military records

NARA’s 2025 Genealogy Series

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The National Archives and Records Administration has announced the lineup of speakers and topics for its 2025 Genealogy Series. Presentations premiere at specific times but are then available 24/7 on YouTube. Mark your calendar now! It’s free! No registration required! This year’s schedule includes:

Infinite Diversity (Part I)

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One of the most interesting things about records in the U.S. National Archives is almost infinite diversity of materials that can be found. This post will highlight several small record series that have been digitized.

Record Group 15, Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, is well known for genealogical gems like military service and pension files, but it also contains a variety of other records:

  • Bibliography of Publications Concerning Inmates in Soldiers’ Homes, ca. 1913–ca. 1927, https://catalog.archives.gov/id/407305556.
  • Records Relating to the Delaney House, 1914, https://catalog.archives.gov/id/407302072. This was a building in Washington, DC, that was used as a hospital during the Civil War. 
  • Records Concerning Confederate Homes, 1919-1927, https://catalog.archives.gov/id/407302073, includes a list of Confederate homes existing at that time. 
  • Summary Lists of Certificate Numbers Assigned to Pensioned Veterans, Navy Widows, and Army and Navy Widows, 1816–1924,  https://catalog.archives.gov/id/400216432. This series contains typescript lists that identify the dates upon which certain pension certificate numbers were assigned to pensioned veterans (“invalids”), 1816-1924; Navy widows, 1862-1910; and to widows, 1862-1924. The “widows” list includes certificate numbers issued to Army widows for 1862-August 1910 and both Army and Navy widows for August 1910-June 1924. These lists likely served as a quick reference aid to the approximate date when a certificate was issued. For example, if one wanted to know when Widow’s Certificate (WC) 190,000 was issued, the widow’s certificate list indicates it was issued sometime between June 3, 1880, when 188,500 was issued, and June 3, 1881, when 192,500 was issued.

Record Group 64, Records of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) includes many NARA microfilm publications because they are NARA work product.

  • NARA Microfilm Publication M2156, Lists of Federal Prisoners of War Who Enlisted in the Confederate Army (1 roll, published 2012), https://catalog.archives.gov/id/470650567, was uploaded to the Catalog in RG 64 as National Archives work product but the images of records it contains are from Record Group 249, Records of the Commissary General of Prisoners.

Record Group 92, Office of the Quartermaster General

  • Annual Reports Relating to the Army Transport Service, 1901,  https://catalog.archives.gov/id/2662956. relates to quartermaster activities that supported the U.S. Army during the Philippine-American War.

Record Group 393, Records of U.S. Army Continental Commands

  • Census of Black Persons in Princess Anne County, Virginia, 1863, https://catalog.archives.gov/id/352794518, is a unique volume in NARA holdings. In this volume, H. H. Huff of Ovid, Seneca County, New York, recorded a census of black persons who resided in Princess Anne County, Virginia. Mr. Huff began taking the census on June 23, 1863, according to a paper glued to the inside front cover of the volume. The printed census form, which spans two facing pages, asked for each person’s name and the following information:
    • Sex – Male or female
    • Age – Under 10, 10 to 20, 20 to 45, or over 45
    • Condition – Bond (enslaved), free, or contraband
    • Residence – Permanent, transient, or how long within the lines
    • How Employed – On deserted farms, otherwise employed by the government, or not employed
    • Helped by the Government – Wholly or in Part
    • Color – Black or mixed Able to read [hash mark if yes]
    • Remarks – The “Remarks” column often indicates federal employment, either in general terms, such as “on entrenchment,” or specifically, such as “Ordnance Department.”
  • List of Prisoners at Fort Jefferson (Florida) on March 31, 1866,  https://catalog.archives.gov/id/404788116, includes Dr. Samuel Mudd and other persons who assisted John Wilkes Booth after the assassination of Lincoln, as well as other military prisoners.
  • Lists of Supplies on Hand, July 1847–October 1850 (at Fort Jefferson, Florida), https://catalog.archives.gov/id/404788104, could be of interest to military historians.

Record Group  395, Records of U.S. Army Overseas Operations and Commands, contains a lot of material relating to activities of both Filipino and U.S. personnel during the Philippine-American War, 1899-1902. These are just a few examples.

  • Card List of Batson’s Scouts, July 1901, https://catalog.archives.gov/id/467258916.
  • Register of a Census Taken in the Province of Tayabas, Philippines, June 1900–September 1900, https://catalog.archives.gov/id/400216440. Each entry includes the man’s name, age, marital status, bario of residence in Tayabas, occupation (“profession”), and the census certificate number and date of issuance. All the men were indicated to be natives of Luzon. No women are included.
  • Register of Native Prisoners Confined, October 1900-May 1902, https://catalog.archives.gov/id/404788077, primarily contains a list of native (Filipino) prisoners of war confined at Balayan, Batangas, Philippine Islands. The men were captured from October 1900 to July 1901 and released by May 1902. The information was recorded across two facing pages and usually includes including each man’s name, age, residence, date of capture and by which officer, cause for which held, and “disposition” that is usually the date of release from confinement.
  • Special Orders, May-September 1900, https://catalog.archives.gov/id/404788009, were issued by commanding officers of 4th U.S. Infantry from the “Headquarters, U.S. Troops” at Bacoor, Cavite, Philippines, and primarily concern special assignments of duty to specific military personnel.
  • Special Orders, May-July 1901, https://catalog.archives.gov/id/404788041, were issued from the headquarters of the 1st Squadron, 4th U.S. Cavalry, at Badoc, Ilocos Norte, Philippines, and primarily concern special assignments of duty to specific military personnel.

NARA’s Genealogy Series – May 21-June 25, 2024

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NARA’s annual Genealogy Series features staff experts speaking about records in National Archives custody. The 2024 series begins on May 21. This year’s line up includes:

  • Passport Records: Passport Applications at NARA, 1790s-1925 – May 21, 1 p.m. ET
  • After Their Service: Tracing the Lives of Native American Army Scouts – May 28, 1 p.m. ET
  • Captured German Records Related to American Prisoners of War During World War II – June 4, 1 p.m. ET
  • Alien Files (A-Files): Researching Immigrant Ancestors at the National Archives – June 18, 1 p.m. ET
  • World War II Enemy Alien Records Related to Japanese Americans at the National Archives – June 25, 1 p.m. ET

Don’t worry about missing the program! After their premiere, these videos will remain online on YouTube for future viewing.

Premiering Today, May 19, at 1 p.m. EDT – Tips and Tools for Engaging Family with Your Research Finds

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Premiering today, May 19, 2021, at 1 p.m.! As the family historian, you have amassed information and records that will one day pass to the next family historian. How do you share your findings with others? How to engage young family members involved with all your hard research may be another story. Education staff members Missy McNatt and Dorothy Dougherty will demonstrate fun and engaging ways to connect research to your family, including younger family members. This lecture will highlight activities related to our most popular genealogy records, such as Immigrant Ship Arrivals, U.S. Census Records, Naturalization records, and Military and Pension files. The presenters will also demonstrate new ways to share your research finds online, using social media tools.

The 1973 Fire: New Hope in Recovering Burned and Brittle Records

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Most researchers have heard of the 1973 fire at the National Military Personnel Records Center in Saint Louis, Missouri, that destroyed 80% of certain Army personnel records for persons discharged from November 1, 1912, to January 1, 1960, and 75% of certain Air Force personnel records for persons discharged from September 25, 1947, to January 1,1964 (names alphabetically after Hubbard).

Records that were entirely consumed by fire are gone, but there is new hope for surviving highly burned or damaged records. There is amazing work being done by NARA’s Conservation Staff in Saint Louis to recover and make available records that were previously too fragile to handle. Preservation Specialist Ashley Cox shows and explains what’s being done in the 33 minute video, “A is for Archives, B is for Burn File” from the 2017 NARA Virtual Genealogy Fair.

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Going Digital, One Twig or Leaf at a Time

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If you haven’t tried a surname search in the National Archives Catalog in awhile, it’s time to try it again. Additional information about records, as well as actual digital images of records, are added frequently.

A search for the surname “Twigg” provides good examples of what’s been added thus far. In no particular order, there are references to persons named Twigg for which there are–

  • Alien Case Files
  • Personnel Files
  • Cherokee Indian Records
  • Compiled Military Service Records–Civil War (Union)
  • Compiled Military Service Records–Civil War (Confederate)
  • Correspondence (Letters Sent or Received)
  • Seaman’s Protection Certificates
  • Draft Registration (World War II)
  • Compiled Military Service Records (Spanish-American War)
  • Official Military Personnel Files
  • Mentions in a roster of hospital matrons at U.S. Army posts
  • Mentions in summaries of World War II casualties
  • Mentions in applications for inclusion of properties on the National Register of Historic Places
  • Mentions in various other records

Certainly, this is only the tip of the iceberg.

Obviously, when the surname is included in the file or item description, it’s easier to determine potential relevance, than when it’s necessary to ferret out the name by searching a PDF or other multipage items. Nonetheless, it is a free resource available to anyone with an internet connection. It will continue to grow in usefulness in the years to come.

Give it a try. What might you find?

 

Spanish-American War Nurses

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It’s become a little bit easier to research Spanish-American War nurses. The National Archives Catalog now identifies 761 women for whom there are correspondence files, primarily for those who wanted to obtain government benefits based on their service. These files are in the series, “Correspondence Relating to the Service of Spanish-American War Contract Nurses, 1898-1939,” which is in Record Group 112, Records of the Office of the Surgeon General (Army). The files themselves are not online, but copies can be requested from archives1reference@nara.gov.

To search for a specific person in the Catalog, you have two options. One option is to click on the catalog link that says “761 file unit(s) described in the catalog.” The files are in alphabetical order.

Here are the first four files:Screen Shot 2017-06-20 at 6.48.44 PM.png

The second option is to click on the button that says “Search within this series” THEN replace the *.* in the search bar with the surname of interest. Then click on the magnifying glass icon to perform the search. (Yes, that is not an intuitive process.)

Additional records about Spanish-American War nurses in RG 112 include “Personal Data Cards of Spanish-American War Contract Nurses, 1898-1939” (NARA staff has a list of nurses included in that series) and “Registers of Service of Spanish-American War Contract Nurses, 1898-1900.”

World War I Records Online

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April 6, 2017, marked the 100th anniversary of America’s entrance into the Great War. After remaining neutral for three years, the United States reluctantly entered what was supposed to be “The War to End All Wars.” By declaring war, President Woodrow Wilson committed the nation to join the other Allied countries in their efforts to defeat the German-led Central Powers.

As the largest repository of American World War I records, the National Archives invites you to browse the wealth of records and information documenting the U.S. experience in this conflict, including photographs, documents, audiovisual recordings, educational resources, articles, blog posts, lectures, and events from its new World War I Centennial portal. This portal links to selected digitized records.

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