Remember that it is best to use a browser other than Firefox to see the image pages in order. If you choose to download the PDF file, know that it is over 1GB in size. You might want to read it online and download only the pages of interest.
My newest presentation is about finding the genealogical gold buried in WWI and WWII Morning Reports. I have been spending time working on a companion book so that readers could a resource with them as they search for and use Morning Reports. This has been leading me to experiment with the finer points of searching for WWII Morning Reports through the NARA Catalog.
The caveats are:
1) Search from the NARA Catalog (https://catalog.archives.gov). You don’t always get links to show where the search results occur in the images within the File Unit, but searching from the Catalog (rather than within the Series) is the only way to see links at all.
2) Don’t use Firefox. Use a web browser other than Firefox for searching Morning Reports. There is a known bug where Firefox display images in reverse order, and that can make things more complicated than they need to be. (I use Chrome.)
Although I have not had confirmation from NARA that PDF files are available for every Month/Year and Roll Number combination in the Morning Report series in Record Group 64, a pattern has emerged. Rather than having to download every image separately, there appears to be a way to download the images from a Roll in the form of PDF files that contain groups of 125 images. Considering the convenience of having these Morning Reports online, the time to download each image was not objectionable. Individual images can be downloaded in .tif file format, so you may choose to that option.
For context, the Morning Reports were photographed onto Rolls (Reels) of film. These Rolls were digitized. NARA split the Rolls into File Units, which are parts of the Roll having 1000 images, with fewer images in the last part of the Roll (the end of the Roll). Those parts are File Units, and are labeled with the Roll Number and have numbers like these at the end (1 of 4), (2 of 4), (4 of 5). The number after “of” is the number of parts that the Roll was divided into.
The math that follows is just one way to calculate which PDF file to download, and how to figure the page within the PDF file. This is intended to be a primitive introduction, to go through the process step-by-step.
Example: I located a Special Order containing the search term in the Morning Reports. It was in the File Unit:
Morning Reports for January 1940 – July 1943: Roll 718 (3 of 4)
As expected, the PDF files were posted on the webpage with the end of this Roll. I downloaded the PDF file ending in -20, on page 56.
At the Coast Artillery Replacement Center in Fort Eustis, Virginia, troops were trained in anti-aircraft artillery. This Special Order was how my father came to be trained at a school for using the Stereoscopic Height Finder at Camp Davis, North Carolina.
Remember that for the best chance to have links to where search terms appear within the parts of a Roll (File Units), is to search from https://catalog.archives.gov, and remember to view the search results within the same tab.
Greetings from Camp Davis: The History of a WWII Army Base, now in its 2nd Edition, is described by the author as a general history of Camp Davis. It hits the mark. Although the Camp’s operational history only spans a short time, its story is large. Its contribution to the Army and its impact on the local area was immense. The effort to build such a large base quickly on property that had no infrastructure echoed the ambitions of the United States Army to expand from 9 antiaircraft regiments in 1939 to a goal of having 46 regiments by 1942.
Mr. Tyndall takes us on a well-researched tour through Camp Davis from its inception, through WWII, to its last occupants after training activities ceased. To take this guided tour, I recommend reading the book from cover to cover. After a timeline of the Camp, travel with the author to observe how the location was chosen, constructed and operated. You will learn how the sleepy hamlet of Holly Ridge, North Carolina, emerged to become the premier Antiarcraft Artillery (AAA) Training Center for basic and unit training, and about its associated AAA School courses. As the tour progresses through time, you will view Camp Davis from various aspects in different parts of the book. Continue along to walk through the details of the daily lives of the personnel at the Camp, and even those who visited it. A scrapbook of images from the activities and times at the Camp are collected in an engaging appendix.
Those interested in the local history of Wilmington, North Carolina, as well as readers of World War II history will enjoy this book. This book is also incredibly valuable to those who had ancestors who were stationed, trained, or employed at Camp Davis. Mr. Tyndall’s tour is as close as we can get to visiting Camp Davis in WWII.
The book is also of value to those interested in the roots of today’s Air Defense Artillery (ADA). For a brief time starting in 1941, Camp Davis was home to the three branches of the Coast Artillery: seacoast, anti-aircraft, and barrage balloons. From the perspective of one Army base, readers can follow when and how the Coastal Artillery, tasked with the mission of protecting our shores, gave rise to the antiaircraft artillery that accomplished both anti-aircraft and ground support functions.
My favorite chapter may be Chapter 3, about Training and Organization. This chapter explained what happened to the new recruits as they arrived. It described their daily routine and the technical aspects of the equipment the AAA trainees would master. The technical descriptions certainly help us to understand the duties and challenges that these soldiers would face during their operational assignments. As in the other chapters, the personal reflections of those who were at the Camp are also included along with the results of extensive research. Appendix D holds a summary of the AAA weapons’ specifications. In this way, I was able to learn more about my father’s time in training. Knowing that my father was trained at Camp Davis, the appendix listing the units trained there will be useful when combined with Morning Reports from his next organization, for insight into when he moved to Camp Stewart.
Through the other chapters I also learned about what the buildings and food were like at the Camp, and how the lack of transportation and the isolation of the location made recreational facilities so important. For a young man from Brooklyn, New York, such as my father, this had to be a significant adjustment.
Stories about the roles of women and racial integration at Camp Davis hinted at future changes to the military. As expected during that time, there were racially segregated training, barracks, and entertainment facilities; what was unexpected were examples of some fully integrated training and billeting at the Officer Candidate School (OCS) and at certain specialty AAA courses. The groundwork for women’s future roles in military service was paved at Camp Davis. In August 1943, some of the first women who were WAACs (Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps) became female soldiers of the Women’s Army Corps (WACs). The Women’s Air Service Pilots (WASPs) learned how to fly tow targets at the Camp, then supported the AAA training.
Your tour of Camp Davis through time finishes in the current day, showing the few remnants of the disassembled Camp that still remain after its deconstruction and the surplusing of everything in it.
The 2024 Addendum includes additional research done since the book’s first edition. Among the topics are more about the construction and labor unrest, the Camp’s post exchange and its Newspapers. We also learn that at least one of the ten female officers (WACs) who were trained in antiaircraft artillery techniques was stationed at Camp Davis.
The book represents Mr. Tyndall’s passion and commitment to telling the story of Camp Davis. The personal stories he gathered through extensive oral interviews add an additional dimension to his wide-ranging research to uncover details of Camp Davis’ story. The chapter notes document the plethora of sources used, and when combined with the selected bibliography, may inspire your own research.
Books such as this make me grateful for the rise of independent publishing, so that valuable information can get into the hands of interested readers.
The 2nd edition of Greetings from Camp Davis is available at local museums and bookstores in Southeast North Carolina and via the author’s book website: www.greetingsfromcampdavis.com. A Kindle version of the 2nd edition is planned for some time in the future.
Note: A review copy of the book was provided by the publisher.
After searching Brooklyn City Directories (both by name, and by Municipal Registers for clergy assigned to Catholic Churches) and censuses, and not finding anything that seemed to fit definitely, it was time try Google. Through Google, I learned about the Diocese of Brooklyn, and its archives. Those archives contained a list of historic churches. These were were good resources, but at this point they did not help me tune into this ancestor.
From the Google results, I followed a link to the text of Priests and Parishes of the Diocese of Brooklyn: 1820 to 1944 which is where I found a big break. There was only one Thomas Kennedy in the alphabetical listing, and his time as a priest fit with what I had learned about him. The entry for him with abbreviations and dates:
Kennedy, Thomas J., ––-, -–– (SBA 6-22-1873) 9-26-01 S John Evangelist-73; S Malachy-74; S Francis Col -78; ILR-83; S Joseph, Hewlett-84; 0 L Sorrows, Corona-85; S Malachy Home -01
I decoded several of the abbreviations, then decided to copy the text that contained the explanation of the coding of the entries into ChatGPT, and told it to use those instructions to decode the Thomas Kennedy entry. Between us, we had a history of his religious life.
Name: Kennedy, Thomas J.
Birth date, Birthplace: Unknown/unrecorded
Death date: 26 Sept 1901 [this is one day different than what I had]
Seminary: St. Bonaventure, Alleghany [Allegany], Pennsylvania [this is in New York State]
Ordination: 22 June 1873
His assignments were listed by year (approximately). The entry for “ILL” is for Illness, Leave, Resignation. Presumably it was for illness as he resumed his service as a priest after it. The instructions in decoding the entries included a note that his ordination may not have been at the seminary.
Later in the book his order is given as the Society of Fathers of Mercy (S.P.M.).
With what I learned from the Office of Diocesan Archives for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, I knew that Diocese covered Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island. That helped to make sense of where the churches were (and are). I also learned that their archives contains deceased priest personnel files.
His last assignment was at St. Malachy’s Home, in Rockaway, Queens, New York.
St. Malachy’s Home, [190-?], postcard, POST_0487; Brooklyn Eagle Postcard collection, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History(permission for Internet use granted)
The next stop was the webpage for St. Bonaventure’s University, and their archives. In their digital archives I located an Alumni directory of Saint Bonaventure’s College and Seminary, 1859- published in 1928 (with no copyright restrictions). On page 123 there were several Rev. Thomas Kennedy entries, but the years and Diocese matched what I knew:
In the Catalog of St. Bonaventure’s College there were several other mentions of a Thomas Kennedy who distinguished himself in Logic, Natural Philosophy, and Rhetoric, but I will have to analyze these more to be certain it is our Thomas Kennedy.
With all the knowledge I now had, it was time to go back to the newspapers. Newspapers are one of my favorite resources. They were the social media of past times. I located articles about the Rev. Thomas J. Kennedy in the Brooklyn Eagle.
One article from 1873 how Thomas Kennedy of this city [Brooklyn] was among those receiving orders at St. Bonaventure’s College.
Another article in 1897 celebrating his silver jubilee as a priest included a biographical sketch, which discussed how he turned to religion when being nursed by the Sisters of St. Vincent in a Washington hospital after his left arm was wounded at the Second Battle of Bull Run. He had been ordained by the Bishop Ryan of Buffalo. Due to his wound and his health, he had resigned and was stationed at Malachy’s orphanage. (See picture above.)
Then, in 1901, an article titled “Father Kennedy Dying” appeared. (The link to the clipping may not require a free account at Newspapers.com to view.) This column held the answers to so many questions. Some were about details of his service in the military, and why he was absent without leave (his wound). It included other facts, like his studies at and graduation from Notre Dame before attending seminary at St. Bonaventure’s College. He was a member of the Great Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) Post No. 569, which had the distinction of being composed of all priests. Sadly, his health had deteriorated, and in his retirement he had moved to Kentucky to spend his final days in the monastery [the Abbey of Gethsemani].
It also included the fact that he was born in County Longford, Ireland, and immigrated with his parents. This points to where his sister (my great-great-grandmother), as well as my great-great-great-grandparents, came from in Ireland. They lived in Harlem [Manhattan, New York County] after arriving in the United States.
There are many more avenues to follow about his education, his service the military, and his time as a priest in the Diocese of Brooklyn. Other avenues come with limitations in the passenger lists of the time, and the scarce records in Ireland during the mid-1800’s. But finding a county or origin in Ireland is a start!
Without a doubt, I had won the genealogical lottery. You can be sure that I immediately called family members to come into my office to view the column, and his picture!
My first stop for Civil War veterans is the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors (CWSS) database to learn what I could about his service and his organization. One surprise at CWSS was a note that: “This database is no longer maintained and updated.”
I searched for: “1st Regiment, New York Infantry” AND Kennedy, Thomas. There were three results. (I could have searched for Thomas Kennedy, then selected filters for Union and New York, and searched on results for 1st Regiment, New York Infantry.)
Thomas Kennedy was a Private in Companies A, F and G.
I clicked on the Battle Unit Name to learn more about the history of the 1st Regiment, New York Infantry, in the Civil War.
The second search result was an entry for Thomas McKinley contained a General Note that the original was filed under Thomas/Kennedy, and a Name Note – true name of soldier.
Then third result was for Kennedy, John. Although he might be related, I have no evidence. So I will just keep track of this.
Kennedy, Thomas 1st Regiment NY Inf Co G Invalid Pension Filed 11 Feb 1897 (Dead)
Over to Fold3 to search for military records there, I located three pension index cards for Thomas Kennedy. There was one each for the Companies in which he had served in the 1st Regiment, New York Infantry. Each card had the filing date of 11 Feb 1897 for an Invalid Pension, and the alias of Thomas McKingley. All three cards have been stamped “DEAD.”
Thomas McKingley’s Pension Index showed the alias Thomas Kennedy.
The next stop was the The New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center. They have a variety of online resources. I selected Unit History from the navigation menu, then the US Civil War, 1861-1865.
The 1st New York Infantry Regiment page had descriptions of the Regiment from two sources and gave me other information about its two years of service and the location where each of the companies mustered in and when.
Mustered in: April 22, 1861 Mustered out: May 25, 1863
The history of this regiment includes its service at Newport News, and discusses a noteworthy incident when Merrimac attacked the fortifications on March 8, 1862. Earlier in the war, USS Merrimac had been burned, captured and rebuilt as an ironclad warship, CSS Virginia. The Battle of Hampton Roads, where Virginia fought the Monitor in the Duel of the Ironclads, occurred on March 9, 1862. This story had captivated my son when he read Patrick O’Brien’s book, Duel of the Ironclads, in 1st grade. Finding out an ancestor was there was a big deal. We had visited the Mariner’s Museum in Newport News to learn more about CSS Virginia and USS Monitor as described in this blog postFamily History Outing: The Mariner’s Museum, Newport News, VA (where there was also some Pioneer Infantry history).
The page also contained links to other online resources.
The New York State Military Museum had a link to the Adjutant-General Report of the State of New York for the Year 1898. This report contained the register of the First Veteran Infantry, which included these two entries. They presented summary information without all the details found in the muster rolls.
At Ancestry.com, I looked at results in the New York, U.S., Civil War Muster Roll Abstracts, 1861-1900 database. The result for Thomas Kennedy contained 1st Inf for the Regiment, and with an explanation field: “see McKinley, Thomas.”
He was mustered into Company G, then was transferred to Company F.
He mustered in to Company F, then was transferred to Company A. There was a reference in the Remarks about his name being Thomas Kennedy, and a reference to a letter.
On the back of this page, a letter from the Record and Pension Office of the War Department had been attached. It has been determined that Thomas Kennedy was the true name of the soldier who had served as Thomas McKinley.
He was mustered into Company A after being absent with out leave from December 1862 until May 1863, but he was satisfactorily accounted for. In other Civil War records I had seen soldiers who were sick or wounded later rejoin their organization. Tracking these men after battles or while troops were moving was challenging.
With this information, I can create a timeline to compare events in the history of the 1st Regiment Companies with the time that Thomas Kennedy was with each company.
I went back to Fold3 to search for the Compiled Military Service Record (CMSR) Index.
The card for Thomas McKinley was a reference card pointing to the original filed under Kennedy, Thomas, the true name of soldier.
I know that I need to view the CMSR and the Pension file for the Rev. Fr. Kennedy to learn more about him and, hopefully, his family connections. So I ordered them through a NARA retrieval service.
