Presentation: Military Records by Craig R Scott

On April 21st at Monmouth University I attended a presentation on military records by Craig R Scott, hosted by the Monmouth County Genealogy Society.  I was especially interested because I am focusing on such records to help me further trace several lines.  I have a few points to share.

--  Records are available in a variety of places:  Different branches of the National Archives, on microfilm, and online at Ancestry and Fold3.  Some are digitized; most are not.  Some are indexed; most are not.

--  Not everyone who served will be found in the pension files.  Several laws were passed over the years that qualified the soldier or the widow.  Your ancestors may not have lived long enough to qualify.

--  Research the captain, the colonel, and the other members of the unit.  This is especially useful if you cannot find a compiled military record or pension application for a particular person.  By discovering where the unit was at specific times you will compile your own idea of your ancestor's service.  Also, members of the unit were probably neighbors and maybe relatives.

These are points that apply to other records as well:
--  Spelling of names varies.  Do not be rigid.
--  View the original record whenever possible.  Use indexes to guide you to the actual record.

War of 1812 file card available at Ancestry.
Note that the full names of all three wives were included.  This is a great find.

Fold3

I subscribed to another fee-based site, Fold3.  I paid $39.95 for one year as a special deal for subscribers to Ancestry.com..  The site has lots of American military records and I have several Colonial lines, so I decided to give it a try.  I started with a safe search:  locate a pension file for Elizabeth Duryea, wife of Joseph Henley, widowed during the Civil War.  I found the record quickly- 33 pages of names, dates, and places!!!

By age 28, Elizabeth Henley was widowed by the Civil War and had two minor children.  Two other children died early.
Her mother and sister wrote certifications for her application, though their relations are not identified.
I hope that their support made her life easier.  She did not remarry.

The tidbit of information that I was not expecting was that Joseph B. Henley was not this man's original name.  He was Joseph H. Jones when the couple married in New York City in 1854.  This explains why I had not uncovered a marriage record and could not locate Joseph Henley in the 1850 census.  The record was silent as to the reason for the name change.

Excerpt from one of the certifications.

Elizabeth's application for a widow's pension was approved.  She received $8 per month plus $2 per minor child.  She collected for 38 years.

Marriage, marriage, marriage

In researching the Bishops of Burlington County, New Jersey, I came across a marriage for William R Bishop in 1860 to Mary Lee at the State's online index.

Search results for a marriage between William Bishop and Mary Lee.
Online index 1848-1878 available for free from The New Jersey State Archives.

I wondered if this was the same marriage, recorded three times, or an error in the index, or something else.  I obtained the original ledger entries from Trenton.  (If you are unable to visit Trenton, you can write to the Archives or order the microfilm through your local FamilySearch Center.)

I located the three recordings and it does indeed appear that this was the same marriage recorded in three separate locations in Burlington County.  I do not know why the marriage was recorded thrice.  Names of parents are provided in two of the recordings, giving possible leads on people born in the early 1800s- from a record made in 1860.  (The year in the index is correct, as this index is not the same index available through FamilySearch or Ancestry.)

Book C2, page 190.
Marriage of William R Bishop to Mary L Lee, 16 February 1860,
recorded in Northampton, Burlington County, New Jersey.
Parents are merely listed by their surnames.

Book C2, page 241.
Marriage of William R Bishop to Mary L Lee, 16 February 1860,
recorded in Burlington, Burlington County, New Jersey.
Parents are listed as William and Eliza R Bishop and Samuel and Jane C Lee.

Book C2, page 194.
Marriage of William R Bishop to Mary Louisa Lee, 16 February 1860,
recorded in Westhampton, Burlington County, New Jersey.
Parents are listed as William and Mary Bishop and Samuel and Jane Lee..