Gretchen Beilfuss Witt
Library Notes
March 29, 2013
Military
Records
Much of our public historical focus
has recently been on the 150th anniversary of the American Civil
War. One of our most heavily used collections in
the library is the North Carolina Confederate Troops Compiled Service Records. North
Carolina had more participants in the Confederacy
than any other Southern State. These
records on microfilm indicate a serviceman’s participation in the war effort,
when they appeared at roll call or if they were absent, if they were prisoners
of war or in hospital. If you are lucky
some of the records include letters of commendation, reports or other
interesting documents or correspondence. The History Room also has pension records for
North Carolina soldiers of the Civil War.
These pensions were awarded to the soldier or his wife, if deceased, and
in some cases to his parents if they had relied on him for there
livelihood. Pensions were given by the
state of North Carolina,
not the federal government, and were awarded at the county level. These records are invaluable for
genealogical research.
With the focus on the
sesquicentennial, we forget that we are fast approaching the 100th
anniversary of the beginning of World War I [WWI], 1914. Despite the fact that the Americans came late
into the war, not declaring war until 1917, the United States citizens contributed
greatly to this conflict. Just recently,
with the help of the Genealogical Society of Rowan County, the History Room was
able to acquire a similar set of military records pertaining to WWI. These records were compiled by the WPA [Works
Progress Administration] which actively saved many of our older records by re-writing and preserving many local accounts of all
types of activities. The World War I
Service Card Files were created as a response to acts of the Congress in 1919
and 1922 requesting the Adjutant General of the US provide individual states
with a statement of service for the men and women from that state who served
during WWI. The cards for those
personnel from North Carolina
were provided to the Adjutant General of North Carolina on February 14, 1924. The cards contain the records of officers,
nurses and enlisted men from all three branches of service. The records seem to have included everyone
whether or not they were killed in action, died of wounds or disease or were
living. For example, Roscoe A. Page born
in Salisbury
enlisted on June 1, 1917
at 21 and 11/12 years of age. He was
sent overseas in September of 1918 and was honorably discharged in July of 1919
having suffered no wounds. A neighbor
from Guilford,
Lt. John Paisley faired less well; he was killed in action in France June 21, 1918 and buried
there. These cards too are helpful in
genealogical research often stating where the person was born, where they lived
at the time of enlistment, parents or spouses, where they received military
training, what engagements they were involved in during the war, their
regiments and any awards. The
information is listed alphabetically by person rather than by individual towns
or counties. This new microfilm, a
treasure trove of information, includes all service personnel in North Carolina.
Along with these newly acquired
records, the History Room also provides access to Ancestry. Ancestry hosts a variety of records,
including the Draft registration cards of WWI.
The draft registration does not indicate military service; however, 24
million or approximately 98% of all men under the age of 46 living in the
United States actually registered. The
population of the US at the time was around 100 million people so using the WWI
Draft registration database provides the names of nearly one quarter of the
population whether they were new immigrates, naturalized or born here. Together these databases can provide a unique
picture of an ancestor and provide some interesting tidbits of U.S.
History.
Happy Hunting!
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