Military Records

Military records tie a name to a unit, and a unit to a documented set of movements. That is often the only way to place a man in a particular year. This section covers Civil War service most heavily, with later conflicts and research notes alongside.

Service records also open the door to pension files, which are among the richest genealogical documents that exist. A widow’s claim had to prove a marriage, so it names witnesses and dates. Some files reproduce the family Bible page that was used as evidence. For a family with no surviving records of its own, that copy can be the earliest one left.