Using WWI Morning Reports on Fold3

Those who have seen my lectures, read my books or visited my WWI Facebook pages know that Morning Reports have proven to be one of my favorite resources for researching an individual who served in the Army in WWI. The 1,748 reels of 35mm microfilm containing the Morning Reports for 1912-19 have been digitized and are now available on Fold3.

There reports are created by a company or detachment and contain the important details of the daily status of in the life of an Army company: where and how they traveled; names of those who joined or left the company; who was transferred to a hospital or sick in quarters;  names of those wounded or casualties; disciplinary actions; and promotions. Additionally you can the statistical information about the company for each day, including how many horses and mules attached to the company, both serviceable and unserviceable. This data was used to build other summary reports like the company histories that appear regimental histories. The rosters include the individual’s presence in a company. Individuals’ data would appear in their personnel file, but for those whose research soldiers whose files were burned, these are reports can assist in reconstructing those files.

Having these records online is a huge advantage for researchers. A trip to STL to view the reels in person was wonderful, but had to be planned in advance to be sure that the records and the equipment used to view them would be available. Most of our time had been spent in photographing and photocopying the records. Because of the viewing equipment, the photographs were not good representations of the cards, and the cost of photocopies was significant. Because of time limits, we had focused on Company B’s Morning Reports and other companies in the regiment only for September 1918 when members of the regiment participated in the Saint-Mihiel Offensive. Still, the records and the trip had been amazing. Now, from home or a local library, these records can be viewed and images of them can be downloaded without prior planning.

As I examined these records it was clear that a researcher might want to go beyond looking at the records of one company. The records of other companies of a regiment might fill in gaps left by other companies’ records. One example is how the 51st Pioneer Infantry Regiment ended the war. They traveled home on two different ships, and while the Morning Reports of Company B for July 1919 were not available at NPRC (and so cannot be found on Fold3), Company C’s Morning Reports  described how the other companies of the regiment that sailed on the USS Wilhelmina finished their service:

3 July Debarked from U.S.S. Wilhelmina at Pier 8 Hoboken N.J. About 11 AM. Boarded Ferry at Pier 3 arrived L.I. entrained at L.I. for Camp Mills, N.Y. Arrived Camp Mills about 3 PM.

4 – 5 July Camp Mills, N.Y.

6. July Marched from Camp Mills, N.Y. to Clinton Road Station about 5 A.M. entrained at station for Camp Upton, N.Y. arrived Camp Upton about 10.30 AM Turned in Equipment

Although you can search US World War I records for the term “morning reports” it is easier to access The U.S. Morning Reports Publication Page directly.

Knowledge of using the index to find the reel numbers would be import if your plan is to browse the records. I did know the reel number for the 51st Pioneer Infantry, so I could browsed Category: Morning Reports, 1912-1939 then selecting Roll 0402. (Other detachments appear on other reels.)

This was cumbersome. Since this Fold3 Publication is 99% Complete at the time this blog post was written, I recommend using the search.

With over 2 thousand results this would be tedious to search. As you can see, each page of the Morning Reports is returned as a result. There will be several pages per month.

There were only 634 Results, but many were not from the 51st Pioneer Infantry Regiment. They may have referenced the 51st Pioneer Infantry. (Putting the term “Company B” within quotation marks was ignored in the search box.)

Whether searching for the Regiment or Company, click on a record for the organization you want to search to open it.

Then click in the box with the navigation bread crumb trail (or just click on the down arrow at the end of the path). This opens the image in an image browser.

This opens a pane to navigate to any of the Morning Reports for Company A.

I was interested in Company B’s Morning Reports, so I select Company B, 51st Pioneer Infantry.

This took me to where I could navigate to all the available Company B Morning Reports.

I clicked on “Feb 1918” and can now see the images for this month’s Morning Report. There is usually a card inserted at the beginning of the Morning Reports for each Company’s that was used as a visual divider. (See Page 1 below.)

At the beginning of each month is a cover sheet. Pay attention to this, as it lists the company, regiment, month and year of the report. The information on this page tells us that prior to this month, the organization was 10th NY Inf NG (Infantry, National Guard).

Some issues I encountered:

Some months were missing (They might be missing from the original reels.)

Some months that were missing were filed with a different year’s records. For example, one company’s Morning Reports for Jan 1918 also contained the Morning Reports for Jan 1919

Suggested strategy:

Navigate to the company of the individual you are researching using the search feature.

Find an image for the regiment, or best for the company and click on it

Use the bread crumb to open the navigation pane to select the company and month of the first Morning Report you want to view

Download the Morning Reports for each month the individual was with the company (I used a separate folder for each month)

Transcribe the entries relating to the individual you are researching, as well as the significant movements and events for the company to put together their story

Searching can be awkward, but by using a combination of searching, using the bread trails and the arrows in the image viewer, you can relive the events of a company (or other organization) during WWI.

For help with Fold3 features, such as downloading records, see the Fold3 Training Center.

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.

Researching Florida WWI Ancestors

Learning the military organization for your ancestor who served in WWI is important. With that information, you can find out what your ancestor did including duties, travels and battles. The State Library & Archives of Florida’s Florida Memory website has a Collection of World War I Service Cards.  This collection includes the cards for Floridians in the Army, Navy, Coast Guard and Marine Corps during WWI.

From this website you can search for a specific service member’s card or browse all the service cards.

As an example, I searched for Frederick G Knowles, of the 51st Pioneer Infantry Regiment, Co. I.

There were no results for “Frederick G Knowles”, so I tried “Frederick Knowles” and got two results. One of those was the record for him.

Clicking on his name brought me to his WWI Service Card

You can search all the services for your ancestor, or you can check a box to limit the search to one branch of service. Alternately, you can use the branch of service, then a colon (Army:) before the name to search. The database appears to be searchable by first names, ranks and place names. I did not have any success with wildcards, so you may need to generate alternate spellings to use if you cannot find your ancestor. Another tactic that worked for me was combining a first name and rank in the search box.

You can learn about the collection, including that the cards were created during a project in 1924 in the Series Description.

There is also a FAQ about the collection.

The website also has an online Exhibit about “Florida in WWI“. The article gives context to the lives of Floridinians who fought over there, over here and post-WWI Florida.

 

Camp Doughboy 2018: After Action Report

The 3rd annual Camp Doughboy WWI History Weekend at Governors Island National Monument was held on 15-16 September 2018. This was the biggest free public WWI exhibition in the U.S. this year, and was attended by 10.000 visitors.

The weather was sunny and warm both days.

My mission was to man a table where people could ask how they could learn about their WWI ancestors. On that table I displayed an informative poster, the WWI scrapbook of my Grandfather that I created (rather than inherited) and WWI Victory medals. I was also assigned to give lectures about how to find out about WWI ancestors.

Corporal Kevin Fitzpatrick led us all through the events of the weekend.

There were almost a hundred reeanactors present. Each and every reeanactor was impeccably outfitted, and had a story (or more) to tell about the Great War. Being able to see the authentic details of their wardrobe and equipment and to watch them perform their duties brought us back a century in time. Just to mention only a few of all those in attendance: the Harlem Hellfighters, a female contract surgeon, a WW1 Salvation Army Lassie, Imperial Germans and authentic Army cooks. Some visitors arrived in vintage clothing, and posed with the reenactors.

The audiences at my lectures learned about a methodology for researching their own WWI ancestors, the records and archives available, as well as the story of where fallen soldiers might be buried. They were quick with great questions.

Some visitors brought treasures with them. A gentleman brought his ancestor’s dogtags. His ancestor was from the South, but assigned to the Coastal Artillery in New Jersey. Another family brought the “History of Company C of the 320 Machine Gun Battalion.” Others brought pictures of their dashing soldiers in uniform. Many brought stories of ancestors who served in WWI for the U.S. and other counties.

Two descendants of soldiers from the 51st Pioneer Infantry Regiment held a mini-reunion.

Dr. Libby O’Connell of the WWI Centennial Committee for New York City addressed the gathering. She reminded us about the upcoming centennial and significance of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive.

The period music was lively and added to the ambiance.

The vintage trucks were a special highlight. When they were not driving, they were on static display. It seemed everyone who came took a picture of them.

A major shout out goes to the authentic cooks of the Army Rolling Field Kitchen who created delicious authentic Army dishes using WWI Army recipes. The fresh doughnuts created by the WW1 Salvation Army Lassie in France were fabulous.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by to ask questions, learn and chat. More blog posts providing follow-up information will follow.

Camp Doughboy will return to Governors Island in 2019.

Camp Doughboy Sale

Hello!

In honor of Camp Doughboy, I’m pleased to announce sale prices on my WWI books for mail orders.

Researching Your U.S. WW I Army Ancestors is $12.00 (regularly $14.99)

With Rifle and Shovel: 51st Pioneer Regiment Infantry in WWI is $15.00 (regularly $19.95)

Set of both books is $25.00

The mail order form is HERE.