Free Civil War Records

Fold3 has opened up it Civil War Collection for free until April 30! Start searching for those Civil War ancestors!

Glenview History Center Civil War Encampment

The Glenview History Center will be commemorating the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War at the History Center's historic 1864 house museum grounds on Saturday, August 31 and Sunday, September 1, 10am-4pm.

Living history presented by:

Sons of the Union Veterans of the Civil War
Camp Custer
Sons of the Veterans Reserve
US Signal Corps & Infantry
1st Michigan Engineers
General George Thomas
Traveling Civil War Museum


            

Gettysburg

This is the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. Union and Confederate soldiers fought for three days starting July 1, 1863.

Monument to 8th Ill. Cavalry at Gettysburg

Three regiments from Illinois fought at Gettysburg:

8th Regiment, Illinois Cavalry
This regiment was mustered in 1861 along the Fox River in St. Charles.

12th Regiment, Illinois Cavalry
The 12th was mustered in Springfield but also contained two companies known as the McClellan Dragoons who organized in Chicago.

82nd Regiment, Illinois Infantry
Organized in Springfield, this regiment consisted mostly of German, Scandinavian and Jewish immigrants.



Do you have ancestors who fought in the Civil War? I had at least three Civil War ancestors whose regiments fought at Gettysburg!

The National Park Service has an excellent database for searching for your Civil War ancestors. The site will also allow you to see a history of the various Union and Confederate regiments and gives a nice overview of the major battles. The NPS can also help you plan a trip to a battlefield.

CIVIL WAR ENCAMPMENT 2012

NWSCG April Meeting

Jerry Allen will present “Searching for Great Grandpa-Find your Union Soldier” at the next meeting of the Northwest Suburban Council of Genealogists (NWSCG). The meeting will be held on Saturday, April 7, 2012 at 10:00 am at The Arlington Heights Senior Center, 1801 W Central Rd, Arlington Heights, IL

At 9:30 am, prior to the presentation, there will be casual discussion and exchange of information with others who enjoy genealogy.

Jerry’s presentation is about his search to find information about his great grandfather, Captain John K Allen of the 78th Illinois Infantry Regiment. Starting with very little information, his search took him to the National Archives in Washington, D.C., Chickamauga National Military Park, and other historical locations.

Jerry Allen grew up on a farm in LaCrosse County, Wisconsin with a predominantly Norwegian heritage. Although not a professional historian, Jerry has had a life-long interest in history with a special interest in the Civil War and American Indian Conflicts. He is a member of various Civil War Round Tables and a past president of the Civil War Round Table of Chicago and the Northern Illinois Civil War Round Table. His projects include researching a Scandinavian Civil War Regiment, Minnesota’s Dakota Conflict of 1862, and a portrayal of Major General George H. Thomas.

Civil War Records at FamilySearch

FamilySearch commemorates the 150th anniversary of the Civil War by providing free access to millions of records from the time of the U.S. Civil War. Many of these records document events related to the war and its aftermath.

More collections are being added, and FamilySearch needs the support of the community to help index these records and make them available for searching. They encourage everyone to help them index Civil War Records.

Researching Civil War Ancestors

Almost 3.5 million soldiers are believed to have been involved in the American Civil War, with around 360,000 Union soldiers and 260,000 Confederate soldiers losing their lives as a direct result. Given the dramatic impact of this conflict, if your ancestors lived in the United States during this time, it is likely that you'll find at least one Civil War soldier in your family tree.
About.com: Genealogy has suggestions to help you start researching your Civil War Ancestors.

Fort Sumter, April 12, 1861

One hundred fifty years ago today, the battle at Fort Sumter  in South Carolina started the War Between the States.

Ancestry.com is commemmorating this event with Free Access Week.  You can search Civil War era records free through April 14.  (You will need to register an email account with them, but there is no charge for this.)

The New Databases are as follows:

New Union Records

U.S. Civil War Draft Registrations Records, 1863-1865

U.S. Union Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865
U.S. Colored Troops Military Service Records, 1861-1865 - UPDATED
New York, Civil War Muster Roll Abstracts, 1861-1900
New York, Town Clerks' Registers of Men Who Served in the Civil War, ca 1861-1865
Kansas, Civil War Enlistment Papers, 1862, 1863, 1868

New Confederate Records

Alabama, Confederate Pension and Service Records, 1862-1947
Arkansas, Confederate Pension Records, 1891-1935
U.S. Confederate Pensions, 1884-1958 (Virginia and Texas)
Alabama, Census of Confederate Soldiers, 1907, 1921

Civil War Veterans Database

Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War preserves the memory of the Grand Army of the Republic. It includes a searchable Grave Database.

On the project home page, you can create an account in order to contribute information to the database.

NWSCG Meeting, March 16

Craig Pfannkuche will present “Non-Federal Civil War Sources for Family History Research” at the next meeting of the Northwest Suburban Council of Genealogists to be held on Tuesday, March 16, 2010 at 7:30 p.m. at Forest View Educational Center, Room 100, 2121 S. Goebbert Road, Arlington Heights, Illinois.

For the most part, the armies that fought in the Civil War were composed of regiments raised by state governments and led by officers from the home states of those regiments. While most researchers know about Federal military records, many states kept detailed recruiting and enlistment records. These records, along with other local records, provide a great deal of family history information beyond what can be found in Federal records.

Craig is on the Board of Directors for the McHenry County Illinois Genealogical Society and the Chicago Genealogical Society. He is the Genealogical Archivist for the Chicago and Northwestern Railway Historical Society. He is also mentioned as a railroad resource person in the book “The Source.” Craig not only has given workshops and conference presentations, he has published many articles. The most recent was “Death on the Oregon Trail” in TRACER magazine for the McHenry County Illinois Genealogical Society.

For more information, call 847-818-9159

Civil War Symposium

Annual Civil War Symposium

Saturday, October 3, 2009, from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM at the First Division Museum, Cantigny in Wheaton, IL. Cost: $40.00 for the general public; $20.00 for teachers and round table members; $10.00 for senior citizens (60+), students with valid ID, and veterans and active duty military.

Join noted Civil War historians Craig Symonds, John Marszalek, Daniel E. Sutherland, and Paul Finkelman as they discuss notable events and personalities of the Civil War including Abraham Lincoln and John Brown. Tour a Civil War encampment; meet Abraham Lincoln; hear a cannon's roar; spend some quality time doing period activities with your children; see a realistic Civil War surgeon's operating tent; watch the First Infantry Division's mounted color guard in action, or just tour the magnificent museum and grounds at Cantigny. Teachers can earn continuing education credits for attending.