welcome to the ancestral findings podcast number forty-seven military records can
be excellent sources for breaking down genealogy brick walls in this episode I'll
show you how to find and use military records to solve genealogy mysteries
do you have an ancestor who is a seeming dead end on your family tree most genealogists have
at least one of these and usually more than one they can be frustrating because the record trail
seems to run dry with them making it impossible to get around them to the generations behind
them these are your brick wall ancestors the good news is that most genealogy brick walls
can be broken down eventually with enough time effort and determination as well as a
healthy amount of thinking outside of the box looking at alternative record sources is one
way to move past a brick wall ancestor military records are one alternative record source that
often yields very valuable information you won't find anywhere else the United States
has military records for soldiers who served in every war from the American Revolution onward in
many cases these are just muster roll records that provide the name age place of residence
and service record of an ancestor who served in a war or other military conflict in the service
of the United States however these records may provide a lot more the military record itself
may provide information on the soldiers nearest relative medical records for time they spend in
military hospitals information on their time as a prisoner of war and a record of the pay they
received whether they were owed pay when they were discharged is also noted as well as the names of
their commanding officers whether they changed regiments during their service and whether they
deserted or were ever absent without leave while this information can be very valuable in putting
together the details of an ancestors personal life the really good genealogical information
is usually found in military pension application records these are generally available for both
soldiers and their widows depending on who applied for the pension these applications can contain a
wealth of valuable genealogical information you will want to discover in order to get the pension
soldiers and/or their widows had to prove a lot of things the military service had to be proven and
if the soldier lost his discharge papers or was never given them which happened more often than
you might imagine then affidavits from people who knew of the service such as family members
or people who served with the soldier had to be obtained for widows proof of their marriage to
the soldier had to be provided either in the form of a marriage record a statement from the minister
who married them or several statements from people who could attest to the validity an approximate
date of the marriage the widows maiden name is often included in this information the soldiers
or their widows also had to provide a letter written or dictated by them that explained why
they needed the pension these letters often included the death date of the soldier the
names and ages of family members the applicant is supporting and any disabilities suffered by the
applicant that makes them unable to work and thus makes the pension necessary the names and ages of
children who may have been previously unknown and even elderly parents who were mysteries to the
researcher can be discovered in these records the next time you're researching your brick
wall ancestor looking for any new information try looking at military records at ancestral findings
com look through them and see what genealogical mysteries they can help you solve at last
cemetery records particularly burial records are invaluable genealogical
resources for discovering unknown ancestors in the
next ancestral findings calm podcast I'll show you how to find and use them
you