Wealth of data on veterans available Archives, Web Veterans' records

SHAKING YOUR FAMILY TREE

By MYRA VANDERPOOL GORMLEY

Los Angeles Times Syndicate

Millions of our ancestors served in the military, thereby creating records that can provide genealogical data.

During the colonial period in this country, most able-bodied men between the ages of 16 to 60 were called on to be part of the local militia. After the Revolutionary War, each state retained a militia organization. These units evolved into the National Guard after the Civil War. Records of militia and National Guard units were kept by local and state governments.

State archives, state adjutant generals' offices, historical societies, courthouses and libraries, and more recently, the World Wide Web, may have military records.

Your ancestor's records may be in federal records if he or she:

- Served in a volunteer unit raised by a state during wartime that was mustered into federal service. Most of those who served in pre- 20th century wars were enlisted in these state volunteer units.

- Enrolled in the draft for the Civil War, World War I or later.

- Enlisted in the regular U.S. military forces during wartime or peacetime.

- Served in a local militia or National Guard unit that was mustered for federal service during an emergency.

Military service records, such as muster rolls, while seldom as rich genealogically as pension files, are valuable. They can verify your ancestor's service and pinpoint where he resided at a particular time.

Additionally, these rolls may include the individual's name, rank, age, physical description, marital status, occupation, city of birth, place of residence, plus the service information. These records may be at the National Archives or in the particular state's office of the adjutant general.

After the Civil War, discharge certificates were given. Copies of these records, especially for the Civil War and World Wars I and II, were often recorded at the local county courthouse by the veterans.

The National Archives (www.nara.gov/genealogy/) has the federal service, pension and bounty land records. While several major indexes and some collections are on microfilm, most of the original records haven't been filmed. They are available only at the National Archives. You can obtain photocopies of these records by first obtaining NATF Form 80 or NATF 180 --- available via mail free from National Archives and Records, Administration, Att: NWDT1, 700 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20408-0001 or by e-mail to inquire@arch2.nara.gov. The cost of files --- military service or pension --- typically runs $10 to $15.

- Form NATF 80 is for military service and pension records prior to World War I.

- Form NATF 180 is military service records for World War I and LATER records.

The National Records Center (www.nara.gov/regional/stlouis.html) in St. Louis has some information pertaining to those who served in World War I and later. Downloadable forms are available at this site as well as instructions and suggestions for finding specific information. While its military records aren't online, details about how to obtain particular files are given.

Learn more about military records available at the National Archives by visiting its Web site: www.nara.gov/genealogy/.

A surprising amount of information about U.S. veterans of various wars is online. The U.S. Internet Genealogical Society at www.usigs.org/library/military/links/index.htm provides links to various sites with some form of military records, categorized by the major wars and various time periods. To learn more about finding and using military records, use the free interactive lessons of "RootsWeb's Guide to Tracing Family Trees." Also check out www.rootsweb.com/~rwguide/lesson14.htm and www.rootsweb.com/~rwguide/ lesson13.htm.

Copyright 1999
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.