Month: May 2021

Memorial Day Means So Much More

Memorial Day is nearly here and that usually signals the start of summer in the U.S. The school year is over or almost over for students. Families are making plans for barbecues, camping and other activities to kick off the summer season. It’s a fun three-day weekend, yet Memorial Day has another, deeper meaning behind it. Previously known as Decoration Day, Memorial Day has its roots in the Civil War. During the war many families from the South would honor the war dead by decorating their graves. Each community had their own specific date of recognition but generally a day was set aside in the Spring to sing, pray and honor those who had lost their lives for their country. On May 5, 1868, General John A. Logan, the national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, (GAR) a group for Union Civil War veterans, called for a day of remembrance to be celebrated nationwide. Flowers were to be placed on both Confederate and Union dead at Arlington National Cemetery. The date selected was May 30, 1868.  The observation continued through the latter part of the 1800’s. Soon after World War I, Decoration Day came to signify a remembrance […]

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Check this out! Get great new details on your Civil War ancestor genealogy research!

Most family historians and researchers are aware that the 1890 United States Federal Census was destroyed by fire. Yet there is a portion of that census still available to us today. The Special Enumeration of Union Veterans and Widows or better known as the 1890 Veterans Schedule. Find that portion of the census at: Family Search – https://familysearch.org/search/colle… Ancestry – http://search.ancestry.com/search/db…. Find My Past – https://www.findmypast.com/articles/w… There are two options in researching the Official Pension Roll of 1883. If you have an account with Ancestry.com you can find their database here. http://search.ancestry.com/search/db…. Or there is a free version on Google Books or Archive.org  http://books.google.com/books/about/L… http://archive.org/details/listpensio… The only problem with the free resource is that the outer edges of the pages were not scanned correctly. So some pages you will not be able to get the full last name but I’d check anyway. Maybe the image of your ancestor’s page was scanned correctly.

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Have you tried the Union Provost Marshal Records in your Civil War research?

National Archives - Washington, D.C.

As the Civil War dragged on it became clear a larger army of fighting aged men was needed for the Union. In March of 1863 the U.S. government set up the Provost Marshal Bureau. Even though created by the federal government it was run on the state level, with a Provost Marshal team assigned to each congressional district. It was the job of this office to document each man in the district. From these lists potential draftees were selected. Along with listing eligible individuals, medical examinations were recorded. This office was also in charge of documenting deserters. There were two classifications for the men enrolled in the draft. Class I were men age 20-35 and those 36-45, all unmarried. Class II encompassed everyone else. All men were recorded on the rolls and then given physicals to determine their ability to fight. Men with disabilities were prevented from service. The Provost Marshal records contain a wealth of information on the individual from residence, physical description and health, to place of birth, age, marital status and occupation. If your ancestor had already served, listed is the date he entered the army, whether he was drafted, enlisted or a substitute, the regiment he […]

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