Researching Your Civil War AncestryDo you have a distant relative who fought in the Civil War? Would you like to find out if you do? This is the discussion for you!
Well, I think I have exhaused everything on the internet about this soldier (but I thought that a few days ago, then found more!), so the next step is those National Archives.
-
Speaking of which, I've hit a bit of a bump myself working through NARA online. Does anybody know of a good NARA researcher for hire?
I asked that guy what it was all about and he sent me this:
National Archives Soldier Research
We offer affordable professional research on soldiers from the American Revolution through the Spanish-American War, specializing in Civil War soldier records.
There are two types of records for Federal soldiers. One is the Compiled Military Service (CMSR) Record. Each soldier will have a CMSR for each unit he served in. If he served in the 5th New York Infantry and later served in the 146th New York Infantry—he will have a separate CMSR for each, the information does not overlap. These records are cards with notes on each muster period (every two months)—they will show if the soldier was present or absent during that period as well as any special notes such as if the soldier had leave, was due bounty money, or if the owed money to the government. Also in this folder are usually his enlistment papers, discharge papers, hospital records, final statements, prisoner of war records, and description of the soldier. Then there is any military correspondence such as request for furlough, court-martial papers, or assignment to special duty. On rare occasions, we’ve found photographs of soldiers in these records.
Some Federal CMSR’s or now on microfilm—otherwise the copies are made from the original documents.
The other type of record is a Pension File. These are files that were built on invalid soldiers or on family members that were dependent upon the soldier for support. Not all soldiers have Pension Files. If a soldier was wounded or disabled in some way from military service, he could apply to receive a pension. There are usually doctor reports, affidavits from comrades attesting that the disability was a result of military service. These records are where you find family information—marriages, a list of children, letters from family, genealogical information, etc. If the soldier has died, widows, children, parents, and sometimes brothers and sisters, tried and did draw the soldiers pension. Sometimes the requests were rejected, but there are still files because all the information that was sent in trying to obtain a pension was saved in these files. I’ve found soldier letters, photographs, and on a few occasions, diaries, in these files—you really never know what you will turn up. Most pension files are around 20 or 30 pages, although 40 to 50 pages is not uncommon.
Confederate soldier only have the CMSR which are on microfilm.
If you don’t have many details on your Civil War ancestor, we can assist you in finding them. Please provide the soldier’s name and, if known, his unit, and state of enlistment.
We have been research soldiers at the National Archives for 15 years, and can do it cheaper and faster than if you would order them through the National Archives directly. Our research charges are $30 for the first record and $25 for each additional record. The copying expenses are 35 cents per Xerox page and 75 cents for a microfilm page. There is a small shipping charge for the records (usually $5.00 for Priority Mail with Delivery Confirmation). An initial pre-payment of $30 is required. No pre-payment when your request is secured by a credit card.
Let us help you research a soldier today—get that missing family history today—place your order at our website www.civilwar-books.com (click on the “Soldier Research” bullet) or give us a call.
Thanks, Sam, I'll check him out. It's unit information that I'm looking for, though, so they may not be able to help. The online catalog just tells me that there x number of feet of material on the unit I'm interested in, not what's in it. And it's not on microfilm, so I'm going to have to find someone to go in there and look. IF they verify it's there, then I know where to look next. If it isn't, then at least I can elimnate that as a possible source.
That's a great source for individual records, though, now that NARA's searches are so expensive and time-consuming.
Here is a site that does research on request. It is: The Civil War Message Board Portal . They research both the compiled service records, and also pension records. However, it is somewhat pricey, but they do a good job.
I went to the National Archives and they now charge $25 to research the records of a soldier. However, they charge the fee for each unit a soldier was in. That is unfair because the total amount of records should not be any greater. So what if they have to look in several different units' files. I was lucky as my great grandfather was in one regiment. The fee when I applied was $17.
__________________ "Those who forget to remember the past are condemned to repeat it", George Santayana.
Here is a site that does research on request. It is: The Civil War Message Board Portal . They research both the compiled service records, and also pension records. However, it is somewhat pricey, but they do a good job.
I don't see were the "reseach request" part of that. I only see a question/response board.
???
-
__________________ -
"It was a very peculiar time." - Franklin D. Cossitt
Ancestors in USA Army: 6th IA Inf, 11th IL Cav, 1st AL Cav; 122nd NY Inf; 6th MI Cav; 35th MA Inf; 100th IL Inf; 1st CO Inf/Cav; 22nd IN Inf
So what if they have to look in several different units' files.
Freddy... I work with another sort of archive, namely, medical records. I can tell you that the time and labor difference in searching one file as opposed to three, five, or six is huge.
It's like when you get your taxes done... a 1040 EZ costs less than a 1040 with 10 schedules attached!
I don't see were the "reseach request" part of that. I only see a question/response board.
???
-
Sorry, I should have specified that in order to get to the research part, one will have to click onto one of the state research boards, and once one clicks on one of those, one will see on the top of the page a rectangular bar that says something like "order your records here".
CivilWarTalk.com -
A free and friendly Civil War community. 
Linear Mode
