Genealogy at a Glance: War of 1812 Research

Description

Over 250,000 men served in the War of 1812, some for as little as a month. Their service records are found mostly in the National Archives but also in various other archives and repositories, and therefore in order to use the War of 1812 records effectively the researcher needs a guide to the location of the records and a description of their contents, which is precisely what this At a Glance guide is designed to do.The vast majority of War of 1812 records consist of (1) pension records, (2) compiled military service records, and (3) bounty land warrant application files. There are other records, of course, but these are the three main entry points in genealogical research. The purpose of this guide is to show you where these records are located, what they contain, and whether they are indexed, microfilmed, digitized, or found online.These records have great genealogical value and generally the researcher can expect to find some or all of the following information:

Soldier’s name, rank, unit, and period of service
Amount of pension or rejection of pension application
Name of widow and marriage date and place
Birth year and place
Places of residence
Description of disability
Signatures
Names of relatives, friends, and neighbors

This guide also covers regular army and navy records, prisoner of war records, lineage societies, state records, and published sources, ending with a list of online sources and a handy checklist for finding militiamen.