Finding the Patriot: Spanish American War and Records

• Spanish American War (1898) History
• Spanish American War Genealogy

The Spanish American War which resulted in the United States' base in Guantanamo Bay Cuba and the Philippines becoming an American Territory up until 1946.

In genealogy, besides censuses and obituaries, few things are as useful as military records to genealogy.

Given that the 1890 census burned in 1921(interesting article!) , and that many many of your recruits and draftees for a military campaign are between the ages of 16 (if they tell the truth about their age) and mid-thirties, military records of the Spanish American war - newspaper announcements, draft records, discharge papers, company movement announcements, stories of valor, etc., - will have a lot of men and families in them who were recorded on the burned 1890 census who are otherwise missing!

While war is a terrible enterprise in terms of cost (though oftentimes the cost of not going to war or losing is even higher) it provides a lot of records for genealogy, the Spanish American War is another instance!

Who's Who an' Where? Ancestral Distribution in the USA

Here's a map I snagged from Wikipedia about ancestral population distribution.  Interestingly, German is the largest ancestral heritage in the United States, Irish is another major one, though you have to remember population density in this map.  Some of the most heavily populated areas in the United States are predominantly Irish even though geographically they don't cover as much area. (Click the image to enlarge it).

Finding the Patriot: World War I and Records

• World War I (1914-1918) History
• World War I Genealogy

 "It will be recalled that the year 1914 found all the major nations of Europe flexing their military muscles.  It was inveitable that the slightest miscalculation in diplomatic relations might turn loose a churcning volcano of human destruction.  The spark in the powder keg was the assassination of the heir to the Astria-Hungarian throne by a member of the Serbian secret society.  This occurred June 28, 1914.  Austria Hungary had been looking for an excuse to take over Serbia, and therefore her troops began marching in.  This angered the (Russian) Tsar because Serbia was on his own calendar of conquest so  he declared war on Austria-Hungary.  Germany came to the defense of Austria-Hungary and declared war on Russia.  At the time France was an ally of Russia, so Germany used this as an excuse to declare war on France.  This brought England into the war as an ally of France.  Thus the machine of war began to roll" (Skousen, W., 1958, p. 106-107).

The United States were neutral during most of the war though they continued to trade with the UK and her allies much to Germany's chagrin.  Germany declared later that anyone trading with her enemies was an enemy to Germany.  With the sinking of the Lusitania in 1915, and later the Zimmerman Telegram in which Germany telegraphed Mexico to join them in a war against the United States, President Wilson asked for a war to end all wars and the United States entered the war on April 6, 1917.  The US entry into the war proved decisive and turned the tide of the war towards the English and French alliance with the war being won by 1918.

An important part of WWI documentation is the draft cards because: identified parent, place of birth and date of birth.  Many of these can be found on Ancestry though New Family Search has many listed as well.

Many Italians volunteered to serve in the war on the American side - the highest proportion of any ethnic/cultural group, so draft cards can be a gateway back across the ocean to a lot of Italian genealogy.  Note: Italians did/(always will) - write their first name last, and last name first.  When looking for Italian records check first/last name and last/first.

Explore the links above for a smorgasbord of genealogical information.

Looking for the Patriot: American Civil War & Records

• The American Civil War 1861 -1865 (History)

• The American Civil War Genealogy

Sometimes called the "war that hasn't ended" - the deadliest war in American history, resulting in the deaths of 750,000, with an estimated ten percent of all northern fighting-age males and thirty percent of all southern fighting age males killed.  

Remember to check draft records as you search. Many records are indexed by enlistment location rather than name, so you'll need to know where your family member lived at in order to make best use of records.

The Confederates started conscription because they needed soldiers and began that in February of 1862.

The Union liked the idea and so they began the same in March of 1863.

Military pensions were not paid to confederate soldiers, and the pensions paid out by the individual states were very small but pensions are another means of tracking down your ancestors. 

National Archives (Link on the right) contain just about every single record you could want to find on the Civil War with Union records being the most detailed.  The nearest National Archives office is up in Seattle, call ahead, go early and be prepared before you go and you should find it a very fruitful visit. 

Looking For The Patriot: Colonial Wars & Records

Before America was an independent nation, a number of wars were fought on this continent between the European powers often called "Colonial Wars." Chances are pretty good that somewhere you're related to or descended from someone who fought in those wars on one side or the other. This is an overview of the wars with a bit of genealogy on some of the larger wars. For a complete listing of wars as well as some great resources, click HERE. What follows are some of the more notable wars.

COLONIAL WARS

• King Philip's War  1675-76 (History)
• King Philip's War Genealogy

 King Philips War was named after one of the native chiefs who was called "King Philip" It was very violent and the most devastating of all wars.  Nearly drove all the English out of the North American continent.  There were 90 English settlements, 52 attacked, 12 completely totally destroyed by the natives. In this war, the natives were using fire-arrows into the log cabins and they just BURNED!  As the people fled, the natives killed them, if they didn't flee, they went in and killed them.  King Philip was defeated ultimately.

• King William's War 1689-97(History)
• King William's War Genealogy

King William’s War (the first of the French and Indian Wars) began in New England as an extension of the war between England and France, when in July 1689 the French governor of Canada incited the Indians to brutally attack Dover, N.H., then known as Cochecho.

• Queen Anne's War 1702-13 (history)
• Queen Anne's War Genealogy Links

This time, France, England, Natives AND SPAIN on the American continent around the New York area. (Trivia: America used to be known as "Columbia" after Christopher Columbus, with the "ia" generally meaning "land of" - or land discovered by Columbus - eventually being called America in reference to the explorer Amerigo Vespucci).

• King George's War 1744-48 (History)
• King George's War Genealogy

 Back to between England, France and the Natives but up over the Acadian Peninsula this time, the fourth of a series of wars between France and England and the natives, while it ended in 1748, it left many unresolved territorial disputes that resulted in further wars such as the...



 

• French and Indian War 1754-63(History)
• French and Indian War Genealogy

The French and Indian War was a seven-year war between England and the American colonies, against the French and some of the Indians in North America. When the war ended, France was no longer in control of Canada. The Indians that had been threatening the American colonists were defeated. This war had become a world war. British Colonists wanted to take over French land in North America. The British wanted to take over the fur trade in the French held territory and colonists fully participated in this war. Both these facts were to have a profound effect on the future of the colonies.

British soldiers fought against French soldiers and Native Americans. Native Americans joined in the battle against the British because they were afraid the British would take over their land.

The War officially came to an end on February 10, 1763, with the signing of the Treaty of Paris. France officially ceded all of its holdings in North America, east of the Mississippi; while regaining the Islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique. The most long lasting effect of the war was not negotiated between the parties rather, it was the effect the war had on the American colonies. The cost of the war and of controlling the newly acquired territories was high. The British looked to the colonies to help pay those costs. That began the long spiral of events that led to the Revolution.

However, lest the causes of the revolution be watered down to simply England expected colonists to pay taxes, and the colonists throwing a child-like temper tantrum refused, see the Declaration of Independence for a list of grievances that sparked the American Revolution.

• Revolutionary War: 1775-83(History)
• Revolutionary War Genealogy.

Was actually a civil war between English loyalists and English separatists or revolutionaries.  Those loyal to the King moved across the St. Lawrence river into Canada, some stayed permanently and others came back after a few generations, into Michigan and other northern states.  

You may find relatives from Ohio, Illinois, etc., who look like they came from "nowhere" - check the New England Register and see if they were there before the Revolution and then left for Canada.

Most important records from this war are the pension records.  Those pensions lasted a LONG time.  Often old ailing veterans would marry a 15 or 16 year old girl to care for him and when he died, she got the pension for the rest of her life which means a fifteen year old girl could marry a man who was a boy in the Colonial Militias as a drummer or other position, he might be 70 or so in the 1850's and then she live another sixty years beyond that.

Indexes to the revolutionary war records are found in the State Archives. You can get name, birth, serial number and physical description of individual veterans. Physical descriptions were used to identify corpses in the wars.

If you don't find the pension records, it may just mean that he didn't take the pension or didn't need it and he was healthy and went on his way.

No single archive is going to hold all the records.

Don't forget to check the Daughters and Sons of the American Revolution Home Pages (On the right of this webpage). 

Three kinds of pensions were given:

• Disability/invalid - suffered physical disabilities in the line of duty.

• Service pensions - stayed in for a time - like a retirement

• Widows pension - for wives who's husbands were killed or he got it for a certain period of time and she was entitled to it for the rest of his life.

From 1776-1878 this law was changed on the widows 14 times. Widows were offered a pension if he was alive and in the service when married.  Examples of changes in the laws:

1838 - she received a pension if married before January of 1794
1848 - pensions were given if married before 2 January of 1800
1853 - all restrictions relative to date of widows marriage were eliminated (married in time?  She gets the money)

A fire in 1800 - destroyed almost all the pension records in the war department. Other records available however as talked about above.


New England Historical Genealogical Register: Contains all the records from the time the pilgrims landed at Plymouth until the Revolution.

General Military Terms

1. Volunteer - "Take me I want to go!"
2. Conscription - "I'm not going" "Oh yes you are!"
3. Draft - got a lot of volunteers by those who were trying to avoid certain duties imposed by the draft - i.e. if you don't want to serve in the Army in Vietnam you can volunteer for the Air National Guard Reserve as a secretary in a military library in Oklahoma, one weekend a month, two weeks a year.

For more military entries click on the tag "Military" on the right under "Tags n' Topics"