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NARAtions

The Blog of the United States National Archives


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Archives

Family Tree Friday: Vessel crew lists are part of immigration records.

Immigration records at the National Archives contain more than just information about passengers traveling into the United States from foreign ports. Quite often they also include accompanying lists of crewmen, both American and foreign-born, who worked on the vessels. These lists exist because of an early 19th-century law that required the masters of American vessels [...]

Posted by John on March 12, 2010, under Miscellaneous.
Comments: 2
Family Tree Friday: A few slave manifests still survive.

Since February is Black History Month, it seems appropriate to mention some of the lesser-known records that are available for African American research at the National Archives. Among those are vessel manifests that document the antebellum domestic slave trade. Even though Congress outlawed the slave trade in 1807, the law of course did not prohibit [...]

Posted by John on February 19, 2010, under Family Tree Fridays, Genealogy / Family History, Online Research, Research.
Comments: none
Family Tree Friday: Congress granted pensions as private claims.

American citizens have always had the right under the U.S. Constitution to petition Congress directly to redress specific grievances or recoup financial losses resulting from government actions (such as private property damaged by the Union Army during the Civil War). In the 19th century, Americans commonly exercised this right, sending hundreds of thousands of private claims to [...]

Posted by John on January 29, 2010, under Family Tree Fridays, Genealogy / Family History, Research.
Comments: 1
Family Tree Friday: More Info on Compiled Military Service Records.

In my previous blog I mentioned compiled military service records for volunteer soldiers. While CMSRs are generally recognized as the official record of a volunteer’s military career, did you know they were NOT created at the time the soldier served? The War Department first created compiled service records in the early 1890s to help verify military [...]

Posted by John on January 15, 2010, under Miscellaneous.
Comments: 5
Family Tree Friday: Volunteer vs. Regular Army service was documented differently.

Most people have a relative or ancestor who either served in the military or fought during a specific war. Many researchers are unaware, however, that a significant distinction exists between volunteer soldiers and Regular soldiers, and that the two types of service are documented differently. Volunteers (citizen soldiers) were enlisted to serve during specific wars [...]

Posted by John on January 1, 2010, under Family Tree Fridays, Genealogy / Family History, Online Research, Research.
Tags: ARC, Genealogy / Family History, military
Comments: 4
Family History Friday: The real scoop about name changes in immigration records.

Have you ever had an immigrant ancestor whose name appeared to change after they came to America? It was a very common occurrence, but the popular perception is that U.S. immigration officials deliberately changed a person’s name if they couldn’t understand the verbal information relayed to them by the immigrant. In fact, this is one [...]

Posted by John on December 18, 2009, under Family Tree Fridays, Genealogy / Family History, Miscellaneous, Research.
Tags: genealogists, Genealogy / Family History, Immigration, Research
Comments: 10
Family History Friday: Seamen’s protection certificates served as an early mariner’s passport.

Customs records at the National Archives often provide interesting glimpses of personal information about our seafaring ancestors. The occupational hazards of the maritime trade after the Revolutionary War, especially the threat of Impressment by the British, caused many American sailors to purchase seamen’s protection certificates, such as the one pictured here that was issued to [...]

Posted by John on December 4, 2009, under Family Tree Fridays, Genealogy / Family History, Miscellaneous, Research.
Tags: ARC, archives, Genealogy / Family History
Comments: none
Family Tree Friday: Military pension records can hold unexpected surprises!

Military pensions often contain valuable documents regarding family. Veterans who applied for such benefits often had to prove their military service, using affidavits from officers and fellow soldiers, or letters and journals written in the field. Widows and dependents had to prove their relationship to the deceased soldier. Many personal or family documents often, [...]

Posted by John on November 13, 2009, under Family Tree Fridays, Genealogy / Family History, Research.
Comments: 3
Family Tree Friday: How did your ancestors interact with the federal government?

Family research at the National Archives centers on the use of federal records. To start the process, we always advise researchers to first consider how their ancestors may have come into contact with the federal government during the course of their daily lives. If your great-grandparents purchased a homestead in Nebraska, they probably filed an application [...]

Posted by John on October 30, 2009, under Family Tree Fridays, Genealogy / Family History, Research.
Tags: archives, genealogists, Genealogy / Family History, Research
Comments: none
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