Thomas MacEntee sent out a message about the FREE Family History Library Classes and Webinars in October 2019. Check it out at:

https://mailchi.mp/abundantgenealogy/fhl-october-2019-classes?e=92def27bca

Family Interview Questions

Writing Workshop

HIS STORY, HER STORY, YOUR STORY:

A Writing Workshop

©Vera Booksh Zimmerman 2019 <verazgenealogy.blogspot.com>

It's time to STOP researching and START writing.

Grounding Exercise

Write down 5 things you can SEE.

4 things you can TOUCH

3 things you can HEAR

2 things you can SMELL

1 thing you can TASTE

STEP 1 - Define the scope of your project.

His Story, Her Story or Your Story?

One person or one family or one branch?

One place?

One theme – Childhood, College, Job? Travel?

How you researched and solved a problem?

STEP 2 - Get a 3-ring notebook.

Every time you remember something write a quick summary on one page.

Put the year in upper right hand corner. Expand on each memory. Name your book.

STEP 3 – Make an outline

After you have accumulated enough pages of written memories, read through them. Do you see a theme developing? Make a general outline of your book. Timelines or Chronologies help in putting names, dates and places into narrative form. They also help break the job into manageable bites.

STEP 4 – Start editing your stories

Remember to use all your senses, to SHOW instead of just TELLING.

Find your voice. Be true to yourself. Edit for content first, then grammar and spelling.

Good book to help is Line by Line, Claire Kehrwald Cook (1985, Houghton Miflin, Boston MA)

STEP 5 – Make a deadline and tell someone about it, then DO IT!

BOOKS TO HELP YOU

History of Brevard County, Vol. 1 and 2 – Detailed History of a Place

History of Brevard County, Vol. 3 – Brief History of a Place and Families from that place

Rick Bragg's books – All Over But the Shouting – His story

Ava's Man – Her story and His story

Mama Said: The Mostly True Story of the Begue Family – My Mother's Family

Belle's Letters, A blog - I'm currently working on a blog about my Great Grandmother who left a trunk full of letters, papers and photos. My plan is to turn it into a book when I'm done. <belletisdale.blogspot.com>

Book of Ages: The Life and Opinions of Jane Franklin, Jill Lepore (2013, Random House, NY )

Good example of using social history to bring a narrative to life.

Memories to Manuscript: The Five Step Method of Writing Your Life Story

Joan Neubauer (2002, Ancestry Pub., Orem UT)

1- Research

2- Organization

3 – Writing

4 – Editing

5 – Printing and Publishing

We're going to concentrate on Organization and Writing and a little on Editing today.

Terry Armstrong will address Printing and Publishing on September 9.

Patricia Charpentier of Orlando has three books that can help.

Bringing Your Ancestor to Life (2010, LifeStory Pub., Orlando, FL)

A booklet with an outline of 21 steps on Organizing and Writing your story

Eating an Elephant: Writing Your Life One Bite at a Time (2011, LifeStory Pub., Orlando FL)

200 bites or short steps to completing your story (My favorite)

I Remember: 50 Prompts to Write Your Life Story (2011, LifeStory Pub., Orlando, FL)

Old Friend From Far Away, by Natalie Goldberg, (2007, Atria Paperback, Simon & Schuster, NY)

Another book of writing prompts.

Sharon DeBrtolo Carmack, You Can Write Your Family History

(2003, Reprinted 2008, Genealogy Pub. Baltimore, MD)

Her book covers defining the scope of your project and points out the importance of breaking the job into manageable pieces.

She describes 7 types of family history books. (pages 8 – 10)

1 – Reference Genealogies - A bare bones genealogy Who, When, Where

2 – Genealogical Narratives -- One step further, includes research strategies and analysis

3 – Life Story - Historical Biography, Memoir

4 – Family History Narrative - Creative, literary nonfiction

5 – Family History Memoir - Nonfiction story about the author's search for his ancestors

6 – Edited Letters and Diaries - Weaves together documents to tell the story of people's lives

7 - Fictional Family Sagas - Historical fiction based on author's family

She mentions helpful books for each type, one of which is Writing Family Histories and Memoirs by Kirk Polking (1995, Betterway Books, Cincinnati Ohio). A good nuts-and-bolts book.

The Art of Memoir by Mary Karr, (2015, Harper Collins Pub. NY)

She is an award-winning author, a poet and professor of literature at Syracuse U.

How to Think like Leonardo da Vinci: 7 Steps to Genius Every Day, by Michael Gelb (1998, Reprinted 2004. Bantam Dell, NY)

It has exercises and lessons on problem solving, creative thinking, enjoying the world around you, goal setting, life balance, and harmonizing body and mind.

Roots Magic has a program called Personal Historian which is available at:

www.rootsmagic.cotom/personal-historian

Amy Johnson Crow's web site and her 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks program is very helpful:

www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/52-ancestors-in-52-weeks/

Finding Your Roots

The first new episode of "Finding Your Roots" will air October 8. I want to share this quote by Henry Louis Gates Jr., Alphonse Fletcher University Professor, Harvard University and Director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research

Hosting “Finding Your Roots" is not only profoundly rewarding as a scholar, it's part of a larger mission to inspire us all to seek out the stories of our ancestors – to see history as something that we are all a part of, that we all have a stake in – and, in realizing this, to help us arrive at a deeper understanding of what it means to be part of the human family.

Our series strives to show how all Americans are related, despite our present divisive politics, at the most fundamental levels of all: through our families, through our immigrant experiences, whether forced or voluntary, and at the level of the genome.

Published in the Orlando Sentinel, Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Breaking Through Brick Walls

by Sharon Eller

1   Create a biography of your family.

2   Look at collateral family lines in addition to your direct family line.

3   Look at cluster genealogy.

4   Look at other possible marriages that may have changed names.

5   Look at possible documents that you have collected and not used.

6   Go to local historical societies where your families lived.

7   Review your notes for ideas.

8   Rethink your question that you are researching, have you gotten away from the research       question?

9   Look at the family line again, is it correct?

10  Start over, do a genealogy "do over." https://genealogydoover.com/

11  Go to 0n line Blogs for help /network .

12  Create a timeline for your brickwall person.

13  Is the name spelled correctly and have you looked at spelling variations?

14  Use Congregationalist/Quaker records or alternative records.

15  Review Cyndi's List for genealogy options.

16  Look at court records such as depositions for family information.

17  Watch U tube videos on how to do genealogy or genealogy tips.

      [Good place to start: https://www.thefhguide.com/ The Family History Guide]

18  Make an educated guess.

NARA photos

Here is the information provided by Sharon Eller on  obtaining photos of military personnel
from NARA:

It's really nice to obtain a photographic image of someone you are researching. 

For pre-1960 military personnel, try the National Archives, Still Picture Branch. 

The more information you have, the better. Name, Branch of Service, Military Grade (even if only officer or enlisted), Dates of Service (even if only by year), Military Organization (ie, 29th Infantry, USS Baltimore).

They can be contacted at: stillpix@nara.gov, phone 301-837-0561 or by mail at:

National Archives and Records Administration

Special Media Archives Services Division (RDSS) 

8601 Adelphi Road

College Park, MD 20740-6001

It takes about three weeks to get a response. If they have something, they send you a photocopy of the image, including the caption naming the individual(s). 

If you want an actual photo, you have to contract with a commercial provider who reproduces it and ships it to you. Total cost around $20. to $25.

My experience has shown that only around one in fifty names are found. Don't bother if the name is John Johnson.