Recently I've discovered a great online tool called Roots Television. The site has the following description:
Roots Television™ is by and for avid genealogists and family history lovers of
all stripes. Whether you’re an archives hound, a scrapbooker, a cousin
collector, a roots-travel enthusiast, a Civil War re-enactor, a DNA fan, a
reunion instigator, a sepia-toned photos zealot, an Internet-junkie, a history
buff, an old country traditions follower, a cemetery devotee, a story-teller, a
multicultural food aficionado, a flea market and antiques fanatic, a family
documentarian, a nostalgia nut, or a mystery-solver, Roots Television™ has
something for you -- and that “something” is quality programming.
Browsing the site today a series called "Researching Civil War Ancestors Online" by Amy Johnson Crow caught my eye. Seemed to be appropriate on Military Monday.
After watching the video I became more curious about Ms. Crow. Researching her online I found the transcript for the series at Rootsweb. The following information was taken from the website:
Searching by an individual's name should not be limited to the name of the ancestor. Effective researchers realize the value of studying the wife, neighbors, and associates of a male ancestor, and that is a good strategy for Civil War research as well. For example, while one's ancestor may not have left any letters or diaries, other members of his company or regiment may have. Through researching the other members of the company, a genealogist can gain insight into the experiences of his ancestor.
Conducting a search by unit is effective for finding resources that pertain to the entire regiment or company, such as histories, rosters, and reunion records. Unit histories often contain remembrances of survivors as well as a list of the battles in which the unit was engaged. When searching by unit, be certain to try variations of the name. A unit may be referred to by the designation given to it by its state (Company E, 73rd Pennsylvania Infantry), a “local” name (“Matamoras Blues”), or by the name of the commanding officer.
When looking for sites with battle information, it is wise to look for all names of the battle. Many battles had two names—one referred to by the Union and the other by the Confederacy. Antietam and Sharpsburg refer to the same battle, as do Bull Run and Manassas.
If a soldier was born in Adams County, Pennsylvania, moved to Perry County, Ohio, served with a Michigan unit, and died in Porter County, Indiana, what sites should a researcher examine? The answer is easy. Search sites that pertain to all of those locations.
Several sites Ms. Crow recommended are:
Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System
American Civil War Homepage
Department of Veterans Affairs Nationwide Gravesite Locator
Feeling more confident already with these "search strategies" It continues to amaze me the abundance of information and assistance available to fledgling genealogists.
No comments:
Post a Comment