Speaking at RootsTech Connect 2021!

This year RootsTech is all virtual and free to register! Have you registered?

I hope you will have a chance to check out my lecture: “Write Their Story: From Timeline to Young Readers’ Book” (Lecture Session 471160). 

For RootsTech Connect 2021, each lecture session will be 20 minutes long. My lecture will be split across two 20-minute sessions.  I hope you will join me!

Session ID: 471160
Session Title: Write Their Story: From Timeline to Young Readers’ Book
Session Type: Lecture Session

When more details are shared, I will post them on Facebook, too.

See you at RootsTech Connect!

Finding WWI U.S. Army Rosters

Another great resource for researching soldiers in WWI that has come online are the Muster Rolls and Rosters at FamilySearch. Using these records, you can trace your a service member throughout his service in the U.S. Army in WWI.

These records are not indexed, so using them will take a little work. These are digital images of the filmstrips that you would be using at the National Archives and Records Administration in St. Louis, Missouri.

You will need a free account at FamilySearch to access these records, but if you are not using FamilySearch, you should be.

In order to use these records, you need to know the military organization(s) to which your ancestors belonged. A good start is using the VA Master Index to locating the first organization to which he was assigned. From there, following him in each roster, you might be able to trace his transfers between organizations.

This List of Authorized Abbreviations World War I Service Discharge Cards is a valuable reference for deciphering military abbreviations of the time.

Starting Place: The VA Master Index

I used the VA Master Index for Joseph F. McMahon, which showed his first military organization as Co B 51 Pion Inf. (In real words, this translates to Co B of the 51st Pioneer Infantry Regiment.) To help, there is a Blog post about using the VA Master Index.

Next Step: Search for the soldier’s first military organization

Searched the Muster Rolls and Rosters at FamilySearch for the 51st Pioneer Infantry Regiment, I learned the description was “Pioneer Inf.” Be flexible when searching. I would not have located the regiment searching for “51st” and there were many “51” on the page. Searching for “Pion” was fairly efficient.

When you see the little camera icon on the right, that means there are digital images of the record to view on the website! Click on the camera to go to the filmstrip.

Viewing the filmstrip on the website can be intimidating, but it is a lot easier than using an actual filmstrip. More than one frame at a time can be seen.

I can click on the Image with “51st Pioneer Inf Regt” and see that Image 12 is where the muster rolls begin. (You may wish to record that number in case you want to revisit the records.)

The Images marked “SPACER” are between the separate documents for the same organization. The images marked “NEW ORGN BEGINS” will be key to finding where the first muster rolls for Company B are.

The first group of Muster Rolls are for the Headquarters Company.  You can double-click on an Image to go it. From there you can use the arrows to move forward and backward through the filmstrip images. If you want to go back to seeing the browse multiple images, click on the button in the navigation menu on the left with all the small boxes.

Since the records are not indexed, checking the Image where a new organization begins, then browsing the multiple images will help location where Company B begins. Image 249 is where Company B’s records begin. On the Image, we can see that to go backward in time, we would have to look at rolls for the 10th New York Infantry Regiment (which was the predecessor of the 51st Pioneer Infantry Regiment).

I need to know when Joseph F. McMahon Served with the 51st Pioneers to be able to locate him in a roster. He enlisted on 5/28/18, so I check for the new muster rolls after each SPACER to see the dates.

Image 265 is for 30 April to 30 June 1918.

By using the arrows to scan the pages of the Muster Roll, I locate him. This record shows when he joined the organization.  

At the end of the Muster Roll, soldiers lost are listed. This soldier was lost through transfer. If I were researching him, his date of transfer would be known so I could pick up the search for him in the next organization (Provisional Depot, shortened to Prov Dep).

Through these records you should be able to track your soldier through the organizations in which he served. Of course, I recommend downloading the records you find, complete with citations. Another thing I recommend is building a timeline for his service, and add the organizations along with dates of his service in them.

The only time I have had a problem following a soldier through the rosters is when the military unit disbanded. In that case, some historical research would be in order to figure out if the soldiers were transferred en masse into another organization.

Did My Ancestor Serve in WWI?

Updated 15 October 2023

In the past, I answered that question by recommending searching for information at home, searching through the U.S. Army Transport Records that documented a veteran’s trip overseas, consulting state service abstracts or contacting the National Personnel Records Center.

Now, one of the most helpful sets of records to answer that question has come online. It is the U.S. Veterans Administration Master Index from NARA’s Records of the Veterans Administration [VA] (Record Group 15).

So, gather up the list of possible candidates. Having a residence and a birth date may help you narrow down the search for ancestors with common names.

You will need a free account on FamilySearch to access these records. If you do not already use FamilySearch, you will be glad to find out about what it has to offer. The link to search the collection is United States, Veterans Administration Master Index, 1917-1940.

Enter your ancestor’s name.

Look through the search results to look for your ancestor. (Pay attention to the residence; the military service location (St. Louis) is related to where the records were stored.)

The small document icon is used to “view the record details.”

The small camera icon on the right means that you can view an image of the record.

Clicking on “view the original document takes you to the image viewer, you can view and download it.

From this image, I know the first military organization in which Joseph F. McMahon served. An important piece of information is his military service number, which is helpful when the veteran has a common name.- His birth and death dates, as well as his enlistment and discharge dates.

C is the Claim Number assigned when an application was made for a service connected disability, pension, and education and training.

An “A” number shows that this veteran was eligible for the Adjusted Compensation paid to veterans based on their WWI service.

T Indicates that the veteran had War Risk Insurance during WWI.

CT  Shows the certificate number assigned by service departments with the World War I Bonus.

Learn more about these records at Family Search search page for U.S. Veterans Administration Master Index.

Learn more about the letter codes at NARA’s Key to Codes & Prefixes.

When you find an ancestor who served in WWI, you can begin to research his service. Check out our other WWI blog posts by using the Search Box and entering WWI.

Learn more about our book on this website or at Amazon Researching Your U.S. WWI Army Ancestors.

Genealogy and the 2020 U.S. Census

You have probably received, or are about to receive, your invitation to complete the 2020 U.S. Census online.

One thing I always recommend at census time is saving a paper (and electronic!) copy of the census after you fill it out. Since the censuses are closed for 72 years, how great would be researchers to have copies of our censuses for those years?

I’ve seen a lot of comments about how disappointing it is that you cannot print out all the responses when you are done completing the online forms.

With that in mind, here are two solutions:

1) Take screenshots as you fill out the forms on your computer. You can save them as images, or just cut-and-paste them into a word processing document.

– OR –

2) A better choice is probably to download and print a pdf file of the 2020 Census. Then you can fill it in and have all the answers together in one place. Of course, feel free to scan it and have it both on paper and electronically!

The 2020 Census Form can be downloaded here.

If you missed saving you previous census forms, you can find blank forms and instructions to enumerators here.

You can select the census year to locate links to blank forms. For 2000, you might want to reconstruct the long version of the form.  

The US Census Bureau website hosts a wealth of information and data, so explore it if have a chance. Educational material about the 2020 Census can be found here.

RootsTech 2020 Videos

Rootstech 2020 is over and if you did not make it, you can still be inspired by viewing some of the videos and all of the handouts at the link below. It is great that Rootstech lets us all be a part of it. The video archives is here.

To get right to the videos for some sessions go here.

Cemetery Research: Interview with Tina Simmons

We recently had a chance to catch up with researcher and author, Tina Simmons, about her work in cemetery research and in cemetery preservation.

How did you become involved with the field of cemetery research? 

Long before I understood genealogy terms I would attempt to determine connections between family members fueled by knowledge that her mother had a number of unknown relatives. I joined the Anne Arundel Genealogical Society to research my family history and took on a project working with cemetery records. I have been the Cemetery Chairman for over 30 years. Areas of continuing interest include documenting old and neglected cemeteries, photographing and transcribing tombstone inscriptions, and seeking out documentation from varied sources including death certificates, newspapers, land and church records, funeral programs, and interviewing community residents. I have focused much research on African American and institutional cemeteries that are the most elusive. I serve as a consultant with archeologists, government officials, church groups, and individuals. I give talks to various organizations.

What other hats do you wear?

I have also been a board member of the Coalition to Protect Maryland Burial Sites for the past three years and visited various sites throughout Maryland in that capacity as a consultant. For the past four years I have also volunteered at the Maryland State Archives with a Family Search project working to prepare probate records from various Maryland counties for scanning.

I have led public Cemetery Inscription Days since 1998. We invite people to come out and help transcribe information from tombstones two or three times during the year. With the advent of BillionGraves we started photographing tombstones instead of doing paper transcriptions which is faster but we have less control over the final project.

What should people consider when doing cemetery research?

Cemeteries often have no record of the burials. Other sources of information include Catholic and Episcopal churches records which sometimes list funerals held for local residents who were not members of that church. African American burials, in particular, typically give out a program at the funeral detailing the deceased’s life and listing many of their relatives. A family Bible, may list deaths as well as births and marriages in the center pages.  Funeral homes may allow family members access to their record for the deceased. Historical and genealogical societies as well as local libraries may offer local histories on family members or on particular surnames. If a person dies “intestate”, i.e. without a will; there will still be a distribution of their estate, both personal belongings and possibly of real estate.

Online sources for information on deaths and burials include: The Coalition to Protect Maryland Burial Sites which lists various sources on their county pages, USGenWeb Tombstone Project, Interment.net, FindAGrave, and BillionGraves.  Various online sources allow searches in old newspapers for obituaries, death notices, and notices by the court of estate settlements, guardianships, and various filings related to deaths. Older newspapers may have pages with notices from the towns where they lived, including local deaths.

When looking to do cemetery research, consider checking local resources, particularly at genealogical, historical, and public libraries. Knock on doors and ask older residents if they are aware of any cemeteries in the area. Ask permission before going on private, military, or institutional properties. Be aware that not all cemeteries are well-maintained or need to be cleaned up. Wear clothing suitable for “beating the brush”. Consider having a cemetery kit with a way to take photos, paper and pen, hand pruners, gloves, a spray bottle with water, a soft scrub brush, a trowel, something to kneel on if the ground is wet, and something to shine light on tombstones such as a mirror or car sun shield. A quick “rubbing” can be made with aluminum foil and a tennis ball.

What is your latest project?

This year I spoke at Anne Arundel County’s first Cemetery Symposium, working to bring together people interested in cemeteries with property owners who had cemeteries, professionals in archaeology, restoration professionals, and community groups. Anne Arundel County began a Citizen Preservation Stewardship Program to create an inventory of all their known cemeteries to access what condition they are in and who to contact with questions or issues using citizen participation. Information about the Citizen Preservation Stewardship Program for historic cemeteries, how you can join and what you can do is available at here.

How can people find out more about cemetery research in Anne Arundel County?

Some of the cemeteries in Anne Arundel County are listed on the Anne Arundel Genealogical Society website, as well as on the Coalition to Protect Maryland Burial Sites’ website. I am still looking for someone to add summaries of our cemeteries to the society’s website.

Tina has been a board member of the Coalition to Protect Maryland Burial Sites for the past three years and has visited various sites throughout Maryland in that capacity. For the past four years she has also volunteered at the Maryland State Archives with a Family Search project working with probate records from several Maryland counties.

She has published several books including several on African-American cemeteries, volumes of Grave Matters containing Anne Arundel County cemetery inscriptions, an index of early Anne Arundel County death certificates and a book of her father’s letters to her mother during World War II.