With Veterans Day approaching, I want to honor all those that served in the military. Here are a few ideas of what you might find about your ancestors while searching in newspapers.
- Many newspapers in the Civil War era published a “Sons Letter Home.”
[Thomas Canfield, Fayetteville Semi-Weekly Observer, (Fayette, NC) 12 Sep 1861, Thu p2]
- The Civil War Archive has a section of letters that can be searched by name or by military unit.
[http://www.civilwararchive.com/LETTERS/letters.htm]
- In World War I and II, Draft Lists were published as the names of those drafted were announced by the draft board. [The Spokesman Review, (Spokane, WA), Sat, 26 Jul 1917]
[The Cincinnati Enquirer, (Cincinnati, OH) 24 Mar 1945, St, P13]
- “The Stars and Stripes,” a military magazine was founded in 1861. It is available and searchable at the LOC.GOV
- Casualty lists were regularly published in local newspapers. Killed in Action reports were posted as well. Returned prisoners of war were often noted [US. National City Star-News (National City, CA) 23 Apr 1945, Fri, p1]
- Of course you can search for your military-ancestor by name and perhaps you will find their obituary. Dennis E. Higgins [The Post-Star (Glen Falls, NY) 08 Feb 1966, Tue, p16]
- Military reunions were often hosted by the GAR, states and units. This example includes the Twenty-Ninth Massachusetts Regiment, Company G, First Massachusetts Calvary. [Boston Evening Transcript (Boston, MA) 19 Jun 1900, Tue, p10]
Happy Hunting! Let us know what you find.
Geneographer 