Union Ancestors

[shanniereb]

I have the weirdest experience when I search for my Union ancestors. It seems that due to the larger amount of men in the Union army, that it actually makes it harder to narrow down which one was your ancestor. I have a perplexing problem as of right now, I have a William T. Mitchell from Indiana, but I am having trouble narrowing down which one. He was evidentally from Knox Co. as was his brother John. They were brothers to grandmaw Nestlehutt, (her husband served in the 61st Alabama), so this story is of high interest to me. I am trying my dangest to do the research but keep getting stumped. I did find one William Mitchell in the 120 Ind. Infantry Co. G that seems to match up to my ancestor. ANY and ALL suggestions appreciated.

 

[Ray Ball]

Fold3 carries pension records which often have family information from after the war. It helped me a TON after the good folks on this board pointed me to it.

 

[shanniereb]

I think I will stroll over there and give it another try, sometimes it takes several tries before getting an answer

 

[Ray Ball]

I found a record of a William Mitchell who resided in Linton, IN (Greene Co.) which I believe is just north of Knox Co. He was in the 120th IN. I hope this helps.

 

[rpkennedy]

I found 40 William Mitchells in the Union database. Only 1 was specifically named William T. Mitchell, a soldier in the 37th Indiana. There were about a dozen and a half William Mitchells with no middle initial specified.

R

 

[Ray Ball]

His index card for the 120th was also there but those don't tell me much. I tried the 1870 census and found several Wm. Mitchells in IN but would need more info from you to determine which may be the correct one. I'm just not a very good geneologist- sorry.

 

[John Hartwell]

Names of his wife & kids would be a big help. Otherwise you're pretty much working blind.

jno

 

[Red Harvest]

Do none of these have ages? Most of the entries I've seen for Missouri Union forces have an age associated with them. If you already know the birthdate that kicks out many right there.

 

[ExNavyPilot]

Shanniereb--
I know what you mean, especially when the ancestor has a common first and last name. As the others suggest, the key is to get some good family data on your ancestor and then search pension records, town registers, whatever's available to narrow down those 50 John Smiths to the one that's yours.