The Family Historian

Mary Alice Dell

June, 2008

 

Celebrate the Fourth with Your Military Ancestors

 

 

In a few days, we will be once again celebrating the Fourth of July; a holiday often appreciated more for its picnics, fireworks, and vacation time, than as a memorial to the independence of our country. 

 

To the family historian, it is a reminder of a time and event in the lives of their ancestors.  Even if your ancestors did not live in America at that time, what was happening here affected the lives of many; and certainly has affected the lives of their descendants.  Had the American Revolution ended with British victory, the study of our nation’s history might be sprinkled with the names of kings and queens.

 

When our country is at war, as is the case now, Independence Day stirs our patriotism to remember not only our first patriots, but those of succeeding wars, who have and are protecting the freedom declared 232 years ago.

 

War has always had a profound impact on family life.  From the immigration of young Germans to avoid conscription in Deutchsland armies, to the World War II draftees, to the National Guard soldiers in Iraq today, war has changed the course of their lives and that of their families.  It is these events about which family historians seek information.  Today, it is possible to find a great deal of information about individual military records, unit histories, and the battles in which they were engaged on the Internet.

 

In Which Wars Did Your Ancestors Fight?

 

As mentioned in the previous column, prepare a list of names, dates and places before you begin your search. In which wars were your ancestors involved?  For example, my father was in WW II, and had registered for the draft in late WW I; my grandfather Willis registered in Illinois for the WW I draft; my great-grandfathers Newsom and Anderson of Kentucky were in the Civil War; my third great-grandfather William Davenport was in a Tennessee unit during the War of 1812; and several fourth and fifth great-grandfathers were involved in the American Revolution in PA, VA and NC.

 

To find the military records of your ancestors you will need to determine their ages at the time of the various wars and the state (and hopefully county) in which they lived at the time they could have served.   If your ancestor was between the age of 15 and 50 at the outbreak of a war, he may have been involved.  Although of the right age, if he lived on the frontier, or in an area not affected by the war, he may not have participated. 

 

 

A man may have served in the local militia during the American Revolution, the state troops, or the Continental Line.   Unless he had been invalided, he probably did not receive a Federal pension if he died prior to 1831, after which any indigent veteran, or his widow, was eligible for a pension.  The rules for eligibility changed several times over the years. 

 

All veterans who served in the Continental Line were eligible for bounty land.  Heritage Quest, which is available through TexShare by Boerne Library patrons on their home computer, has digitized copies of the applications for federal pensions and bounty land.  You will need to get the password from the Library to use this site at home.  It is also available on the computers at the Library.  Readers who do not live in Kendall County should ask the library in their city or county about Tex Share.  Census records, digitized books and other data bases are also on this website.

 

On the Heritage Quest site, select the Revolutionary War database and input your ancestor’s name.  (Be flexible about the spelling).  In the file will be a reference to his military service, the payment record of his pension, his original handwritten application (in a narrative format as they did not have a form to complete) and possibly other letters and documents.  If the widow is applying, you may be lucky enough to find a page from a Bible or an original marriage document.  Print or, better yet, download these records to your computer so you can enlarge or enhance the copies for easier reading. 

 

If your ancestor was in a state militia, you will need to check state records for pensions and bounty land.  Many records are available on State Archive and Library websites.  Lloyd Bockstruck's book listing names of all veterans receiving state bounty land warrants, and other books listing Revolutionary solders are available at the Boerne Library.  The web site http://www.americanrevolution.org/genlinks.html has links to some militia lists. 

 

Many Civil War Records Available

 

Civil War records of your ancestors, created nearly a century later, may be easier to find.  Again knowing the state in which the soldier lived when he enlisted is necessary to making sure you have located the right man.  A very helpful site is http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Lair/3680/cw/cw.html which has rosters listing all the men who served in militias in all the states.  You can also Google an individual state by imputing “Kentucky Civil War “ and looking at the links it suggests. 

 

If you know in which unit your ancestor served, check the 128 volume set of compiled dispatches of the Union and Confederate armies,  available on the Internet from Ohio State University at http://ehistory.osu.edu/osu/sources/records/.  You may find a report of your ancestor in one of the dispatches, or at least accounts of the battles of his units.  

 

The National Park Service Civil War Site at http://www.civilwar.nps.gov/cwss/ is a data base of names of all the known servicemen wearing either the blue or gray uniform.  If your veteran ancestor was buried in a National Cemetery from 1860 to present, you may find the site using the National Cemetery Grave Locator at http://www.cem.va.gov/.

 

 

 

 

Many states are digitizing their Confederate pension records; google for them using the state name and pension records.  However, your best source of online sites for Civil War records (or records of other wars) is www.cyndislist.com.  Choose Military records on the main index, and then the war.  Checking all the numerous sites will keep you busy until next Independence Day.  In a future column, I will discuss researching other wars. 

 

Ancestry and other fee sites also have military records.  If you find your ancestor listed on an Ancestry site and you are not a subscriber to that service, make a note of where the information is located.  A GSKC Library Volunteer at the Boerne Library can help you find it on Ancestry which is free to the public there. 

 

As you enjoy the Independence Day activities, pause a moment to thank all the veterans of all the wars that have made it possible to celebrate that original July 4, 1776.