Can anyone help with Braselman/Brusselman?

[MrsHal]

Hello all. I am new to researching and could use some advice or help. I found a relative names William R. Braselman, or Brusselman, born around 1822 in South Carolina and in the Confederate Army in Louisiana. But I can't find anything past him, such as his parents. Can anyone help with that? Maybe it says it on his military card, but I'm not sure where I can find that. Thanks for any info or insight you could give me.

 

[ExNavyPilot]

MrsHal--
Glad to see you already made it to the "Researching..." forum. I understand from your post that you have info on your Civil War ancestor but are looking for further info on his line; i.e. his parents. Most Civil War records don't list parent's names, but some do. It depends on the State, the type of record, etc.
To start on any possible Civil War ancestor, I normally use the Nationa Park Service's Civil War Soldier and Sailor Database at http://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-soldiers.htm I tried that site for your ancestor but didn't come up with any listing. Unfortunately, that site is very dependent on spelling, so you might have to try multiple variations of spellings of the last name to find the one used in the records.
Do you have access to Ancestry.com? That can normally help track the family line. I did a quick search on Ancestry and found that a W. R. Brusselman (aka William R. Braselman) was a Private in Company B, 5th Louisiana Infantry. An 1860 LA census shows Wm R Braselman as being born in South Carolina in about 1822 (sounds good); he was a cotton classer and had a wife Mary F (age 33 from LA) and two daughters, Agnes A R (11) and Myra M(athilda) J (9). I assume this is your ancestor, correct? Another ancestry tree doesn't have William's parents but lists his wife's maiden name as Mary Fanelie Robertson (~1830 - 25Dec1890). They married 31 May 1848 in LA. William died 23 Oct 1877.
A William R. Braselman was also Capt. in 6th Regmt, PF Smith's Brigade of LA Volunteers 1846-48 during the Mexican -American War.
Unfortunately, I don't see anything in Ancestry that quickly points me to his parents. One thing you can try (no guarantee) is to order his compiled service records from the National Archives. However, it's not highly probable that those records would contain info on his parents.
If you have any questions regarding William's Civil War service, we can surely help give you some answers there. Keep trying and be patient. We might find someone on this forum who has the key to your puzzle.

 

[MrsHal]

That's pretty much all the information I have at this point. I think my library has free ancestry.com access, and I plan to head over there tomorrow. When I looked at that website and entered BRusselman, he does come up. It says he was with the 5th Regiment, Louisiana Infantry, Confederate side, Company B, rank in/out Private and alternate name William R./Braselman and a file number M378, roll 4. Now that I have this information, where should I go next? Thanks again for any advice.

 

[ExNavyPilot]

What I've done on Ancestry.com is to take a rather common sense approach to the search. First, enter as much reliable info as you have into the Search function, and then use what you know to dig for other clues. For example, you know his birth and death dates, wife's name, etc, so you can eliminate other Wm Braselmans with other info. If you can't trace William easily, try tracking down more info on his wife or his children. There might be additional info attached to them that could lead you to William's birthplace in South Carolina and possible parents for him.

In checking around, I learned that there was a group of Braselmans living in Newberry and Union Counties in South Carolina. One Braselman was part of a small group that purchased 1000 acres of land in July 1787 in the Ninety-Six district, which later evidently became Newberry. Here's a link:
http://www.archivesindex.sc.gov/onlinearchives/RecordDetail.aspx?RecordId=189895
You might be able to find some more info about your Braselmans by checking out more info from those counties.

Good luck with your hunt.