Military Records: The Key to Your Family Tree?
Were your ancestors war heroes? Believe it or not, vital clues
to your family's history just might be hiding away in military
archives - and finding them can be easier than you think. Even
if you're not sure whether or not any of your ancestors ever
served in the military, it can pay to do some digging. The
payoff can be huge. First some background about what you're
looking for and why. Fires in 1800 and 1814 destroyed the
records of the American Army and Navy servicemen that were held
at the War Department. In 1894, an effort was made to restore
these records from many different sources via abstracts, and
individual packets of records were created for each serviceman.
This packet of records was known as a Compiled Service Record,
and it contained information including rank, military unit, date
of admission into service, and discharge, or death. It also may
contain other information, such as age, place of birth, and
place of residence on enlistment.
Indices to Compiled Military Service Records
In the U.S., the indexed Compiled Military Service Records to
many wars are available at the National Archives. They include
the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, various Indian wars, and
the Civil War. Most of the indices have been microfilmed. If you
do find your ancestor's Compiled Service Record, it can mean
that you gain access to a lot of other information!
For example, if you learn that your ancestor served in the
Revolutionary War, the pension file indices will show whether he
or his heirs have a pension file. If they did, you'll have
access to a lot of information about the family. Here's a link
to a site documents the Lybarger and Ball families of Bedford
and Erie counties, Pennsylvania, and mentions other families as
well: http://www.heritagepathways.com/pension/pension.htm.
As you can see, if you're lucky enough to find your ancestors'
pension files, you'll gain an accurate picture of what happened
to them during their years of service, so these are definitely
files worth seeking.
But don't stop there - go ahead and try to access the complete
pension files. Why? Because when war veterans and their widows
applied for pensions after various wars, including the
Revolutionary War and the Civil War, they had to prove the
births, marriages and deaths of their immediate family so they
could receive the funds. Often, the only proof they had of these
events were pages from family Bibles. So the pages were ripped
out and submitted. These pages will still be in the files! Talk
about uncovering a piece of your family's history!