The USGenWeb Project- Newton County, Georgia: Military Records

Newton County, Georgia, part of the GAGenWeb Project

Newton County, Georgia

Military and Pension Records

Colonial Wars	Revolutionary War	War of 1812
Indian Wars	Civil War
Spanish War	20th Century Wars	Books

Military and Veteran Records

The Georgia Archives has the most complete collection of military records for Georgia.

Among the many military and veteran records that may yield vital statistic information, are:

Service records

Pension records which may include, among other things, age, birth and death information, name of wife and marriage information, names and ages of children.

Bounty land records which may include similar information as found in pension records.

County veteran's grave registers may be available at the Clerk of Court.

Military records are available though the National Archives and Records. To obtain copies of these files, request a NATF Form 80 from the National Archives and return it with the requested information.

Records are also usually available though your local LDS Family History Center.

Colonial Wars

Since the United States did not exist prior to the Revolutionary War, there are no 'official' records of wars up to that point. However, some records did survive at the local level. The bulk of the information exists in rosters than provide the the soldiers name and military unit

Records are available though your local LDS Family History Center.

Revolutionary War

Georgia Specific Information:
The LDS Research Outline for Georgia lists two helpful sources of information for the Revolutionary War:

Roster of Revolutionary Soldiers and Patriots in Georgia by Louise Milam Julich (1979)

Revolutionary Soldiers in Georgia by Thomas M. Owen which is a roster of veterans living in Georgia originally printed in 1911

Again, since the United States did not exist during to the Revolutionary War, there are no 'official' records of the war. However, some records did survive at the local level. The bulk of the information exists in rosters than provide the the soldiers name and military unit.

Service Records

National Archives and Records has records which have been summarized from various sources such as muster rolls and pay rolls. There are three indexes:

1) Master Name Index
2) Name Index for the Continental Army
3) State Index

The information may include:

Name, Rank, Military Unit, State for which he Served,
Dates that his Name appears, Date(s) of Enlistment or Appointment,
Date of Separation (rarely)

Other types of records may exists.

National Archives and Records has these records in Record Group 93, War Dept Collection of Rev. War Records.

Veteran's Benefits

There are two main types of benefits:

Pension
Bounty Land

Pensions were provided to veterans (or their widows & orphans) which were disabled or killed during the war. Some payments began as early as 1789. However, it was in 1792 that one could apply for benefits. Although some records were destroyed by fire, many still survive (post-1800). National Archives and Records has these records indexed by the names of the soldiers. Copies of the indexes are widely available.

The offer of free land was made to men in exchange for their service. Land was offered from approximately 1788 to 1855. 160 acres was provided to those that had served 14 days or had served in battle (Not only Revolutionary war veterans).

The Index of Revolutionary War Pension Applications in the National Archives is arranged by the veterans name. It lists the Name, State in which he served, Name of the applicant and the number of the pension or bounty land file.

To obtain copies of these files, request a NATF Form 80 from the National Archives and return it with the requested information.

Records are also available though your local LDS Family History Center.

War of 1812

Service records are similar to those from the Revolutionary War. Most of the records for the War of 1812 are arranged by State or Territory, however the information available remains much the same. The Service Record index is Records for the War of 1812. There is both an index by name and state/territory. Veteran's Benefits are called the War of 1812 Series and cover the period of 1812-1815 but were not active until 1871-1878.

For prior records, index is Records for the Period Between the Revolution and the War of 1812.

Records are available though your local LDS Family History Center.

Indian Wars

Georgia Specific Information:

The LDS Research Outline for Georgia notes that an index to service records of volunteer soldiers from Georgia is available as well as an index to pensioners.

Actual pension records can be found at the State Archives.

Service records, again, are similar to those previously mentioned. The Service Record index is Records of Indian and Related Wars. There is both an index by name and state/territory.

Veteran's Benefits are called the Mexican War Series and cover the period of 1817-1898 but were not active until 1892. The index is Index to Indian War Pension Files, 1892-1926.

Records are available though the National Archives

Mexican War (1846-48)

Service records, again, are similar to those previously mentioned. The soldier's age may also be included. The Service Record name index is Index to Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Soldiers Who Served During the Mexican War. An index by State or Territory does not exists.

Veteran's Benefits are called the Mexican War Series and cover the period of 1846-1848 but were not active until 1887. The index is Index to Mexican War Pension Files, 1887-1926.

Records are available though the National Archives and Records.

Civil War

Georgia Specific Information:
The Confederate service records are available though the National Archives and Records.

Click here for some transcribed military and pension records.

The Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System is a computerized database containing very basic facts about servicemen who served on both sides during the Civil War. The initial focus of the CWSS is the Names Index Project, a project to enter names and other basic information from 5.4 million soldier records in the National Archives. The facts about the soldiers are being entered from records that are indexed to many millions of other documents about Union and Confederate Civil War soldiers maintained by the National Archives and Records Administration.

The Georgia Archives in Atlanta has compiled service and pension records for Confederate soldiers, musters and payrolls.

Service Records
Union Soldiers
There is no master index to Civil War service records but there is a separate index by name for each state. Service Records for Union soldiers include all of the prior information along with these possible additions:

Date of Rank changes, date-place-nature of Discharge,
Voluntary Enlistment Information which may have
[Age, Place of Birth, Occupation, Personal Description],
Injury Information [Age, Marital Status, Place of Residence,
Date and Nature of Injury], Casualty Information [Date and Place of Death]

Draft records and Service Histories may also be available along with Burial Records and Headstone Applications. Headstone applications from 1879 to 1903 are arranged chronologically by State and County of burial.

Confederate Soldiers

Service records are available, although they may be as detailed. There are three indexes:
- Records Filed by State
  Records for Troops in Non-State Organizations
  Officers and Enlisted Personnel - Job Related
There is a consolidated index (alphabetical by Name) and an index by State.

Service Records for the Confederate soldiers are available though your local LDS Family History Center. Service Records for both Confederate and Union soldiers are available though the National Archives and Records.

Veteran's Benefits

Confederate Soldiers

Pension Records for Union soldiers are available though the National Archives and Records.

An excellent source of information is: Georgia Civil War Pension Records, there are limited counties represented; Newton County is not one of them at this time.

Union Soldiers

Pension Applications are the most widely available source of information. Two Indexes are available. An alphabetical Name index and an Organizational index.

American Civil War Page: with links to many detailed roster lists plus much more.

Spanish War

Service Records are available for this time period. There is a master Name index and an index for Federal and State's volunteer Organizations. Pension Records are also available.

Records are available though your local LDS Family History Center.

20th Century

Records for this period have limited access. Most information will be provided with the written consent of the veteran or their next of kin.

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Send Comments about this Newton County site to Carolyn Golowka, Newton County, Georgia County Coordinator

I do not live in Georgia so I am unable to help with your personal research questions. All the information I know about Newton County is posted promptly on this site. Please visit the "Research Resources" section of this site. I would suggest that if you don't find the information your looking for here, that you join the email list and post your question on the query board. The more places you ask the question, the better your chances of getting an answer.

You can email me above if you have any contributions you'd like to add to this site.

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Website updated: Tuesday, 09-Sep-2008 10:49:15 MDT