Putting your ancestors in historical perspective

Putting Your Ancestors in Historical
Perspective: Extracting Stories from
Military Records on Ancestry.com and
Fold3

It is not enough to find the
record

Building the framework of your
ancestor’s life

Build the Framework
Using census records and vital records (if they exist) to build a timeline
that has:
• Dates
• Places
• Events
• People
• Thoughts
• Sources

Build the Framework
Start with Excel Spread Sheet or Word Table

5 Things You Should Do with Every
Record
1. Source the Record
2. Examine the image, not just the Index
3. List ALL points of genealogical importance
4. What questions do you have?
5. File your notes and the image so that you can find
them again later

Case Study: Using the
Framework to start the story

James Calvin Donald(1836-1899)
Problem we are trying to solve:
Tell the story of James Calvin Donald’s Civil War Experience
Start by developing a timeline of his life so that we know when and
where he lived and where to look for records

1. Source the record
Web: Virginia, Find A Grave Index, 1607-
2012, index, Ancestry.com
(http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 5 Feb
2014), entry for Pvt James C. Donald; citing Find A
Grave, accessed 25 Jan 2013.
2. Examine the image, not just the index
On to Find A Grave!

Find A Grave, database and images
(http://findagrave.com : accessed 5 Feb
2014), memorial page for Pvt James C. Donald, Find
A Grave Memorial no. 34346979, citing Stonewall
Jackson Memorial Cemetery, Lexington, Virginia.
Information is not sourced.
The dates appear to come from the
tombstone; locations unknown.
Description is not sourced.

• James was born June 30, 1836 in
Rockbridge County, Virginia
• James died July 20, 1899 in Rockbridge
County, Virginia
• He mustered into the service in
Company H, 4th Virginia Infantry on
April 26, 1862
• He transferred the 14th Virginia
Cavalry on April 16, 1862.
• He was captured and held as a
prisoner of war at Wheeling, West
Virginia and exchanged between
March 10 and March 12, 1865
• Daughter was Laura Cecile Donald
Gillespie (1877-1964)

4. What questions do you have?
• Nothing is sourced. Where did this
information come from?
• Who was he married to?

A note about why I can use
this photo in my
presentation.
I took it.
Always get permission if it
is isn’t yours!

5. File your notes and the image so that you
can find them again later

James Calvin Donald (1836-1899)

1880 U.S. Census, Rockbridge County, Virginia, population schedule, Lexington Township, ED 65, p. 71 (penned), dwelling 492, family 544, James Donald household;
database and digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 5 Feb 2014); FHL film 1,255,387; citing NARA microfilm publication, T9, roll 1387.
• James Donald, born about 1836, farmer, b. VA, p.b. VA
• Elizabeth, wife, born about 1845, keeping house, b. VA, p.b. VA
• James H, son, born about 1865, works on farm, b. VA, p.b. VA
• Aurelia D, daughter, born about 1869, b. VA, p.b. VA
• Jno C, son, born about 1873, b. VA, p.b. VA
• Laura C, daughter, born about 1877, b. VA, p.b. VA
• Andrew M, son, born Apr 1880, b. VA, p.b. VAo

What Wars Did They Fight
and Who Did They Fight
With?

A framework for searching
20
1. Examine your family tree
2. Organize your family data
3. Gather the likely suspects
4. Pick someone and gather their brothers, cousins
5. Which side did they fight for
6. Start searching for records
7. Summarize and update what you know
8. Update your story

Get Organized
21
Even if you are looking to find the story of one ancestor, it is
probably worthwhile to search your tree, and determine
who might be a likely candidate.
What are you looking for?
• Men
• Between born between 1816 and 1846. (This includes
men between the ages of 15 and 45 in 1861).
• Men who were in the United States in the 1860 census.

A Nifty Trick in Family Tree Maker
22
Start with everyone in your tree
Click on filter

23
Click on filter, include all

24
Click on Exclude and exclude all women

25
Click on Exclude and exclude all women

26
Then exclude everyone born before 1818

27
Then exclude everyone born after 1846

28
I then have 356 men in my tree born between 1818
and 1846

Other Conflicts
29
World War II
• Men were eligible for the draft at 18. So men somewhere
between the ages of 18 maybe up to 50 during 1942 and 1945.
(abt 1890 – 1925)
• About 1/3 of eligible men served
• http://dig.abclocal.go.com/ktrk/ktrk_120710_WWIIvetsfactsheet.pdf
World War I
• US was officially between 1917 and 1918. Men most likely born
between 1879 and 1899. (Very rough).

A framework for searching
30
1. Examine your family tree
2. Organize your family data
3. Gather the likely suspects
4. Pick someone and gather their brothers,
cousins
5. Which side did they fight for
6. Start searching for records
7. Summarize and update what you know
8. Update your story

Step 1: Examine Your Family Tree
31
I start walking up and down my family tree, looking for ancestor’s in
my direct line that might have served.

32
Jeremiah seems like a likely
candidate.
He was born in 1826, and he
would have been 35 in 1861.
He is in the 1860 census in
Amherst, Virginia.
He is in the 1870 census in
Amherst, Virginia.

33
Also, note the ages of the children.
Are there gaps between 1860 and 1865? That is a clue.

Step 2: Organize Your Family Data
34
Let’s start a spread sheet to organize our data.
• Where he lived in 1860 and 1870 help us determine what side he
fought for, as well as where he might have enlisted.
• Gaps in ages of children help us decide if he was not at home in the
1860’s.

Step 3: Finish gathering the likely
suspects
35

Step 4: Pick someone and gather family
data
36
James Calvin Donald
Find his brothers:

Step 5: Which side did they fight for?
37
Union States:
California, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine,
Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire,
New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode
Island, Vermont, Wisconsin
Confederate States:
South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia,
Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, North
Carolina
Border States:
Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, Missouri, West Virginia

38
http://www.ancestry.com/militaryrecords
Choose Civil War
Step 6: Let’s see what we can find

39
Step 6: Let’s see what we can find
Enlistment Record
Now there is a lot of information.
Should I just attach this record,
or should I be summarizing as
well?
You know the answer.

40
Step 7: Summarize and update what you
know
First, update your spread sheet.
Include the Unit’s Served, Enlistment Date, Muster Out Date

Step 7: Update Your Other Spread Sheet
41

Start Your Story
42
Let’s start telling James Donald’s Civil War Story.
James C Donald, was born on 30 Jun 1836.
Three days after Virginia seceded from the union, he
enlisted in Company H, Virginia 4th Infantry Regiment on 20
Apr 1861, at the age of 24, three days after Virginia seceded
from the Union.
He also served in Company Preston’s Virginia 7th Cavalry
Regiment and Company G, Virginia 14th Cavalry Regiment.
He was 5 foot 9, had a fair complexion, blue eyes, and light
hair. He was a laborer.
He died in Lexington, Virginia on 20 Jul 1899 at the age of
63.

Three Civil War Indexes to Look at
43
U.S Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles
American Civil War Soldiers
U.S. Civil War Soldiers, 1861 -1865
• From the National Park Service
• http://www.itd.nps.gov/cwss

Look at the Unit Information
47

What happened around June 12th?
55

Create an
Entry on the
Honor Wall
58

Create an Entry on the Honor Wall
59

Finding an Existing Honor Page
60

Create an Entry on the Honor Wall
61

Add events and create a map
63

What about the people at
home?

Historical Context and Newspapers

"Deaths," Lexington (Virginia) Gazette, 26 Jul 1899, online
archives, Chronicling America (http://chroniclingamerica.org : accessed
5 Feb 2014, page 3, col 4.
Not too applicable

• James died at the age of sixty-three – his birth year
around 1836
• He died on a Thursday. The paper was published
on Wednesday, July 26th, so he died on July 20th.
• He suffered from Bright’s disease and was confined
to his bed the last two months of his life.
• He was a Confederate soldier and served with the
Rockbridge Grays and the 14th Virginia Calvary.
• He was a prisoner of war at Camp Chase.
• His wife was the daughter of Charlton Wallace.
• In 1899, four children were living: Mrs. James
Brogan, Mrs. W. P. .Gillispie, J. C. Donald, and J. H.
Donald. All lived in Rockbridge
• He belonged to the Lee-Jackson camp.
• Rev. Henry P. Hamill officiated the funeral

75
The Snavely’s of Smyth County

79
Joseph Ralston (h/o Susan Snavely)

Case Study: Weaving the
World into your Story

My grandmother was living in Kings Mountain, NC helping to
raise her brothers and sisters.
Her parents had died in the 1920’s.
I couldn’t find a newspaper for Gastonia or Charlotte, but I
did find High Point, NC which is less than a 100 miles away.
That Sunday of December 7th, 1941 was cold, but Monday
was expected to be nicer.

The world was concerned about the Russians battle with the Nazi’s.
FDR was sending messages to the “Jap Ruler.”
The paper was full of peril but it was all somewhere else.
On that cold, clear day, the family no doubt put on their Sunday best and went to church, probably praying for a world
seemingly gone mad.

That afternoon, before 1pm on the east coast, the Japanese had begun their attack on Pearl Harbor.
It is easy to imagine families gathered around the radio waiting for information on what had happened, wondering what
was coming next. The evening newspaper, (remember when newspapers were published twice a day?) delivered the
news:

The paper was full of late
bulletins and initial
reports.
Was Manila bombed?
How many planes did the
Japanese use? Would
they attack again? Would
the United States declare
war?
Imagine waking up that
clear cold Sunday
morning planning what
you would wear to
church and going to bed
with the knowledge that
war had come to America

By the afternoon of the
8th, with 3,000
casualties, with serious
destruction of the
Navy, the Senate and the
House joined together
and voted for the U.S.
was at war. There was
only one dissenter.

By the 9th, those in New
York City had been put on
alert when two air alarms
went off around
noon, expecting that they
were about to be
attacked.
Even in rural North
Carolina there was likely a
lingering fear that they
were not safe.
The Japanese excepted to
be joined by the Nazi’s in
their declaration of the
war on the U.S.
In a mere 48 hours, daily
life, life itself had
changed.

Every day newspapers
delivered another new
screaming headline. By the
10th, Germany and Italy had
declared war on the U.S.
What was the family
thinking?
My four great uncles:
Floyd, age 31; Tommy, age 28;
Robert, age 26; and Otto, age
18; would serve in World War
II.
What were they thinking as
they read those initial
reports? By the 10th of
December, editorials and
editorial cartoons were
already resolute in their
desire for victory
The newspapers were still full of
society gossip, movie
ads, Christmas shopping specials
and ideas were in the pages.
It is easy to believe that those
items were not consumed with
the same interest and
enthusiasm.
It is hard to believe that the
thought of Christmas held the
same idea of magic and delight
that year. Preparing for the war
effort had already started

References and Useful Links
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To Get Fold3 and/or Newspapers.com 50% go to:
http://go.fold3.com/conference
http://go.newspapers.com/conference

Putting your ancestors in historical perspective

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