Blog
Making A Findagrave Virtual Cemetery
Lately, many of my posts have been about WWI. So, I thought it might be time for a different topic. Building a virtual cemetery can be useful for collect information from a variety of cemeteries into one page. This is a great way to share information you have found about a family line (or even a WWI military organization). In FindAGrave, use the link in the upper right to go to your Profile Page. Scroll down until you see “My Virtual Cemeteries”. Click on add. Then you will be able to enter a name for your Virtual Cemetery, a...
read moreResearching Connecticut WWI Ancestors
Researching Connecticut WWI Ancestors Connecticut is a special place, filled with beautiful scenery and gorgeous fall colors. My years in Connecticut were spent studying and researching for my PhD. So, when I learned of some great resources for WWI research in Connecticut, I had to post them. The Connecticut State Library has an introductory page describing their holdings in the state archives. As you probably know, finding a summary for your WWI Veteran’s service is the key to unlocking more records about his service. The...
read moreInterview with Historian and Author Peter L. Belmonte
Recently, I had a chance to ask WWI Historian Pete Belmonte about his latest projects, history and genealogy. 1. What is your latest project? I’m continuing to research and write about immigrants from the Province of Cosenza, with Volume 3 almost finished. It’s a challenge on several levels. First, it is hard to find information for many of the men. Often the only indication I have that a man was a WWI veteran is the 1930 census which shows veteran status; but that’s not always accurate,...
read moreResearching Virginia WWI Ancestors
As you may know from my lectures and book, it is important to find your WWI ancestor’s military organization. An online way to find out about your Virginia WWI Ancestors is to check the WWI questionnaires posted at the Library of Virginia. For this example, I searched for a record for SGT Earle Davis Gregory. He was the only Medal of Honor winner in WWI from Virginia. Click on the name to find out more about the record. A window pops up with links to look at or download the survey pages This record is his personal survey. While...
read moreThe Edward Jones Research Center
The Edward Jones Research Center is the archives of the WWI Museum and Memorial, located at the Museum’s lowest level. This Research Center holds some resources that may help with your research. For example, there are 23 volumes of “Official Roster of Ohio Soldiers, Sailors and Marines”. Their holdings include volumes from several other states and even counties that published books listing all the men who served in the Great War. In these books is an entry for each service member, listing an abstract of his service. The...
read moreWWI Military Organizations: Finding More
So, you used the service summary cards or the U.S. Army Transport Service records to find your WWI soldier’s military organization. Now you want to find out more. As much as it pains me to say, sometimes jumping into Google does not yield too much. Recently, I had a situation like that. The organization in question was the 60th Engineers. It was proving very difficult to find much information about them. So, I asked an historian, Peter Belmonte, for some ideas. Peter is the author of two volumes (so far) of “Calabrian-Americans in...
read more4 Steps to Begin WWI Research For A Country (Liberia)
This post will cover the four initial steps to research the participation of a country (non-U.S.) in WWI. At a recent talk about ancestors in the U.S. military, a very enthusiastic genealogist asked me a question: how could he research his Liberian WWI ancestor? Questions like this make me think, and make me want to learn more. These first steps help you get oriented by learning more about the topic. 1. Google Start with Google. Search for terms that combine your country name with “WWI” or “World War One”. You...
read moreNaNoWriMo: A Great Time to Write
Have you been thinking about writing your life story? There is a painless way to get underway and make serious headway on your project. Every November, writers from all over participate in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), and set a goal to write 50,000 words in a month, which is the length of a novel. Many write non-fiction, but it is not against the rules to write about yourself! It is free to participate, and it is optional to sign up for an account. The website has some interesting tools, and can help you chart your progress as you...
read moreResearching Maryland WWII Ancestors
Perhaps you have seen the War Memorial in Baltimore. Did you know that the War Memorial in Baltimore serves as a repository for approximately 70,000 discharge papers of the Maryland veterans who served during World War II. Discharge papers are a great starting place for researching your WWII ancestors. These papers give the dates and branch of ancestors’ service, as well as where they fought, and the medals they earned. Veterans and their families can order the discharge papers. Check out the page with War Memorial Miscellaneous...
read moreResearching Maryland WWI Ancestors
In this blog, our books and talks, you may have seen the New York Service Abstracts of WWI Military Service in my examples. Have you looked for what your state has to offer? As I come across more of these resources, I plan to post information about them in this blog. This post describes a useful starting place for those who are researching Maryland WWI service members. To locate an abstract of your Maryland WWI ancestor, consult the two-volume book set, Maryland in the World War, 1917-1919; Military and Naval Service Records. Vol. I-II....
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