I’ve been reviewing the Civil War pension file for Leander Butler, a veteran from Kansas who lived most of his post-war life in Missouri.A doctor’s statement from 1899 indicated that Leander was unable to provide an “intelligible statement” for the doctor at the time of the examination. The statement goes on to provide more details […]

There is a reason they refer the compiled military records at the National Archives as “compiled.” The cards that researchers use from these compiled military records are extracts from muster rolls and other records.  As such, they can occasionally contain errors. These two cards are part of ongoing research into Henry C. Markham, a Civil […]

There are many relatives for whom I don’t have photographs. John Rampley is one of those individuals. This card from his compiled military service record at the National Archives provided details on his physical characteristics at the time of his enlistment. Being raised on a farm, the florid complexion didn’t really surprise me, but to […]

As part of an ongoing project, the War of 1812 military pensions are available for free on Fold3.com. As we’ve mentioned before, these pension files (actually all military pension files) can be a wonderful source for genealogical information. Lately my own use of these materials has focused on establishing micro-migration chains from one small area […]

A recurring source of frustration for me are digital images made from pictures with nary any provenance. If I see a picture online that someone purports to be my 3rd great-grandmother and it’s the only picture I’ve ever seen of her anywhere and there’s no “source” listed or included with the image, how do I […]

Just because two individuals have the same last name does not mean that they are related. Researchers working on a Smith family know that two people with this common last name are not related, but what about a more unusual surname? Well it depends on the origination of the name (and that even is not […]

Receipts from estate settlements are also great places to get signatures. This one comes from Hancock County, Illinois, in 1871, when Barbara Trautfetter/Trautvetter is signing for her share in the state of Michael Trautvetter–her brother-in-law.She made her mark on this one, but all the others signed their name. Remember that making a mark does not […]

I’ve never been a huge fan of migration trails. Of course, how our ancestors got from point A to point B is important. However, what is generally more important is why our ancestors went from Point A to Point B. Usually that “why” was a person. A friend, relative, or former neighbor found out about […]

Loose ends in genealogy research are a dime a dozen. The problem is that sometimes it takes more than a dozen dimes to pay for tying them up. There were two George Trautvetters from Hancock County, Illinois, who served in the Civil War. There was George A. who served in Company H of the 49th […]