Step
Four- Beginning the Search
To discover if you have relations in the American Civil War,
the first place to check on the Internet is the National Park Services web site,
the Soldiers and Sailors System. This location has a very large wealth of
accurate information, although very basic in depth at this time.
The NPS has compiled unit history and
unit rosters data based on the official records used in their research for the
many historical parks they manage, or from their resource libraries at specific
park locations.
This is perhaps the easiest web site to
access and search within, as their data is naturally well-organized,
pre-verified, and readily accessible.
Search for the last name first using
their internal search engine. If successful, follow up with the unit
information, history, or any other data available on that particular record.
Save or record this data, as it will be necessary for future research.
Keep in mind that this is not the
absolute complete record of all the three million or so soldiers or sailors who
served their countries during the war. This is just the easiest that I found to
use. However, I only found about 20% of my Civil War ancestors at this site
location. After gathering the data from this site, go to any of the other sites
within the List of Internet Resources in the appendix. Perform the same searches
within each site location, or try through some of the other links they contain.
A personal review of each web site is included with the list to better assist
you in your choices, however, depending on how determined you are, I recommend
that you visit each one.
I also recommend that you perform a
general internet search through several different search engines, as there are
always new web sites arriving almost daily regarding this sort of research.
Currently, there are a limited number
of similar resources as the NPS and the other web sites, at least for free. The
other genealogy web sites have some free, albeit relatively sparse information.
There are some other sites who have recognized the value and growing popularity
of locating Civil War ancestors, however, and a weekly search seems to find more
being added.
(Hint) The overall
trick is to discover the name or family derivative. Document the information
even though you are not sure if it is a family relation or not. Even if you have
never heard of that Uncle Frank, it does not mean anything except perhaps a
surprise relation. That research effort will come a little later. Recording it
all now will prevent having to go back and forth at a later time, which, if you
have a large family or a common name, will become a precious commodity.
If your relative or family name does
not show up within these web sites, don't give up. This does not mean that there
is no record. There are many other resources available to locate that errant
soldier or sailor.
Also, you should recognize that not
every Smith or Jones is necessarily your relative. In one of my research cases
for others, I found that there were several unrelated families with the same
German name derivative that arrived in different areas of this country during
their immigration. Although the spelling of the name and the derivatives were
the same, a search into their past in Germany revealed that it was either
coincidence, a fluke, or both.
One last thing to keep in mind is not
to exclude any states from your research. In that time period, people tended to
move around a lot more than presently. I have found circumstances that Bumpas
family member was born in Connecticut in 1831, was in the process of moving to
Indiana when he actually enrolled in an Ohio regiment on the way there in 1861,
and eventually lived and died in Spokane, Washington in 1897. Keep in mind that
Americans are a nomadic people within the bounds of the country in most cases,
although Canada and Mexico should not be excluded either. There are also the
proverbial 'black sheep' of the family, the one excluded from family registers
or documents because of imagined or real slights or infighting.
This is an adventure, a search for the
truth, and you may be surprised what you may find under the stones you overturn.
